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Future Now (but only in California.)
What has 3 wheels, pull-up doors, and gets 330 miles per gallon?
No, that’s not a typo. The super-cool plug-in hybrid Aptera gets more than 10 times the gas mileage of the average new car. Its lightweight, ultra-aerodynamic design and super-luxe interior with room for 2 adults plus luggage and surfboards make it one of the most exciting contenders for the Automotive X Prize, a $10 million grant awarded by the X Foundation to the company that can develop a low-carbon, 100+ mpg car that can be put into production quickly.
While it may look like a prop car from Woody Allen’s Sleeper, the Aptera is actually being put into production now. Californians can log on to Aptera’s website and reserve one for a $500 deposit (ultimate retail price: $25,000 and change.) With 3 wheels, the Aptera is officially classed as a motorcycle, but it packs all the safety features of a conventional full-size car, including air bags.
The teardrop-shaped body and 3-wheel design were strongly inspired by the Dymaxion car, a fuel efficient protoype built by Buckminster Fuller in the 1930s; Fuller was one of the earliest proponents of sustainability and of using design principles to increase the quality of human life. His most famous invention is the geodesic dome, created to provide flexible, easy-to-construct housing for everyone on Earth.
Even at 20 feet long, the Dymaxion car got over 30 miles to the gallon, which was tremendous fuel efficiency in 1933 ( and is still above-average today), and could transport 11 passengers at up to 120 miles per hour. While the Dymaxion car never made it into production following a horrible accident, the Aptera picks up where the Dymaxion left off. Combining Fuller’s ideas about fuel efficiency and aerodynamics with modern technology and safety standards, the Aptera just might be the ride of the future.
