The world's largest consumer tech show kicks off this week, and San Diego's storied e-mobility startup Aptera is driving into CES 2025 for the first public showing of its production-intent solar electric vehicle, which has just been aero tweaked with help from Pininfarina.
Aptera has been promising to revolutionize electric mobility for a few years now, and has navigated a number of stops and starts along the way. Last November, the company pushed out a video demonstrating a low-speed test of its production-intent solar electric vehicle.
That test mule lacked body panels, windows, and other components – including the solar panels – but a completed three-wheeler has made its way to the Las Vegas Convention Center for its public debut this week, after a short detour to Italy.
Aptera has partnered with acclaimed automotive design company Automobili Pininfarina to improve its aero efficiency. After spending some time in Pininfarina's wind tunnel in Turin, Italy, tweaks to the outer body are said to have resulted in "one of the lowest drag coefficients of any production passenger vehicle, setting a new standard for energy efficiency in the automotive industry." Though the CES press releases fails to indicate what those drag figures actually are, the website currently list the drag coefficient at 0.13.
"Aptera has truly pushed the boundaries of what’s possible in vehicle design and efficiency," said Giuseppe Bonollo, SVP Business Unit Mobility at Pininfarina. "We have always made aerodynamics an essential component in design at Pininfarina. We are therefore thrilled to have supported the aerodynamic validation of the Aptera vehicle with truly unique results."
Elsewhere, the vehicle that's heading for production will have a 700 watts of integrated solar cells on its upper surfaces – which is reckoned good for up to 40 miles (64 km) of range without needing to plug in thanks to the vehicle's slippery body design and lightweight construction. The base model will have a 400-mile (643.7-km) battery, but an option offering 1,000 miles of per-charge range will be available too.
Top speed is reported to be 101 mph (162.5 km/h), a standstill to 60 mph sprint will take "roughly four seconds" when all-wheel drive is engaged, or six seconds with just the pair to the front. There's even a Launch Mode available for torque-tastic thrills from the get-go.
As we mentioned in our November coverage, it's been quite an eventful journey since Aptera first announced its Typ-1 way back in 2007. The first attempt at pre-production followed in 2009, but a couple of years later the company ran out of juice.
The original founders tried again in 2019 with plans to get a solar EV on the road by 2022. But delays crept in again, and we had to wait until earlier this year for the Launch Edition to appear. Now visitors to booth CP-517 in the Central Plaza at CES 2025 are being offered the opportunity to meet the production-intent vehicle. Next stop: production. Hopefully.
Sources: Aptera Motors, Pininfarina
