Everyone is talking about the new Slate trucklette, what with it being the new battery hotness and all, and I get it. I dig it, even. It is indeed a cool little machine, and I’m 100% with Jason on everything he opined this morning about its crank-window coolness.
It’s also got me thinking about what my idea of an ideal EV is, if only for me and only me.
While I have tremendous respect for what Tesla did with the Roadster and even more so the Model S to establish that EVs needn’t be weird little pods for ecology nerds and could instead just be good (great, even) regular cars that happen to be electric, I have to confess that I actually have a soft spot for the weird pod concept.
Take the Aptera in the top graphic, for example. I suspect it’s just too bizarre to succeed, but I love how it goes Full Jetsons as an aggressively aero teardrop-shaped two-seater rolling on three wheels. More of that, please.
I see myself using an EV most frequently to commute solo to an office (I work from home and hope to never have a commute again, but go with me on this). As such, I don’t need 300+ miles of range, and I certainly don’t want to lug around all that battery weight, either – or pay for it. A mere 100 miles of range would be plenty to get me around during the week, with a nightly top-off in the garage at hole.
Room for myself and a passenger plus a couple of carry-on bags would be all the space I need in my ideal EV, and I wouldn’t say no to a single-seater. Make it lightweight, fun, and futuristic. One can certainly go too small (and/or narrow, see below), but I love the idea of a driving what feels like a personal fighter jet on wheels.
But then again, I’m a bit of a weirdo. Let’s hear from you! Please, Tell Us About Your Ideal Electric Car.
Top graphic image: Aptera
It would look a lot like an EV version of my gen 2 Prius. Efficiency over beauty, but enough space under the hatch to stash my bike. And if we’re talking ideal, give me 300 miles of range in, say, 15 minutes of charging. Honestly, that’s about what the Prius gives me with its tiny gas tank so I may not even notice a difference.
I just want it to be small, and not pretend to be anything else. A thin battery pack in the tunnel, no flat floor gimmick. 4/5 seats with a trunk and frunk (you can ditch the frunk to minimize front overhang), one rear motor, low-ish power output, high energy efficiency and under/near 3000lb curb weight. 150-mile range in Winter is plenty, 200 would be great but not necessary. Sell this close to a gas compact’s price and I’ll be happy.
I think this is really close to being on the market, the Fiat 500e and Cooper Electric seem like good contenders, perfect city cars but need a tiny bit more range for an all-around commuter. Hopefully this will happen in another generation or 2.
Right at the turn of the century I was working at a hotel/health club supply warehouse. They had a Grainger catalog in the break room that I would scroll through to temporarily forget about the work day. Came up with an idea to swap the 1.0 out of the Geo Metro in place of an electric motor with batteries lined up in the trunk of the hatchback. Unfortunately, I lacked skills and got laid off right after 9-11.
Even now that’s my idea of a perfect e-car. A 1,600 lb econobox with an industrial motor replacing a worn out engine. How much more “green” can you get? No need to manufacture an entire car! I know, it lacks modern safety features.
Well, the electric generation is here and what do I see: 8,000 lb luxury vehicles proclaiming how batteries are going to save the earth.
I remember “profit maximization” in college, so I get it (sheds a tear).
Take the Scout Terra with an opening sunroof, give it a 200kwh battery pack, shrink it to a bit smaller than first gen Tundra size, add 48v DC inlet for connecting solar panels, and add CarPlay. Make it as rustproof as possible and a dark metallic green.
Definitely a “three door” hatchback. FWD/AWD, it doesn’t matter, but I’d want the range to be like 250-ish miles, mechanical steering and braking, and not as many “safety features” as modern cars have. I’m fine with ACC, ABS, TC/SC, & Rear Path Detection/Emergency Braking.
And if there’s open space, make it useful! More nets, more open cubbies and more space to put stuff…..!
I can be a pack rat lmao
Apterra looks a lot like the solar car we worked on in college. it might be ok at first, but parking it and the spindly suspension likely used means it would be down more often than not.
Honestly, a plug in hybrid is the only EV I might consider, but even then they seem to be higher price than just a Gas version, except maybe for the non plug in Mavericks at one time.
I do kind of think a full electric vehicle should come with just a single 50 Mile Battery and it should be dead simple to swap…think power tool batteries. this way you only pay for what you need as far as charge and changing the batteries when needed becomes very simple. and hopefully less expensive. No idea how that might work, but that would be my ideal. I might have even consider the new Charger had it not been over 70K for starting price and the fact that I can’t change out or add range by just adding batteries.
I love the Aptera concept, minus the solar panel gimmick. I would have bought a shell of the first go-around if I could have gotten a hold of one. My own dream designs are along the same lines, though more aggressively WW2 fighter inspired and with rearward sliding canopies instead of doors for weight and rigidity reasons, ready convertible ability, and to satisfy my weird dislike of vertical hinge doors.
I just want an electric 1990s Toyota Camry. Sedan, wagon, whatever. Just give me an electric normal car from a company not run by hitler. Make it cost under $30k. Make it big enough for car seats in the rear and with seating upright enough that someone older than 45 is comfortable getting in and out.
The whole point of electric cars is that if everyone who drives adopts them we collectively reduce emissions. Therefore what we need is normal, normal, affordable cars for everyone.
Heck, Nissan makes electric cars. Some of them are good! Make an electric Altima. Something people who need to drive but don’t care about cars will drive their 15 miles to work without even giving it a second thought.
My i-MiEV is awfully close and would be nearly perfect with a Mitsu-approved 30 kWh battery and a bit more power unlocked, plus NACS. The flat load floor hatchback with fold-flat seats carries more cargo more easily than most larger vehicles, and the RWD, rear-motored torque is great. HowEVer, the narrow 3-wheeled vehicles seem to only appeal to those who’ve nEVer driven a trike. Whether it’s a Sparrow spinning out after losing traction on the oily center strip or the Electrameccanica Solo’s awkward action on any imperfect lane, narrow trikes in either orientation will have one wheel in a rut, one on the center bulge, and the third teetering on the edge of the other rut, making for a very unstable dynamic. The action of a trike is a lot like the pitch and yaw of a catamaran sailing close-hauled across big ocean swells, as the roof traces ovals across the sky!
The Aptera shown above has so much going for it–it’s efficiency-focused and supposed to be affordable. That said, I was a bit put off by the fact that they were recently trying to entice people to invest by offering dollar-for-dollar matching up to $10k against your purchase. As an investor or buyer, that makes me a bit concerned for the financials of the company.
I’d really like something with 300+ miles of range, four seats, physical HVAC controls, and an aerodynamic focus that provides that without too much battery. The Kia EV6 is pretty close, but I’ve had bad experiences with repairs on a Kia and do not care much for the weird shared HVAC/radio controls. The Equinox is also close, but they put the seat heat/ventilation on the screen and put drive mode selection in a menu on the screen. Both of those should be controlled without looking at a screen.
In a dream, I’d love to have a truly modular EV with all of the above. It would be amazing to essentially have the skateboard and the cockpit, then slot on everything around it to your needs/wants (which could maybe provide jobs for the techs who aren’t changing oil as much). Want to drive a convertible? Put on that shell. Need more battery? Add a pack. Want to lighten it? Remove a battery pack or put on the lightest shell. You get the picture. I just really feel like the skateboard concept could do so many cool things and swappable bodies is one of them.
Basically the only things I’d like to upgrade over the Bolt I currently have are a bigger trunk, a bit more off road ability, AWD (even just some basic hub motors in the rear for occasional use would be fine), faster DC charging, and less garbage software. The basicness and customization traits of the Slate would be awesome. Something along the lines of an old Subaru GL wagon, or a Crosstrek with a foot cut off the front and added to a wagonish back, or VW Alltrack, with familiar 2xx mile range, but with DC fast charging to 80% in 20 minutes would do the trick. Maybe even better would be adding sliding doors, and having a Mazda 5 type of vehcle.
Bonuses that would be nice would be a sodium ion battery pack, so that it wouldn’t have the big cold weather hit, since sub 0F lows are normal for me in the winter. That and direct foot heating, such as heated floor mats or something, since it is normal for longer trips in the winter to be comfortable from my shins up with nothing but heated seats, but my feet are frozen, and cabin heat just rises and doesn’t do much besides make my upper half uncomfortably warm.
Beetle EV. Real world 200 mile range, floor pan battery, frunk and rear hatch, and some simplicity like the Slate (I particularly like the bring-your-own mobile device and Bluetooth speaker mount with physical HVAC controls, though I’d prefer power windows and mirrors.). Retro style and flat floor.
They should totally have made an ID.3 variant that looked like a 4-door Beetle and sold it over here, like the Ora Cat. Could’ve cost as much as an ID.4 and sold way better. The Buzz is too pricey for what it is, Nostalgia can only add so much of a premium.
Agreed! I’d consider an ID.Buzz for like 45k but not what they go for. I always wanted a Beetle and I really think they’re missing out not making one as an EV. I personally would want a two-door but I could compromise on that if they get the looks right.
Honestly, take the Model 3, put it under the stewardship of someone that isn’t a Bond villain, and you’re 90% of the way there. The two things that I wish the Model3 did better was interior controls, and it should have been a hatchback.
if I was driving long distances more, I’d want it to charge faster.
Otherwise, and this is the thing people won’t want to admit to, the Model 3 is a damned good EV. Based on what I got as a trade in on mine, people that ignore the CEO and buy a used Model3 will be able to get a lot of value for not a lot of money. I was not able to ignore the CEO, so I moved on. (And there’s so much choice now, I was kinda itching for something new anyway)
FWIW, I would have said Ioniq 5 because it seems perfect, but I have more misgivings around local Hyundai dealers than I do Tesla.
So the challenge for me isn’t an EV I would drive as the Slate ticks the box for me. But how to charge it, the ability to charge it is when prevents me from moving forward as I live in an apartment building with no external power connections.
I really, really want the Aptera to work out, I really do.
But I also drive by their headquarters on one of my commute routes, and their parking lot is always empty.
Plunked my money down to reserve an Aptera more than three years ago. My optimism has sagged but I hold out hope. If nothing else, it is an incredibly transparent company that shares a lot of the development process. I’ve learned a lot from following them.
They need about $100MM in one big check.
They can keep kicking the can down the road as long as they want with the little investments they’re getting.
Just make it a regular car that happens to be electric.
The Aptera is so maligned but I do hope it exists some day and is actually as efficient as it claims. And then I also hope they somehow manage to elongate it slightly and offer a version with some rear seats (don’t need rear doors, but something for some extra seats in a pinch).
The Aptera got within 15% of its efficiency targets with a production-intent prototype with no suspension fairings and all of the bearings and tires not broken in yet. I expect their next test will show that they reached their efficiency targets.
I designed a rear-facing third seat, but we decided not to offer it. Took up the whole cargo area and it would’ve offered horrible carsickness.
Sure, it’s looking like the efficiency might be there for real, but want some independent verifications with speed information. But the bigger deal is the actually happening part. I don’t see someone coming along with a big check so it’s currently sitting somewhere between Elio and Lucid to me… But still in the “I’ll believe it when I see it” state.
I think that’s entirely accurate. I used to work there. We are between Elio (massive error to build their own engine rather than buying Ford 1.0 Ecoboosts, sank the company in one step) and Lucid (actually delivering cars to customers and likely to have the capital needed to continue doing so all the way to profitability).
We should go out to Interstate 8 on a warm calm day and demonstrate that it takes 6 kWh to drive 60 miles at 60 MPH. As a shareholder I’ll do it for a very small consulting fee.
TLDR: Multicar M-22 where the bed is the full length of the Truck.
Aluminum Body made of thick aluminum panels riveted on.
Dropside or flatbed configuration.
If configured for multiple passengers it is in a tandem format.
Basically the Slate, but in sedan or hatchback form, 300 miles of range, a radio & at least two speakers, and the backup camera screen moved into the rear view mirror so it can have a normal analog gauge cluster above the steering wheel instead of a screen
On their road teat, they got within 15% of their quoted efficiency numbers on a car that wasn’t broken in and didn’t have suspension link covers yet.
It’s $100MM in one check away from production. The crowd funders can keep it there until that check shows up.
For me, the closest ideal would be something like a decontented Model S.
I have a package of drawings for this one that I’d love to turn into an article next week if you’ll publish it.
I want the smallest hatch that’ll accommodate 4 people, with enough pack capacity for a 300 mile range, that emphasizes connection with the road rather than isolation.
This meant a light enough front end and narrow enough tires to get rid of the pensioner steering. It also meant RWD to allow regenerative braking and power to have a big effect on balance.
My aero philosophy was plagiarism; I styled it like the ’90s hatchbacks that got 0.30 drag coefficients out of similar shapes, got rid of the ICEV related openings, and drew it small enough to get the CdA down to target.
Sounds very much like the German e.Go Life. Unfortunately, they went bankrupt for the second time last year:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/E.GO_Life
A bare bones 2 seat hatchback sports car, something along the lines of a Toyota GR86. Something to commute in , but has a bit of versatility and needs to handle well.
I want a BMW e36 or e46 with an electric motor instead of an ICE. Literally the same car. Same tech.
You know, I hadn’t considered this but yes. I daily an e36, I’d happily take the giant cast iron inline 6 out, and replace it with an electric motor attached to the stock drive train. Find places to hide the batteries and inverters.
Someone else’s. More gas for me.
I was going to say, my ideal EV runs on a magic juice that is available everywhere, can be replenished in minutes, will perform the same regardless of weather… I don’t know, I could even take extra cans of the stuff if I really wanted to go far off the beaten path. It would also sometimes allow me to grab a wrench and work on it myself if something breaks too.
We are obviously brothers from different mothers!
The Aptera would be an excellent vehicle – my daily driving is about 50 miles a day so I would outdrive the 40 miles/day passive solar recharge, but I could just let it charge over the weekend to recoup the difference and never have to plug the thing into the wall. That would be a gamechanger. Hopefully it actually comes to market unlike Elio.