No, you’re not seeing an alien. It’s not even a motorcycle or a plain but it looks like both, not to mention alien-looking. Aptera is banking on the amendment of the Department of Energy Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing Incentive Program so that its Aptera 2e can finally be eligible for support from the low interest program. The problem is that since the Aptera 2e is a three-wheeler then it is considered a motorcycle which is exempted from the safety regulations provided by the United States for cars and trucks.
Aptera begs to disagree because this three-wheeler has safety features built into its design and it is in fact being crash tested using automobile standards. The Aptera 2e is indeed classified as a motorcycle but it us actually a car built like a plane—or is that vice versa? It is confusing but the truth is, the Aptera 2e really looks like it came out straight from the Star Trek movie.
With funding from Google, the Aptera 2e will start production by October this year and is expected to be on sale before the year ends—exclusively for California residents only. There are however plans to make it available nationwide in the next years. Don’t look now but this ambitious car-plane will have a spin-off —namely a 2h gas-electric hybrid, a four-eat design and a gas-engine. The Aptera 2e will have an electric motor with a torque of 60 pound-feet.
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