That's the slogan of startup Accelerated Composites, LLC. The company announced Thursday that development of its two-seater Aptera hybrid has begun.
As you might guess from the company's name, the use of composite materials plays a major role in the car's design. Claiming to have developed a proprietary composite construction technique (called Panelized Automated Composite Construction) that significantly lowers costs, the company plans to price the Aptera under $20,000.
The diesel/electric hybrid pairs a 12 hp diesel engine with a 25 hp electric motor, with power storage in a bank of supercapacitors. With a weight of only 850 lbs, the powertrain is good for a 0-60 time of about 11 seconds, and a top speed of 95 mph (electronically limited). Construction has begun for the first prototype.
And yes, fuel consumption is estimated to be 330 mpg at 65 mph. More pictures after the jump.
[via gizmag]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
David @ Jan 18th 2006 9:28PM
It reminds me of a fish.
far jr @ Jan 18th 2006 9:48PM
It's one of those... what everybody should be driving, but nobody will want to drive... type of things.
Scott @ Jan 18th 2006 9:49PM
uhhh, it sounds nice and all, but wouldn't it need to pass all the current safety regs to be sold?
speed42 @ Jan 18th 2006 10:08PM
Safety was my first concern, too. But composite materials have proven to be very light and strong in other applications (super cars, airplanes, space flight).
I hope this thing works out. At $20,000 I'd be interested enough to test drive one at least.
B @ Jan 18th 2006 10:20PM
GM has spent more than $100 billion on R&D in the last 25 years. For this we get the Aztek, Impala, Cimarron, LeSabre and every other uninspired lack of innovation. The other auto makers aren't much better. (The lunar space program also cost $100 billion but spawned whole new industries and technologies.)
Some rinky dink startup comes up with a 330mpg car when we get high oil. Doesn't speak well for innovation in the auto industry.
Corey W. @ Jan 18th 2006 10:32PM
Ahh, the future of automotive design!! Yuck....
Mopar Maniac @ Jan 18th 2006 10:39PM
Interesting. But why not go a step further and make it an ethanol hybrid?
iQuack @ Jan 18th 2006 10:47PM
Would be nice if you could see out of it.
That thing is a rolling blind spot.
Slo-Mo-Shun @ Jan 18th 2006 10:48PM
It was probably "designed" by the engineers and the windtunnel, hence the shape to achieve aerodynamic efficiency. But still...37 HP? There are Japanese k-cars that weigh about the same and have at least twice as much power, oh well, at least it gets good gas mileage.
vlocityboy @ Jan 18th 2006 11:05PM
Okay, I understand that this is a preliminary design being shown here, but the lack of outward visibility shown in this is downright scary. Being located in Carlsbad, I would hope that they'd avail themselves upon a few of the talented car designers that are in the area.
Edward @ Jan 18th 2006 11:07PM
Diesel three-wheeled motorcycle. I'd like to see it on the highway as an 18 wheeler races by.
v8 @ Jan 18th 2006 11:37PM
How'd you like to get rear- ended by a soccer mom in an Expidition gabbing on her cellphone sittin' in one of those?
Phillip James @ Jan 19th 2006 12:16AM
Its too wide! Its a good thing to be energy efficient, but it would be better if also space efficient and FUN to drive!
Two people can be transported in a vehicle only a meter wide, if the vehicle tilts like a motorcycle. But with new developments the vehicle can also be as simple to steer as a car... and as safe... I CAN prove it to you. Go to
http://www.tiltingvehicle.net Phillip
HardwareGuy @ Jan 19th 2006 12:24AM
Wouldn't you rather have a real car that could hold 4 pepole, maybe some luggage, and not be a death trap and maybe get 100MPG rather than have that thing which they'd probably bury you in as soon as you get on the highway and some Geo Prizm runs you over without feeling it?
It's too extreme. Just make it twice as big and half the MPG so it's actually usable.
Car-la @ Jan 19th 2006 12:53AM
Yes, kudos the the fuel-efficiency, but this car is useless in everyday driving. I really hope somebody else comes up with a better way to save fuel, as I'm not interested in driving this claustrophobic piece of machinery.
Del @ Jan 19th 2006 1:23AM
acceleratedcomposites.com
Wow, whose bright idea was it to use JPEG to compress TEXT on that site? Did they even look at how blurry it was before they hit upload?
danny @ Jan 19th 2006 1:56AM
dang it looks ugly...but 330 mpg...dang...that'a amazing..
For more information about autos and cars visit Everything Auto: http://automotive.insurancequoteportal.com/
Ludovic Windsor @ Jan 19th 2006 4:49AM
Ahhhh,
Just figured out how it achives 330 mpg (or 0.7128 litres per 100 km for the rest of the world and 396.3 mpg for Brits): it stores energy in a large spring which is released gradually!
If you look carefully, there's even a wind up key beneath the car on the pictures....
Link for conversion: http://www.convert-me.com/en/convert/fuel
Link to my blog:
http://richmondtransits.blogspot.com/
Joey (Kev) @ Jan 19th 2006 6:55AM
VW made a Lupo that used 3l on 100km (mpg?) being as safe a car as the standard Lupo. Problem was it costed near double than a normal Lupo (materials) so it was a sales flop.
Galley @ Jan 19th 2006 7:33AM
Not only is their website crap (as mentioned above), but they so clearly copied the Dick Clark Productions logo.
http://www.dickclarkproductions.com/images/dcpibug.gif