Electric vehicles (EVs) are central to the vision of zero emission transport, but charging remains a huge obstacle. Common concerns include lack of public chargers, long wait times, a dirty electrical grid, and a lack of grid capacity at peak times. Solar-powered EVs could address many of these, and automakers have been exploring the technology to one degree or another for some time.
Solar panels in the roof of the Hyundai Ioniq 5 offer a small boost to the battery, extending the range by 5-6km a day in sunny regions, while the Toyota Prius plug-in hybrid’s solar roof promises an extra 8km. But such small scale applications have failed to address the charging and grid challenges in any meaningful way. Then came Dutch manufacturer Lightyear with its solar-powered Lightyear 0 EV, offering 70km of range per day, weather depending. The model launched in late 2022 with a hefty €250,000 (US$258,000) price tag. Within weeks of starting deliveries, Lightyear halted production and declared bankruptcy.
Now the solar baton passes to California start-up Aptera, which is promising up to 40 miles (64km) of solar powered driving a day with a much more affordable US$25,900 three-wheeler. It’s poised to become the world’s first mass market solar EV and could redefine how the industry approaches mobility solutions. “We’re creating a whole new vehicle segment,” declares Co-Founder and Co-Chief Executive Chris Anthony. “We think it’s unlike anything the transportation industry has ever seen.”
The most efficient form of transportation
The Aptera Motors team have been working on the first model, also called Aptera, since 2019. “We started with the question: how do you build the most efficient form of transportation?” says Anthony. Aerodynamics is the cornerstone, and the team believe it’s pivotal to maximise this aspect of design to justify the added expense and complexity of the solar panels. “At highway speeds, modern vehicles use about 70% of their energy just pushing air out of their way. People don’t realise how much energy is used simply in aerodynamic losses,” he tells Automotive World.
To minimise drag and hence energy usage, Aptera designed a teardrop-shaped central body that allows the air to flow around it. The only significant source of drag is the tyres, which are positioned slightly out from the vehicle body to reduce their impact. “You’re basically sitting in an aerodynamic wing,” Anthony says. “The main body of the vehicle has less aerodynamic drag than the sideview mirrors on a truck.”
The final design—interior and exterior—was shown at CES in January 2025, where a production-intent validation vehicle was available for test drives. “This model marks a significant leap forward from our earlier prototypes,” he observes. Key differences include the integration of Aptera’s in-house battery pack and production drivetrain alongside the complete solar array and production-intent body structure. The body structure is built from carbon fibre sheet moulding compound and requires fewer than one-tenth the parts of traditional vehicles. The complete solar array consists of four panels located on the bonnet (hood), dash, roof and hatch.
A minimalist interior keeps down weight: “We reduce all the connectors and buttons because those are the leading areas for product failure in new vehicles,” Anthony explains. As a result, the wiring harness weighs a mere 30 pounds. The centre display will offer over-the-air updates and refresh the user experience and vehicle functionality—“hopefully every couple of months,” he adds. All the code running on the vehicle was developed in-house, from the battery management system to the low voltage power distribution unit.
Rightsizing
The Aptera seats two people side by side and measures 172 x 88 x 57 inches. Total weight comes in between 1,800 and 2,200 pounds. “Transportation needs to be rightsized,” asserts Anthony. “The industry is heading towards bigger and bigger EVs: luxury sedans and SUVs that are using 800 and 900 watt-hours per mile. That’s the wrong direction for environmental responsibility. We’re using 100 watt-hours per mile.”
But can this meet driver expectations? He points to statistics showing that about 70% of the driving in California is done with less than two passengers, with an average daily mileage of around 30 miles. In sunny regions, the car’s solar panels will charge enough to provide about 40 miles of range a day. “For the average person, over a year, it’s roughly net neutral. In Southern California you might never have to plug in the Aptera.”
For those drivers looking to extend the range, charging can be done at home using a traditional 110-volt outlet or public charger. This can add between 400 and 1,000 miles depending on the battery option. “It charges so quickly and needs such little power, you’re probably not taxing the charging infrastructure like other EVs would,” Anthony points out. This is pivotal, as some industry watchers have raised concerns about the grid’s ability to cope with EVs during periods of peak charging demand, such as after work and during holidays.
“California has an all-EV sales mandate by 2035, but it has nowhere near the grid infrastructure to support that switch,” he warns. “With the Aptera, anywhere the sun’s out is your charging infrastructure. It’s the most ubiquitous charging infrastructure in the world.”
Critics, competition and cargo
Production will take place in Carlsbad, California, with the first deliveries to begin in late 2025. So far, Aptera has secured about 50,000 orders, the majority of which come from California residents. The first 2,000 delivery slots were allocated to individuals that invested heavily in the company, ranked by the amount of their investment. This group will become part of the vehicle’s long-term validation and testing, sharing feedback on their experiences.
“It’s not a vehicle for everybody,” Anthony admits. “It’s unique, and some people don’t want to be unique.” Aside from aesthetics, detractors have objected that the safety of a three-wheeler can’t compare to that of a four-wheeler. Anthony points out that “when front-wheel drive race cars take aggressive corners, they lift their inside rear wheel. In dynamic handling situations, you don’t even use all four traction pads anyway. This has basically the same suspension handling characteristics as a VW Golf; it’s pretty sporty.”
The lightweight construction may also raise safety concerns about how the model would fare in a collision with a heavy truck. “This vehicle has curved surfaces, so most of an impact would be a glancing blow,” he says. With a carbon fibre safety cell surrounding the occupants, he adds: “It’s built much more like a Formula 1 car.” The company claims that recent crash tests found the model has the highest roof crush strength of any passenger car on the market today.
The next evolution is to introduce a cargo hatch variant with more storage. ”A Sprinter van delivering Amazon packages only has slightly more than 80 cubic feet of storage in the back,” he says. “We can get about 60. Most of the Sprinter’s storage space is wasted because you have to walk down the centre aisle. If we had a hatch that opened side to side, you could get pretty close to what a Sprinter van has in terms of cargo space.”
Within five years, Anthony expects Aptera’s commercial applications to outnumber consumer applications. That’s partly down the total cost of ownership, which he puts at one-fifth that of a Toyota Camry. “A million-mile brake service life, a million-mile drivetrain, the only thing you need to replace are the tyres and the windshield wiper fluid.”
For now, Aptera has the solar-powered EV market pretty much to itself. “Being the first to do anything is difficult,” Anthony concedes. “We’ll have a couple of years head start, so we’ll make as much of it as we can.” The aim is to deliver a million vehicles by 2033.
