CES is usually a great time for companies to show off things they are working on. This includes products that will actually make it to the market and products that are futuristic concepts. At CES 2025, Aptera is definitely turning heads with its brand-new solar-powered car.
Old company, new car
At CES 2025, Aptera unveiled a new solar-powered car. For those who have been following the development of electric cars, Aptera’s new car might look familiar. The car’s design builds on the concept of the company’s previous efforts, featuring a three-wheeled vehicle powered by the sun.
The main difference is that Aptera claims it actually plans to produce this car, thanks to help from Italian automotive designer Pininfarina.
Aptera says that its collaboration with Pininfarina will provide it with resources like access to a wind tunnel. This will help refine the design to achieve extremely low drag coefficients.
The company claims that past prototypes managed to achieve drag coefficients of 0.13, making it smaller compared to the Tesla Model 3’s 0.23. Aptera’s new car will feature 700W of solar cells which is good enough to provide up to 40 miles of range each day, just purely on solar energy alone. On a full charge, the car is expected to have a range of about 400 miles.
Back from the dead
In this day and age, when electric cars are synonymous with Tesla, some of you might not realize that Aptera has actually been around for a long time—sort of. The founders established the company in 2005 and created some radical car designs that still look futuristic by today’s standards.
Unfortunately, the company ran into financial issues and eventually closed its doors in 2011. Thanks to the Department of Energy’s Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing program, Aptera has since risen from the dead.
Unlike more modern car companies trying to revolutionize the industry, Aptera has some really far-out ideas. One of the company’s early ideas was a car with three wheels powered by solar panels built into the roof.
Aptera’s recent efforts build on the company’s past designs in many ways. It is sticking with the three-wheeled, solar-powered design. However, it remains to be seen if it will make it to market this time.
If it does, it will definitely have some competition. Solar-powered cars aren’t a new concept, and some companies, like Sono Motors, are working on something similar. Toyota is also planning on releasing an optional solar sunroof for its electric SUV.
