Aptera Three-Wheeler - Reservations Start Now

Actually, the price is now $26,900 for the electric version, $29,900 for the plug-in hybrid version.

Although some people don't like the design aesthetics, it is very much of the form-follows-function school of thought, and many people may warm to it as time goes on. Along with Aptera, there are several others of us who are entering the Automotive X Prize competition. My own design, shown below, is of course the best!! By Far!

Actually, the pic above is a test mule, which only looks vaguely like the production vehicle will look.

How does it hold up to a broadside from a Ford F-350?

Takes a lickin', keeps on tickin'!

(Don't I wish.)

Actually, even with pretty sophisticated structure and lots of air bags, a 6:1 mass ratio is pretty hard to deal with. With a hard enough structure, then the small vehicle might get whacked like a ping-pong ball, leaving the people inside in a somewhat scrambled egg state.

The IIHS side crash test uses a 1500 kg sled, so very light (600 kg) vehicles would not do well in the side crash test (or in real life). The frontal crash tests are against a barrier, so the vehicle's own mass determines the collision force. This makes it fairly easy to get 5 stars on the frontal crash, regardless of how light the vehicle. But in the real world, where, if there is a head on collision, it is likely to be with a heavier vehicle, small cars don't so so well. But despite all that, the Chevy Blazer, massive as it is, remains the number one driver killer in the US.

I wonder about the low visibility of some of these vehicles. I'd love to have one, though. I'm just afraid that one of my boat hauling neighbors would run over me and think "what was that bump?"

I think several of them will have anti-collision lights of one form or another, and of course bright colors help. Mine is now a little lower than a Corvette, but a production version would be about the same height as the Corvette. Frontal area would be about 1/2 -- but I think that it is enough wider than a motorcycle to register in the viewer's brain.

The Aptera is bigger and taller, and probably would be seen easily.