Thanks for that solar cell assembly perspective. Re. Munro's statement about seeing an Aptera in September, I'm convinced he meant we will see at least one Delta prototype on the road in September. Remember that the Delta prototype stage has been defined as having only production intent parts and manufaactured using only production intent processes. In other words, it must be made on an automated production line. Following that production will be months of testing to make sure everything works as specified, and possible tweaks to the design to make up for shortfalls or reduce manufacturing costs, followed by more tests. Only then will Aptera be delivered to paying customers. So mid-2024 is totally in line with Munro's statement of production starting this September. I expect to see Apterae sitings at many road shows before then.
Fingers crossed you are right. I do think they might get delta out soon. September seems ambitious to me. I don't want to gi e people false hope, but I am hoping for that myself!
Thanks so much for featuring our footage! Your channel is incredible and your familiarity with Maxeon connectors provides some important insight into the modifications Aptera has done. This was filmed in early May, so just before the Sandy Munro conversation was posted on AOC's video, but I still think a September timetable is too ambitious based on what I saw at the facility. But time will tell!
At the 1 min 8 second mark, while Aptera's Maxeon cells are more flexible than much earlier "generation" cells, they've been this flexible for a number of years now.
At the 1 min 50 second mark, Gen 6 cells are bigger than the nominal 125 mm x 125 mm. I believe they are about 160 mm x 160 mm and have 4 positive contacts and 4 negative contacts (Gen 3 have 3 each).
At the 1 min 32 second mark, both of your cells are Gen 3 too. They differ only in efficiency. The Je3 and Ke3 are references to efficiency "bins". Maxeon electrically tests and sorts cells by efficiency.
@@passivlife You're welcome. If by "new gen" you mean anything after Gen 3, I believe ALL are or will be bigger. FYI, oddly there's no Gen 4 but there are Gen 5 and 6 and Gen 7 is soon to be in "production".
@@passivlife I have an update for you on Maxeon Gen 7 cells. Apparently, some solar car race teams have been getting preliminary data sheets and even many, many "samples" and at least some of them are the exact same size and shape as the Gen 3 cells Aptera has played with.
True, but they are starting to get more efficient. Look at the direction hyundai is going. They are slowly getting a bit more efficient with every generation. Solar might not make much difference to range on inefficient evs, but it's essentially free additional range at little extra cost. I think at some point all evs will have at least a plug-in emergency solar option, if not permenant integrated pv cells just to keep up with the competition.
Aptera has been the car of the future for nearly 2 decades. The photos and videos of the factory show a company at the point where they can iterate through prototypes now. I bet Aptera will build their first production model in 2026. I hope I’m wrong.
There were some nice nuggets of information in Saving Green's videos. And it was good to see the ongoing progress despite not getting a big investor up until that time. The plans for the Delta were pretty clear up until the time when Aptera switched to support the CPC body production to quickly move to volume Aptera production quickly. Beyond crash testing there will be many uses for the Delta models. Because they will be production-intent models, Aptera will be able to provide actual (rather than simulated) numbers for performance, efficiency, range, software, solar performance, etc... Plus they will be able to revisit Jay Leno, Rich Rebuilds and others to demonstrate the final version of the Aptera, and not just keep showing the early early prototype models. I Aptera gets close to their simulated numbers in full testing, and wows reviewers, and hopefully announces the upcoming production start dates. Which will fuel more investment and soon after, volume production.
The factory tour mentioned the Accelerator program had reached $14 million, so the tour video was probably recorded in late April or early May. Thank you for the update.
Those orange cables hanging lose between the car and the wheels looks like an accident waiting to happen. Hope that’s not the final design. Would think you want high power cables better protected!
Re: Aptera Side Clearances. Hope they go for UP swinging hinges (per Lamborghini) vs OUT. Should add nil to costs, if engineered properly. I prefer the all dark steering wheel/yoke.
Anybody get insurance costs? Anybody concerned about being in one of these in winter, in a wreck and how about off road driving? Anybody thinking about wheel mounted motors and lack of shocks? ANYBODY?
Aptera should make a model with no solar. The complexity to make the car with these double curved surfaces and cells is extreme i expect there could be many reliability issues and low pass rates on such a design also the different facet directions or shading will not help their efficiency. Better to get a non solar one out the door it's still got the good aerodynamics low weight and long range.
super good idea , Now get rid of those tires and get more sidewall, IN WHEEL MOTOR will not appreciate bumps, No you can not science around it , Just do it more sidewall will make your good idea great and more dependable,
Thanks for that solar cell assembly perspective. Re. Munro's statement about seeing an Aptera in September, I'm convinced he meant we will see at least one Delta prototype on the road in September. Remember that the Delta prototype stage has been defined as having only production intent parts and manufaactured using only production intent processes. In other words, it must be made on an automated production line. Following that production will be months of testing to make sure everything works as specified, and possible tweaks to the design to make up for shortfalls or reduce manufacturing costs, followed by more tests. Only then will Aptera be delivered to paying customers. So mid-2024 is totally in line with Munro's statement of production starting this September. I expect to see Apterae sitings at many road shows before then.
Well said, I agree.
Fingers crossed you are right. I do think they might get delta out soon. September seems ambitious to me. I don't want to gi e people false hope, but I am hoping for that myself!
Thanks so much for featuring our footage! Your channel is incredible and your familiarity with Maxeon connectors provides some important insight into the modifications Aptera has done. This was filmed in early May, so just before the Sandy Munro conversation was posted on AOC's video, but I still think a September timetable is too ambitious based on what I saw at the facility. But time will tell!
Thanks for letting me use it! And thanks for taking the time to film it. It was really good.
Always great to see your informative and concise updates. Thanks.
At the 1 min 20 second mark, the cells aren't "specific to Aptera". Aptera has said they are Gen 3.
Minor corrections: At the 46 second mark, the Maxeon cells are not "welded" together. They are soldered.
Thanks for the update. Fun to see the solar cells in more detail.
Thanks Raj.
At the 1 min 8 second mark, while Aptera's Maxeon cells are more flexible than much earlier "generation" cells, they've been this flexible for a number of years now.
At the 1 min 50 second mark, Gen 6 cells are bigger than the nominal 125 mm x 125 mm. I believe they are about 160 mm x 160 mm and have 4 positive contacts and 4 negative contacts (Gen 3 have 3 each).
Solar cells are delicate and it's interesting to see more of Aptera's assembly process. Thank you for this update!
At the 1 min 32 second mark, both of your cells are Gen 3 too. They differ only in efficiency. The Je3 and Ke3 are references to efficiency "bins". Maxeon electrically tests and sorts cells by efficiency.
Thanks. I wondered about that. Do you know if the new gen have bigger cells?
@@passivlife You're welcome. If by "new gen" you mean anything after Gen 3, I believe ALL are or will be bigger. FYI, oddly there's no Gen 4 but there are Gen 5 and 6 and Gen 7 is soon to be in "production".
I was wondering about the gen 7 specifically. There's very little online information at the moment.
@@passivlife Gen 7 cells are likely to be bigger.
@@passivlife I have an update for you on Maxeon Gen 7 cells. Apparently, some solar car race teams have been getting preliminary data sheets and even many, many "samples" and at least some of them are the exact same size and shape as the Gen 3 cells Aptera has played with.
We have to start somewhere, thanks to aptera for making a start on something that every EV maker should have incorporated into vehicle’s 😊
A normal EV is not efficient enough for solar.
True, but they are starting to get more efficient. Look at the direction hyundai is going. They are slowly getting a bit more efficient with every generation. Solar might not make much difference to range on inefficient evs, but it's essentially free additional range at little extra cost. I think at some point all evs will have at least a plug-in emergency solar option, if not permenant integrated pv cells just to keep up with the competition.
Aptera has been the car of the future for nearly 2 decades. The photos and videos of the factory show a company at the point where they can iterate through prototypes now. I bet Aptera will build their first production model in 2026. I hope I’m wrong.
There were some nice nuggets of information in Saving Green's videos. And it was good to see the ongoing progress despite not getting a big investor up until that time. The plans for the Delta were pretty clear up until the time when Aptera switched to support the CPC body production to quickly move to volume Aptera production quickly. Beyond crash testing there will be many uses for the Delta models. Because they will be production-intent models, Aptera will be able to provide actual (rather than simulated) numbers for performance, efficiency, range, software, solar performance, etc... Plus they will be able to revisit Jay Leno, Rich Rebuilds and others to demonstrate the final version of the Aptera, and not just keep showing the early early prototype models. I Aptera gets close to their simulated numbers in full testing, and wows reviewers, and hopefully announces the upcoming production start dates. Which will fuel more investment and soon after, volume production.
The factory tour mentioned the Accelerator program had reached $14 million, so the tour video was probably recorded in late April or early May. Thank you for the update.
The author of the video said it was filmed in early May.
14 Million was hit on the 1st of May, one week later it already was at 14.4 million.
Those orange cables hanging lose between the car and the wheels looks like an accident waiting to happen. Hope that’s not the final design. Would think you want high power cables better protected!
No, those are just the prototypes. No worries.
Re: Aptera Side Clearances. Hope they go for UP swinging hinges (per Lamborghini) vs OUT. Should add nil to costs, if engineered properly. I prefer the all dark steering wheel/yoke.
Anybody get insurance costs? Anybody concerned about being in one of these in winter, in a wreck and how about off road driving? Anybody thinking about wheel mounted motors and lack of shocks? ANYBODY?
Aptera should make a model with no solar.
The complexity to make the car with these double curved surfaces and cells is extreme i expect there could be many reliability issues and low pass rates on such a design also the different facet directions or shading will not help their efficiency.
Better to get a non solar one out the door it's still got the good aerodynamics low weight and long range.
super good idea , Now get rid of those tires and get more sidewall, IN WHEEL MOTOR will not appreciate bumps, No you can not science around it , Just do it more sidewall will make your good idea great and more dependable,
Promo'SM