I drove an electric vehicle that doesn’t need to be plugged in
At CES 2025I drove an electric car that you almost never had to plug in. The Aptera Solar EV is so full of solar panels and so efficient to operate that the manufacturer claims it can harvest up to 40 miles of free range per day from that giant nuclear reactor in the sky: the sun. As the oddly shaped electric car enters production later this year, I slipped under the wing-like doors of a prototype for a first look.
Although the Aptera’s coolest party trick is its solar power, the first thing you notice when driving off is how strange the EV coupe’s design is. The car manufacturer designed the tricycle to be as aerodynamic and light as possible. Its carbon fiber body has a dolphin-inspired shape with a bottle nose and a long, tapered tail to cut through the air with around 70% less drag than a traditional small electric vehicle. The design limits the EV to just two passengers, but there’s room for 32.5 cubic feet of cargo in the long rear.
Separate wheel arches house narrow, high-profile wheels and low-rolling resistance tires to reduce road friction. And the entire vehicle is about half as light as a normal car. The Aptera is front-wheel drive, which I say helps the weight of the 150kW (201hp) electric motor over the trike’s wider front end provide stability and more predictable handling.
If you look closer, you’ll see that almost every horizontal surface is covered in the brand’s custom-made solar panels – including the curved glass hood, roof, tailgate and even the dashboard. All in all, there is a solar power generation capacity of around 700 watts, which, thanks to the EV’s impressively low weight, drag and friction, captures enough energy to power the EV up to 40 miles per day in optimal, sunny conditions in Southern California . If your commute is about 30 miles, you could manage daily commutes indefinitely without ever plugging in.
Of course, if you park in a cloudier climate, have shorter days, or get less direct sunlight, solar energy production will be reduced, but the Aptera can also be connected for Level 1, Level 2, or DC fast charging. When fully charged, the automaker believes the electric vehicle can travel up to 400 miles before needing to be charged. What’s even more impressive is that this is possible with just a 45-kilowatt-hour battery. A nice advantage of such a small battery is that the EV can be reliably charged from a regular wall outlet, and DC fast charging to the full 400 mile mark should take less than an hour.
During my test drive through the streets of Las Vegas, traffic prevented us from experiencing the full 0-60 sprint in under 6 seconds, but the Aptera pushed away at a satisfying pace. Ride quality was also quite good thanks to the four-link rear suspension on the single rear wheel, although the overall experience wasn’t entirely representative of the final product as the prototype had no interior space and more conventional wide front tires.
Eventually, the brand plans to expand the offering with an even cheaper Aptera configuration with a smaller battery and lower overall range (but the same solar capacity of 40 miles per day), followed by a variant with more cargo space. Currently, Aptera engines is taking pre-orders for the $40,000 Aptera Solar EV and expects production to ramp up in earnest later this year.
