Where Can You Go In An EV With 1000 Miles Of Range, Like The Aptera? (Part 2) – CleanTechnica

Cars

Published on January 30th, 2021 | by Jennifer Sensiba

January 30th, 2021 by Jennifer Sensiba

In a previous article, I started to explore what one could do in a vehicle with 1000 miles of range, such as the upcoming Aptera. I started by looking at one of the kings of rural trips: the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. That was a piece of cake. Then, I looked at crossing Texas. Once again, piece of cake. At that point, I started having problems with A Better Routeplanner, but the issues have since been resolved.

To review, I take other vehicles in the app and turn them into an Aptera by changing the efficiency and charger types to match approximately what the manufacturer predicts.

Lets take a look at some more long trips! Lets do the longest trip across Texas, from Texline to Boca Chica.

The 919 mile trip was a cinch. The 1000 mile EV wouldnt be able to go across in one go, because highway driving at Texas speeds mixed with elevation changes eats the range down faster than ideal conditions. With one stop for just a few minutes, that trip wouldnt be an issue at all. One could easily go see a SpaceX launch if they lived at the furthest part of Texas.

Crossing the US is a cinch, too. New York to L.A. looks like this:

Without speeding, the car would beat the current EV Cannonball record by sheer efficiency. If you made regular use of the Apteras 110 MPH top speed, ABRP says this would be theoretically possible in just a hair over 33 hours, which would beat the record by over 11 hours.

So, whether you go slow or fast, going across the country would be a relative breeze compared to current EVs. Efficiency rocks!

Theres basically nothing in the Continental US that this cars simulations dont seem to be able to handle with ease. Lets try Forks, Washington to Key West, Florida:

Theres one leg of this trip that the software recommends keeping the speed to 75 MPH for, but theres not a problem taking the trip. 3,676 miles will be no problem in the Aptera when it comes out later this year.

Now, lets give the thing a bigger challenge. On default settings it wasnt able to go from Anchorage, Alaska to Key West. However, by adding a stop at the Tok RV Village & Cabins for a night, the trip became possible.

Youd need to bring your own EVSE with a J1772 or Tesla plug (depending on what the final Aptera has) that can be powered by an NEMA 14-50 to do this, but the trip is very much possible. Also, if youre going to do this, be sure to give the place a call and make sure theyll let you charge on an RV post and stay in a cabin. And plan a backup site somewhere.

Better yet, look at my article on taking rural EV trips. Youll probably want to get an amateur radio license, a radio, and bring along cold weather gear just in case you get stuck out there. I also wouldnt dare to attempt such a trip in the winter. Basically, take this trip at your own risk.

5772 miles, even in places with iffy infrastructure, is quite an accomplishment for our simulated Aptera EV.

Since were virtually pushing the limits here, lets look at what it would take to run the whole Pan-Am Highway!

If you charge overnight in Chihuahua, Mexico and Guatemala City, the car wouldnt have any problems going all the way to Yaviza, Panama. Assuming you arent robbed and left for dead on the side of the road somewhere on that route, of course. The ABRP map shows slow sections on the screenshot, but by manually putting in DC fast chargers it doesnt know about, it really wouldnt require any slowdowns.

I was getting too many waypoints going, and had to settle for this, but if you planned this in several segments, going from Anchorage to Yaviza wouldnt be an issue, really.

To continue the trip down into South America, youd need to either hope the off-road package can get you through some of the toughest terrain and bogs in the Americas, and hope that the many drug runners, revolutionaries, and other dangerous people dont decide you are a good target. Or, you could take a ferry. I dont know anything about the ferry service to get you into Colombia, but it does exist. Its not a trip Ill be taking, but feel free to look that part up yourself.

Heres what it looks like once the ferry or extreme luck gets you through to Columbia:

ABRP doesnt seem to know where most stations are in South America. Plugshare does show enough stations for an Aptera to make it down the coast as far as Chile on DC fast charging. After that, it would be a bigger challenge:

Theres one hotel further down in Chile that would allow you to make it down to the bottom of South America if you drove carefully. Youd have to use ABRP to manually input each segment of the trip in South America, so its possible to make it down that far. If you did more intelligence gathering, you might find places that would let you use a wall plug that far south, but it appears to be possible. Some long stops with solar charging might even help with this.

In sum, a 13,230 mile drive is possible in an Aptera if youre adventurous enough and plan the right overnight stops for charging. The whole Pan-Am Highway is possible, it seems.

In a future article, Im going to look into some other global routes outside of the Americas. Id definitely appreciate any ideas you might have on some trips to simulate. Could the Aptera make it from South Africa to Norway? What about London to Beijing? It would be a lot harder to simulate, because the ABRP software doesnt seem to know of many chargers in many developing countries that have a surprisingly good DCFC infrastructure, but using a combination of manual entry of points in ABRP and Plugshare data would probably do the job.

What routes would you like to see our virtual Aptera do?

If youre going to preorder an Aptera, and you feel like weve given you good information about Aptera,feel free to use our referral linkto make your preorder. Youll save $30, and we will get an Aptera of our own for detailed testing.

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Tags: alaska, Aptera, Florida, Los Angeles, New York, Pan Am Highway

Jennifer Sensiba Jennifer Sensiba is a long time efficient vehicle enthusiast, writer, and photographer. She grew up around a transmission shop, and has been experimenting with vehicle efficiency since she was 16 and drove a Pontiac Fiero. She likes to explore the Southwest US with her partner, kids, and animals.Follow her on Twitter for her latest articles and other random things: https://twitter.com/JenniferSensibaDo you think I've been helpful in your understanding of Tesla, clean energy, etc? Feel free to use my Tesla referral code to get yourself (and me) some small perks and discounts on their cars and solar products. https://www.tesla.com/referral/jennifer90562

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Where Can You Go In An EV With 1000 Miles Of Range, Like The Aptera? (Part 2) - CleanTechnica