-
Tire info and service
-
Tire info and service
updated 1 week ago
57 Members
·
96
Replies
-
While they may have individual tire pressure readings on the center console if I want to manually check tire pressure how easy will it be? Will I have to remove any component of the wheel cover? How about the rear wheel?
-
The wheel covers may be high enough that access to the valve stem with an air pressure gauge can be accomplished without needing to remove them.
-
-
You do pose an interesting question I hadn’t really thought of. Does anyone happen know how we would get access to the rear wheel when there is a flat tire and where the jack points of the vehicle will be?
-
The same as the front wheels – you remove the cover and there’ll be a jack point in that area (probably right under the swing arm)
-
-
If you don’t even see a sliver of the metal wheel rims behind the wheel pants, how can you even reach the Schrader valve, to adjust or inflate air into your Aptera’s tires?
Don’t tell you have to remove the front wheel pants (imagine removing the large rear pant) at each and every time, just to reach the tire valves..
Would the added underside ground clearance (and of the wheel pants) with the Off Road Kit, solve this arduous chore?
-
You make a good point. Maybe there can be an access hole covered by a cap that would make this easier than removing the wheel pants? Pop the cap, align the stem, fill and replace cap. The trick would be to make it so it doesn’t fall out during driving like some of those center caps we’re all seen missing from some wheels.
Not sure of how the pants come together in order to make this an easy item to address. Can just the front of the pant come off? Again, depends on the assembly.
Let’s see what the clan comes up with.
-
The wheel pants don’t go down to the ground, I’ll presume that they’ve set the level so that when the wheel is turned so that the valve is at the bottom it’s accessible. It does mean that when you put the wheels on all three wheels should be oriented the same way so that you don’t have to roll the car for every wheel, just align it once.
-
Just curious. Does anyone know how you would change a tire? I reserved mine, and would like to see a demo if there is one
-
Common question. You change the Aptera tires just like you change your ice tires. The only difference is you need to remove the wheel pants first. The Apt era will not come with a spare.
-
I live in snow country: I am ordering the extra clearance package and will want all-season tires. The extra clearance will help on days when a foot of snow has fallen and the plows haven’t gotten to all the roads (it usually takes 2-3 days for subdivision roads to get plowed), and I’ll be on ice and snow for 6 months of every year. Can you provide an all-season tire option?
-
I think I’ll need a second set of wheels like I’ve done with all other vehicles. Don’t trust all-seasons and need real snow tires.
-
Hi, Frank. I second Curtis’ recommendation to get winter tires. For years, I thought winter tires weren’t necessary if I had all-seasons. Tried a set of winter Continentals on my wife’s Audi and I was amazed at the difference in traction between the winter rubber and her all-season tires.
-
Check out 195/45R16 tires on the various vendors. One popular vendor offers only 5 tires in this size. All non-directional. 3 are all-season, 2 are extreme performance summer. The cheapest one for $124.64/each is an all-season. The extreme performance summer tires are kind of pricey, and have a short life, almost half, so I suspect we all are getting all-season tires.
I am sure when your reservation number comes up you could specify your tires.
-
One of the things I thought about that should be addressed. How difficult is it to change a tire? Is there a place to put a jack on that back third wheel? Does the inner wheel motor complicate changing the tire?One of the things I thought about that should be addressed. How difficult is it to change a tire? Is there a place to put a jack on that back third wheel? Does the inner wheel motor complicate changing the tire?
-
How to change a tire on an Aptera:
-
Earlier discussions about Aptera’s tire size have said that the tires are 195/45 R16.
Assuming that’s still accurate, a quick Google search reveals that the distance from outer diameter of the rim to the outer diameter of the inflated tire is 3.45 inches. So in the event of a blowout, it would drop by less than 3.45 inches. So it’s not hard to imagine how they came up with the 3.5” clearance for the wheel pants (although it wouldn’t leave much of a safety margin).
-
My understanding is that Aptera doesn’t plan to provide a spare tire & wheel. I would much rather see a spare tire than a third seat.
Also, it will be difficult to change the third mono-wheel tire in the event of a flat. In construction we often foam tires of loaders, etc. that operate in quarries, so that rock cuts you can put your hand through won’t cause a flat. The tire is filled with flexible polyurethane foam. A P205/45-R16 tire would take about 6 lbs. of foam: negligible for weight & balance. The only time the tire would need replacement would be when it wears off it’s tread. I plan to foam my rear tire, and to carry a spare for the pneumatic front tires.
-
Foaming not usually recommended as it may impede your TPMS system…which in itself monitors your tire pressure. 3rd seat option is truly welcomed news though. I personally plan on having winter and summer wheels and tires and will rely on the off-season set to supply me with a spare for long distance driving.
-
I’m going to want to run P205/55R16, or even P205/75R16 studded snow tires in winter. I have asked for information on the maximum tire diameter that will fit on an Aptera. This looks like a great opportunity for after-marketers to produce custom wheel pants.
Also: I plan to foam the rear tire no matter what. A foamed tire will never go flat, and it only adds 6 lbs. to the weight. I don’t care to think about changing the rear tire on the side of a freeway or on a hill on a gravel road. I’m just not interested in working on my hands and knees under the back half of the vehicle.
P.S.: I’ll also carry a spare for the pneumatic front tires.
-
Careful
I have this reply from Aptera:
“ Our Delta vehicles will go through rigorous stability control tests, as well as dynamic ride handling tuning. Aptera’s safety system is calibrated to optimal performance using the production intended tires. The added weight and stiffer compliance of aftermarket foam-filled tires may adversely affect ABS, stability control, and dynamic handling. Therefore, we advise against preemptively filling the tires with foam.
Both full and donut 50/mi/50mph spares are for good reason increasingly rare in modern vehicles. Foam fill / fix-a-flat solutions are generally acceptable to allow customers to get safely to service, at reduced speed. Preventative filling of a tire with other than intended air or nitrogen gas has a long loss of safety and comfort effects. I would personally not ever consider this.”
I hope that helps
-
-
I’m surprised that adding 6 lbs. to the weight of the rear tire would have a detrimental effect on ABS, stability control, or dynamic handling. It seems to me that 6 lbs in the rear compartment would have more effect on center of gravity and handling characteristics than a static load at wheel level, but my understanding is that an Aptera could carry 500 lbs. safely in the rear.
-
A thought occurred to me while watching videos from the gamma reveal. With the wheel covers in place you can’t really see the tires at all. Is there going to be any kind of system to monitor the tread and warn when the tires need to be replaced? Or should we expect to have to take the covers off every month or 2 and check the tires as a routine?
-
Expect the factory Delta version to have the original stated height of tire clearance for wheel hood of 5” clearance. The Gamma was used in a more dramatic effect of have just about 3” clearance. I’m hoping that few inches should show at least some visual thread ware. There will also be a tpms tire sensor in each tire for air pressure. I’m not thinking this will be a worry.
-
-
With the release of the Launch Edition specs, the tire size was published as 195/50R16, so slightly different than the prototypes.
-
I know this has been discussed before but I live rural and flats are usually not nail-in-the-tread repairable types; they’re debris cuts, often in the sidewall. Aptera’s wide stance puts the wheels in the “flat zone” where all the debris end up and the wheel covers are an added hassle. Also, with the three wheel design you can’t easily dodge road hazards whether they are debris or deeper ruts. I have lots of neighbors who spend thousands on low mpg trucks never used to haul anything for no other reason than the fact that you can put 8-ply tires on a truck but no one makes them for a passenger car. Does anyone else think this will be a huge problem outside urban centers? Aptera is marketing the car for folk living rural due to its efficiency resulting in less charging time and longer ranges, addressing what keeps current EV’s mostly out of rural America but I think flats will be a huge nuisance.
-
That is why I’m going to carry an actual spare. It’ll be a space-saver type though. I’ve had enough of those type of flats to follow the “better safe than sorry” adage.
-
I too will carry ( a spare ) , even if there is a slight range hit, but only for longer trips. Living on a 20,000 acre ranch community, since our roads are graded ( groomed ) frequently and living only two miles from the paved roads… My concern is low.
I don’t purchase higher ply tires now for my vehicles and one is a 4200# EV.
That EV only has 6” GC too, so…thinking the 5.14” Aptera GC will suffice on my roads while I can realize the designed aerodynamic efficiency with std wheel covers on paved roads
So…. 🤞 No issues.
-
MS resident here and I am personally not thinking even out here it will be THAT much of an issue. But then again I grew up driving three-wheelers on dirt roads in bad disrepair… 🤷♂️
-
What is your personal experience with flats? Do you get them a lot?
I’m in a rural area and have never had a flat out here. Last flat I can remember was maybe 30 years ago on the freeway I somehow ended up with a wrench in my sidewall. My wife gets flats so often I put run flat tires on her Prius 😂 and it’s always a screw or nail. I don’t think they come from around here but from her work area in the city.
My biggest worry (though I’m not really worried about it) would be road debris like a piece of tree branch getting up in the wheel cover and wreaking havoc.
-
I average two flats a year, usually debris and not nails. They often occur at the most inconvenient times and places. I would need to carry a full sized spare. If the carry space is as large as a Prius, which I believe I saw stated somewhere, then it should fit with room for groceries and other things. I also wonder how much of a hassle the wheel covers are both in terms of removal and in terms of scraping up against stuff. I suppose one could remove them but I have no idea how much efficiency that takes away. If it’s 10% I might take them off. If it’s more like 30% or 40% then we’re stuck with them.
Non-pneumatic tires have been in development for 20 years and are still supposedly a decade away. Incredible when you think about how other technology has advanced. A man on the moon in 8 or 9 years with all of Cape Canaveral having less computing power than a smart phone; that sort of thing.
-
