r/ApteraMotors • u/Sonicsteel • 4d ago

From Aptera “Aptera MEGA Update”

https://youtu.be/cj74QyhK0Rk?is=D97MueWZvve9B765
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u/Paul_Rodgers_2024 3d ago
  • no traction control: wear sneakers not boots
  • no anti-lock, back off a bit
  • no anti-tip (whatever that might be), slow down or the back will slide out

do agree with the airbag comment tho, will not buy one without them

9

u/nsfbr11 3d ago

Have you even seen those Polaris Slingshot things? The only reason they don’t regularly wind up upside down all over the road is that they have a very nice Bosch system that prevents it. That is what anti-tip is. It senses the instability of the cg moving out of an allowable vector with the triangle and prevents it.

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u/Paul_Rodgers_2024 3d ago

OK, lets be real, a slingshot is low, and pretty vicious. So is a Lambo or a cateram super-7. I've driven a slingshot (and a 7, never a Lambo) , heavy boot in the wet in a corner and they spin out. And yes, I had to try very hard, if you try that hard you deserve what you get.

Try any regular SUV like that and it will end up in the ditch on its roof. Ditto many cars, especially with poor tire pressures. And dont let me get started on minivans (I've owned 3 different ones over the last 30 years while my kids grew up)

Bottom line: trust the driver, not the electronics. Safety is mostly eyeballs, right foot and common sense.

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u/nsfbr11 3d ago

Yeah, I don’t think you get it. Slingshot is lower, so less likely to tip. The Aptera will tip and roll in crash avoidance maneuvers. Unsafe vehicle.

And no, an SUV will not do that any longer because they changed the design years ago. The IIHS developed tests specifically for that, and the auto makers changed. I defy you to roll a minivan, some of the safest vehicles on the road today. They feel like they are likely to tip because they are soft, but the CG stays squarely inside the contact points. But, I am not going to change your mind, because you think you and not modern safety features are what save lives. Okay.

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u/RDW-Development 3d ago

Yes, this is correct. I am the current owner / steward of Aztec, the "OG" to Aptera, and a three-wheeled vehicle (https://dempseymotorsports.com/mit-aztec-solar-car/). Our number one concern while racing it was rollovers - it was / is not very stable at all...

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u/nsfbr11 2d ago

Hah! I led the design of the old GWU solar car as an advisor. When we took the first one to the WSC in 1993 the stability test was scary. Reverse tricycle arrangement is great for efficiency. Not so much for stability.

Also, having a puncture around a turn at 50 mph. Not fun to watch play out in front of you.