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Aptera service, repair and warranty
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Aptera service, repair and warranty
updated 2 months ago
60 Members
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103
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https://youtu.be/8oCaZOrc878https://youtu.be/8oCaZOrc878
This video shows an example of CPC carbon fiber parts for vehicles. The parts go together very well. As I understand, metal body parts have to be slightly bent into place and welded.
One thing I wonder about is how something like this is repaired if there is a crash
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My recent inspection made me wonder about this.
Seems to me like no on the Oil, so no oil and filter changes. Or Air filter!
What about a Lub & coolant? I guess that are still be needed.
Anything else? The emission tests should be gone too 🙂
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On a Tesla the battery coolant lasts a lifetime, if it does need to be replaced the car will tell you. Brake fluid should be checked every year, but there is no replacement interval. Cabin air filters depend on where you live, I’ve never changed mine in Massachusetts but I see on the forums that there are some places where people need to change it periodically because they are getting musty smells, of course cabin air filters are exactly the same in an EV or an ICEV so your maintenance interval will be the same.
On a Tesla the brakes need to be cleaned and lubricated every year if you live where there is salt. Hopefully Aptera will use stainless steel brakes but it they don’t the same will apply. The problem for brakes in an EV is that they don’t get used so they can rust up. In ICEVs the brakes are hot which evaporates the water, in EVs the motors do most of the braking so the friction brakes don’t heat up.
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Like other EVs, it is pretty much tires and windshield wipers. I really hope they bring 1 pedal driving so brake pads can go nearly 100k miles (not to mention it maximizes efficiency). There certainly aren’t any emissions to test so I hope your state inspection isn’t looking for a tailpipe to insert into. 😉
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Cabin air filter and some coolants may need attention. We will have to wait for the expected recommended maintenance informaiton to be published. Alwas windhield wiper fluid. some sort of maintenance on the AC????
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I assume the hood can be opened/raised (hinged, with hood struts or by a hood prop?), to reach the hydraulic brake fluid and/or the windshield wiper fluid reservoirs.
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Kerby is very knowledgeable about Aptera. Perhaps he can shed some light on this. This is a good question.
So much has changed from the Alpha to the Delta (which is to be expected), I wonder how accurate the FAQs are now. Just before Aptera starts delivery and hits the national news, Aptera Corp. may need to go through the FAQs, and revive them.
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@Pistonboy Delux Now that there’s a final design I’m hoping that there will be a significant “housecleaning”, deleting a lot of no-longer-valid information. I plan to advance this idea during the coming webinar…
Using stills from the reveal video, the green line shows the opening into the front bay of the vehicle, which we know will house the power electronics, the HVAC system and various other bits and bobs that require periodic attention. The orange line shows a rectangular panel that intrudes into the front of the opening and appears to be a mounting plate of some sort: As there’s a similar reinforced area (also in orange) on the hood (bonnet) structure, I’m gonna go out on a limb and guess that these two parts will hold the latching mechanism.
My suppositional journey concludes with the blue circles: There are what appear to be reinforced connection points on the hood structure and what appears to be a metal attachment point next to the corner of the cowl. To my mind this is where hinges would be attached. At one point early on someone asked Chris A. how Aptera’s hood (bonnet) would open – hinged at the windshield or hinged at the front: Chris responded, “At the base of the windshield.”
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Until my Tesla was t-boned 120 miles from a Tesla repair center, 800 miles from home, I hadn’t been too worried about my future Aptera. (Based on limited geography for release (So Cal), relatively simple design, composite pieces to fix/replace, assurance for parts shipping, third-party repair instructions, etc.) Now, I’m not so sure. Cars released in San Diego may have accidents in Utah, or Tennessee. Repairs of even simple designs will be tricky the first time a technician does it and, for a few years anyway, most accident repairs will be “first time” for your local shop. Tow trucks may be “first” too. Insurance adjustors will scratch their heads as well. Even first responders will want to know where the electrical cut-off is located.
Aptera could develop trading/orientation material that the network of Ambassadors can show to repair shops, service shops, insurance companies, firemen — all before an urgent need exists! And keep lists of places that have received the orientation.
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How will these be repaired? Will we be able to replace tires ourselves? Could we go to regular mechanics? Or will we have to go to Aptera mechanics like Tesla has?
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You can read through this thread for some ideas – exact support process will be outlined closer to production.
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Please forgive me if these issues are covered in other threads, but I cannot find anything here or elsewhere to indicate that Aptera is planning to have traditional-style dealerships, though I assume they will do so at some point. But all indications at the moment are that the 60,000-plus pre-orders will be filled by delivering the vehicle directly to the end-buyer. So what happens if there is an issue with the vehicle during the timespan between acceptance of delivery and the opening of a dealership or maintenance facility in the buyer’s area? Will the buyer/owner have to have the vehicle hauled or shipped to some distant facility? And if so, at whose expense? That was a HUGE problem with Smarts … they had to go to a Mercedes-Benz dealership even for routine maintenance, but not all M-B dealerships bought into the Smart network. My Smart car had to go 120 miles away for everything! That is one of several reasons why I quickly ditched the Smart car. Anyone have any solid, reliable information regarding access to specialized maintenance and repair? Has Aptera even begun to address this issue yet?
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Service and repair is covered on the Aptera site at https://aptera.us/giving-you-the-right-to-repair/ and this forum has many discussions about repair and dealerships. You can use the search function at the top of each forum page. Make sure you look at both Forum Discussion results and Forum Replies to see all the content.
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John-Malcom,
I understand your concern. You may be surprised at how many Aptarae wind up in Palm Springs given the number of sunny days there. This is likely to drive a network of repair techs, either directly from Aptera, or through 3rd parties. The other thing to remember is that Aptera is specifically designed for repairability and EV’s are in general much more reliable that ICE vehicles.
I only handle the most basic repairs on my ICE vehicle (e.g. replacing worn hood struts). But I hoping that my Aptera will be different. I know this is only a view from another enthusiast.
What I have come and I expect from Aptera, is transparency/openness. See how they handled DCFC – they showed the prototype that they had been working on, and explained why the had put that work on the back burner, but also why it was easy to change that decision. I expect that we will see videos showing how to do many of the maintenance and repair tasks once they have the initial evaluation units built. It’s just too early now, IMO.
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My hope is that there will be MANY Apteras in the PS area, since that will likely create a pool of maintenance and repair technicians already familiar with the vehicle. But that is very much dependent on the operational capacity of the A/C system, an issue that Aptera has not yet fully addressed. No driver can go without A/C when the average temperature from June to September is above 105!
Fortunately, and very much to Aptera’s advantage, the vehicle will likely have far fewer maintenance requirements than a traditional ICE vehicle. And since I am mechanically inclined, I am hopeful that I may be able to do at least some of the maintenance myself, if accessing compartments is not too complicated (that was a MAJOR failing with Smart cars).
And yes, I do anticipate a flood of how-to videos once the Aptera finally comes to market, with most of those videos coming from enthusiasts and internet content developers rather than Aptera itself. There seems to be YouTube videos on virtually every topic these days!
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I am a Tesla owner, and what I appreciate the most is the key. I find that Bluetooth is often unreliable, however, what works best for me is a ring that I wear on my hand. The ring is made from a key card and allows me to discretely wear the key on my hand. To my enter vehicle or to start it I just use the ring on my hand and fist bump the door pillar or center console. It’s a great Bluetooth alternative for an active lifestyle.
Furthermore, Tesla windshield glass, when damaged, must be replaced by dealership with proprietary glass. It becomes a big inconvenience and always a comprehensive insurance claim.
I assume Aptera has a windshield that can be shipped and installed locally. Road debris and cracked windshield claims are inevitable in places like Chicago. Mobile repair companies will only work with convential autoglass, I’m concerned.
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Other than the shape, Aptera has a conventional windshield and expect the replacement to be very similar to other vehicles.
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Safelite will replace a Tesla windshield but they have to order it from Tesla which can take months. It’s quicker to go to Tesla but not all of their service centers do glass, in the Boston area only one out of four centers does it and they are located at the ass end of the universe.
Aptera hopefully will be better about shipping parts.
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Windshield wiper washer fluid!
Would it be accurate to say that that’s the only fluid to maintain?
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There are other fluids in an Aptera, like brake and coolant. How often those may need changing will likely depend on vehicle use/conditions.
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Aren’t they electric brakes. What would the coolant be for, the liquid cooled/heated batteries?
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This reply was modified 1 year ago by Sam Adams.
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This reply was modified 1 year ago by
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The brakes are controlled electronically but still rely on fluid to perform the function – from a reservoir to a pump via lines to the caliper/pads.
The HVAC system has at least three different loops (battery, motors, AC) all filled with fluid.
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Can you show me anywhere that Aptera or Elaphe has stated that there will be hydraulic brakes? Have you seen the hydraulic connections to the latest Aptera motors?
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The hydraulic connections are there. There are no mainstream vehicles which have done away with the hydraulics from the braking system. All EVs have done away with the vacuum-based brake booster ICE vehicles usually have and replaced them with an electrical pump. The “brake by wire” description of newer brake systems leave out the fact that only the controls between the brake pedal and pump have been transitioned to electronic controls – the rest of the system is still the same as ICE vehicles (typically needing the same maintenance).
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the Aptera, being low slung, might be vulnerable to stones from other cars/trucks. If you break a windshield/ window, where do you get a replacement and who puts it in?
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You get your parts from Aptera. Your new windshield can be installed by your favorite auto glass installer. I would expect it to be installed the same way as any auto windshield, no magic incantations needed. Instructions will be available from Aptera.
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Since the motor bearings are said to be rated for 0ne Million miles, can we expect the wheel bearing for the trailing wheel (without motor) also to be rated for One Million miles? If not, maybe it makes sense to get the 3 motor version just for the bearings?
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I’d be surprised if the wheel bearing lifespan was less on the rear. Keep in mind that the weight is on the fronts, and the rear is lightly loaded.
My suspicion is that the goal of 1 million miles is optimistic (given that more typically, bearings will last a fraction of that).
Even if the fronts lasted longer than the rear, I don’t think it would make financial sense to go to the 3WD version for that reason alone. Wheel bearings aren’t that expensive compared to a whole motor.
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This reply was modified 10 months ago by Michael Marsden.
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This reply was modified 9 months, 3 weeks ago by Gabriel Kemeny.
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This reply was modified 10 months ago by
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With the majority of the vehicles weight on the front wheels a rear bearing should last longer and when it does fail i imagine aptera will be using a fairly standard off the shelf bearing.
Even with the hub motors we will more than likely need to replace the motor seal at a more regular interval than any wheel bearing.
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If I remember correctly, the seals and the bearings of the newly developed Elaphe motor were to last the life of the motor.
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That was the “Claim” That is without any road testing of production vehicles in various driving and climate conditions. A little skeptical of such a claim as a follow on to the last estimate of the reliability of the seals which was around 30 – 60 thousand miles before replacement. Would like to understand what was the cause of the leap in reliability.
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maybe it makes sense to get the 3 motor version just for the bearings?
There is no way this makes sense from any reasonable cost/benefit analysis. Buy the 2 or 3WD versions based on your budget or intended use.
But if you are wondering if you should be an Accelerator and be ‘forced’ to get the AWD…then yes, get the Launch Edition for the rear bearings. 😉
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OK. Right to repair is a given…no one can stop you from wrenching on a vehicle you bought. Ask any MC rider. But for conversation sake, what if don’t want the right to repair. Where do you go to get repairs, maintenance, etc?
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Either Aptera’s own Mobile Service or a local shop.
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I’m thinking about ordering (if possible) a few extra Aptera parts along with the original vehicle order.
For starters I would like to have extra wheel pants on hand. And maybe some of the foam parts that might come in contact with the ground or curbs.
I think having them waiting in the wings would get me back on the road quicker in case of damage. I realize that in today’s world they can be shipped very quickly but I want them in my hands in case the company closes down or changes the pants style.
Yes I agree that I’m over thinking but it would just make me comfortable when owning a vehicle such as this. I mean it ain’t my dad’s Ford.
Anyone else had this thought?
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Those seem like reasonable parts to have… I trust that when they launch…. the overnight shipment of parts will be in place, so just order for receipt “of your stash” with the vehicle (I guess?) Will replacement wheel cover be raw, where vinyl wrap needs to applied? They plan to use a readily available brand wrap. Lots to learn… But dreaming/planning is good! I personally will only try to pick up with the vehicle, a spare wheel/tire with air for the few hundred mile ride home. Once the production intend is build we can ask again about specific lift points, tire nut bolt size for proper tire wrench and jack, etc… too, if not included.
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My plan is to see if they have a ready source for the Sol wrap pieces, either in Carlsbad or nearby so I can get that changed out. I also want to buy the wheel pants for the off-road model to replace the ones that come with the LE for more clearance. However, I know the latter will have to wait until the off-road model actually goes into production. An alternative might be to get the dimensions of the off road pants and cut the on-road pants down to size.
