At CES 2025, I took a ride in an electric car that you'd almost never have to plug in. Yes, your read that correctly. The Aptera Solar EV is keen to ditch the plug entirely, and it's hardly for the worse. In fact, the manufacturer claims it can harvest up to 40 miles of free range every day from that giant nuclear reactor in the sky: the sun. That's it! That's all it needs to get you where you want to go. As the oddly shaped EV approaches production later this year, I ducked under the wing-like doors of one of its prototypes for an early peek.
Though the Aptera's coolest party trick is its solar power, the first thing you notice is how alien the EV coupe's design is. The automaker designed the three-wheeler to be as aerodynamic and lightweight as possible. So, its carbon fiber body has a shape inspired by a dolphin with a bottle nose and long tapering tail to cut through the air with around 70% less drag than a conventional small EV. The design limits the EV to just two passengers, but there's space for 32.5 cubic feet of cargo in the long tail.Â
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Meanwhile, the separate wheel pods house narrow, high-aspect wheels and tires with low rolling-resistance tires to reduce road friction. And the entire vehicle is about half as light as a regular car. The Aptera has front-wheel drive, which I'm told helps the weight of the 150 kW (201 hp) electric motor over the wider front end of the trike for stability and a more predictable driving character.
Look closer and you'll see that nearly every horizontal surface is covered with the brand's custom-engineered solar cells -- including the curved glass hood, the roof, the rear hatch and even the dashboard. All in, there's around 700 watts of solar generation capacity, which thanks to the EV's impressively low weight, drag and friction, capture enough energy to power the EV for up to 40 miles per day under optimal, sunny Southern California conditions. If your commute is around 30 miles, you could handle daily driving indefinitely without ever plugging in.
Of course, if you park in a cloudier climate, have shorter days or get less than excellent direct sunlight, solar generation will be reduced, but the Aptera can also be plugged in for Level 1, 2 or DC fast charging. Full up, the automaker expects the EV will cruise for up to 400 miles before needing to recharge. Even more impressive is that it does this with just a 45 kilowatt-hour battery. A nice bonus of having such a small battery is that the EV could be reliably charged from a regular wall outlet, and DC fast charging to the full 400-miles should take less than an hour.Â
On my test ride around the streets of Las Vegas, traffic kept us from experiencing the full sub-6-second 0-60 sprint, but the Aptera shoved off with a satisfying zip. Ride quality was also quite good thanks to the four-link rear suspension on the single rear wheel, though the full experience wasn't exactly representative of the final product due to the prototype's lack of an interior and more conventional wide front tires.Â
Eventually, the brand plans to add an even less expensive Aptera configuration to the lineup with a smaller battery and less total range (but the same 40-mile per day solar capacity), followed by a variant with more cargo space. For now, Aptera Motors is accepting preorders for the $40,000 Aptera Solar EV and expects production to ramp up in earnest later this year.
For more coverage of CES 2025, check out the gadget that fully-recharges your phone in seconds, and find out which products from CES are actually available for purchase now.
