Aptera confirmed that it plans to use Tesla’s charge connector, known as the North American Charging Standard (NACS), in its solar electric car, as per Electrek.
Earlier this November, Tesla surprised many by announcing it’s opening its EV charge connector in hopes of making it North America’s new standard.
Aptera is a California-based company producing a battery and solar-powered super-efficient three-wheeler electric car. It claims up to 1,000 miles of range by making the vehicle lightweight, with three wheels and a 0.13 drag coefficient (Cd).
When building a super-efficient vehicle like that, every little bit of volume and weight improvement is crucial down to the connector. Notably, an Aptera SEV’s early prototype featured a Tesla connector.
Petition for Tesla charge connector to be standard
A few months before Tesla opened its charging standard, Aptera released a petition for Tesla’s charge connector to be the new standard for EVs in North America. It accumulated nearly 40,000 signatures before Tesla got on board.
“Remember when our founders started a conversation about the need for a greater emphasis on efficiency and accessibility in EV charging infrastructure? Steve and Chris launched a petition urging policymakers to implement Tesla’s connector and plug (now NACS) as the standard for EV charging in the US With your support, the petition continues to gain momentum.” noted Aptera in an email to reservation holders and investors.
The company extended its gratitude to its community for helping push the petition and confirmed its plans to incorporate Tesla’s connector (the North American Charging Standard).
“It has received over 40,000 signatures and counting. And just four months later, Tesla announced its decision to open its connector design to the world. We are willing to bet the buzz you generated around the petition played a part in this, and we look forward to incorporating NACS in our sEVs. Thank you for challenging the status quo.”
Aptera’s electric solar car production and delivery
In the coming months, Aptera plans to begin production of its solar electric car, starting at $25,900. Deliveries are expected to begin in 2023, and there’s already a lot of demand for the vehicle.
The company said it received over 37,000 reservations, each requiring a $100 deposit (or $70 if you use a referral code).
