Aptera: Skip X Prize, Proceed Directly To Movie Set

Alternative Energy, aptera, automotive x prize, captain kirk, celebrities, io9, j.j. abrams...

Aptera: Skip X Prize, Proceed Directly To Movie Set

The Aptera, which has been the poster child for the entire Automotive X Prize, is forgetting about trying to win that $10 million trophy and getting famous elsewhere—and that elsewhere is on the big screen. Recent reports are saying that the Aptera has been spotted on the set of the new Star Trek movie.

The new Star Trek flick, directed by J.J. Abrams and slated for an early May release, tells the story of James T. Kirk's youth and education at Star Fleet Academy. Word has it that Kirk and his homies cruise the campus for hot tail in the Aptera, which in the real world will allegedly get 30 mpg. Who needs a dilithium-guzzling shuttlecraft? I wonder if Kirk & Co. will exercise the Prime Directive with the fetching young cadets they cruise... Actually, it doesn't surprise me that the Aptera would wind up on the big screen. It looks as if it was borrowed from the future. The Sci Fi Channel should just go ahead and build a whole show around it. [Livescience]

5:30 PM on Wed Mar 26 2008
By Travis Hudson
2,920 views
37 comments

Comments

deskman at 05:37 PM on 03/26/08
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my slant six dart makes this turd look lowtech.
karmakid at 05:43 PM on 03/26/08
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i bet if you turn it upside down and make the rear the front u got a perfect lil starship
Kelly at 05:43 PM on 03/26/08
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30 MPG?! What powers it? A 49cc Weedeater engine?

Hold on, I know what should be powering it...

Wait for it.

Yep, Hayabusa!!!!
AdmiralAutobahn at 05:43 PM on 03/26/08
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Herman Zimmerman and Andrew Probert would be rolling over in their graves. If they were dead.
graverobber- Same... at 05:43 PM on 03/26/08
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... which in the real world will allegedly get 30 mpg. Huh? Why is 30MPG notable?
karmakid at 05:45 PM on 03/26/08
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@Kelly: lol warp drive hayabusa engine, hayabusa FTMFW
AdmiralAutobahn at 05:45 PM on 03/26/08
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If Kirk needs a dilithium powered pussy magnet, they should cruise campus in a Veyron.
kleinlowe at 05:45 PM on 03/26/08
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This doesn't need the hayabusa, this needs the turbine engine.
charles_barrett at 05:48 PM on 03/26/08
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...Yes, but does it have an optional Tribble upholstery scheme like yesterday's Citroën...?
graverobber- Same... at 05:50 PM on 03/26/08
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@charles_barrett: I'm just hoping all the women (and some of the men for you my friend) will be wearing futuristically-short skirts.
TR3-A at 05:52 PM on 03/26/08
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"All we need is about a pound of antimatter..."
ruggels at 06:00 PM on 03/26/08
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"Huh? Why is 30MPG notable?"

Because it's a mistype, the car is rumored to achieve 300mpg in hybrid mode or 120 miles in the electric version. it also holds up to 7' longish-short boards. mmm... surf boards on top of batteries, awesome!
Vizzini at 06:00 PM on 03/26/08
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@charles_barrett: Okay, so today you beat me to the tribble reference. Lemme try something else ...

Don't wear a red shirt while riding in this thing. That would dramatically increase the likelihood that you get left behind, vaporized or turned into a block of styrofoam.
AdmiralAutobahn at 06:01 PM on 03/26/08
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Forgot to add, that Veyron should be equipped with a euro plate that reads REAR ADMIRAL.
deskman at 06:04 PM on 03/26/08
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my ass docotor in orlando has that plate.
dOk at 06:07 PM on 03/26/08
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Hasn't anyone ( including the writer of this artivle) even bothered to go look at the Site for the Aptera or at least catch part of a program that featured it?

The only running Aptera has been the full electric one so far. Which will be the 1st version offered for sale.

The hybrid is still being developed so I have no idea where you are getting the 30 mpg yet as there isn't a running test model as far as I know ( and as a hybrid it will most likely do better than 30mpg).
charles_barrett at 06:07 PM on 03/26/08
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@Vizzini: Bravo! In college we used to make reference to "the redshirts" as the disposable cast members.

What do you think they'll use for the dubbed vehicle noise while tooling aroud the academy? I think "The Jetsons" vehicle sound effect would work well...
charles_barrett at 06:10 PM on 03/26/08
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@graverobber: Anything clingy and form-fitting, like in "The 300"...
stopcrazypp at 06:13 PM on 03/26/08
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I think anyone can come to a logical conclusion that the 30mpg was probably a typo. Consider the X-Prize requires at least 100mpg to qualify, so it wouldn't make sense if it was just 30mpg.
graverobber- Same... at 06:33 PM on 03/26/08
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@stopcrazypp: Well that's what I thought, but what do I know?! This looks like it's from that Star-Trek future all the kids are talking about. How do I know that then, 30 MPG won't be amazing? I never assume, I always ask.
Smells_Homeless at 06:37 PM on 03/26/08
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Hey, what if it was 30 MPG of water? That would be pretty noteworthy, eh?
charles_barrett at 06:43 PM on 03/26/08
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@Smells_Homeless: Yeah! Cold-fusion for the win...!
akirachan at 06:52 PM on 03/26/08
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Sure, it's gonna get 300mpg. Great! But look how wide this friggin thing is...is twice as wide as a Pacer!

Seriously, it's not going to fit into my driveway. It barely fits a Chevy truck!
GiltProto at 07:08 PM on 03/26/08
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It better have the name "Galileo" painted on it for the movie.
charles_barrett at 07:38 PM on 03/26/08
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@GiltProto: ??? Too subtle for me... "Galileo" as in shuttlecraft Galileo, where they encounter Zefram Cochrane on a planet with a maternal alien overseer...?
OneWithNature at 08:05 PM on 03/26/08
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The hoons running jalop made a typing error, it doesnt get 30 mpg, it gets 230 mpg.
MeDuh at 08:06 PM on 03/26/08
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@charles_barrett: Don't remind me, i'm almost as scarred for life as the poor vicious tribbles.
Fitty7lax at 08:14 PM on 03/26/08
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It was, I saw it on a leaked photo of the set a few days ago. It was parked under an arch off to the edge of a big quad.
smokyburnout at 08:45 PM on 03/26/08
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wouldn't an Aptera be something like a 300 year old car in the Star Trek universe? or are they impying it won't be going into production for a while? maybe they'll wait for all the vehicles that would crush an Aptera in a low-speed collsion (SUVs, semis, original Honda Civics...) to rust away...
ranwhenparked at 09:26 PM on 03/26/08
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@smokyburnout:

Hollywood love a good anachronism. If you look closely, you can see some Commodore PET-1s in Star Wars Episode 4- despite being set in the past, in another galaxy.
EquinsuOcha at 09:47 PM on 03/26/08
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I bet you could pull all kinds of green chick ass with that thing.
Number_Six at 11:54 PM on 03/26/08
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You'd fall out of love with that thing the first time you misjudged a parallel-parking manoeuvre and ripped a wheel off.
Elhigh at 07:39 AM on 03/27/08
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I tearfully reject this awful idea for its provenance. Look at the many other interesting concepts that were fielded in movies, and ask yourself where they are now.

GM Ultralight, featured in "Demolition Man" MIA
Dodge Wraith, in the godawful eponymous film, MIA
Ford Mustang from "I Am Legend," whored to irrelevance
GMC Motorhome in "Stripes," reviled by oldsters everywhere.

I could go on, but O the pain. It is too much.

Alas, Aptera, we'll never see you on the road now. Only crawling at half-impulse across the silver screen, ferrying a drunk and horny Kirk and an aloof and annoyed Spock, with a slightly tipsy, slightly sassy, very disheveled Uhura in the back, looking for her bra.
AlfaCharger at 09:03 AM on 03/27/08
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@graverobber:

Jalops sister site, IO9 has production pictures of the new Star Trek and yes, the Gals will be in minis. An Aptera like vehicle is also pictured.

[io9.com]

For the guys just picture Zapp Brannigan.
SundaySunday at 09:25 AM on 03/27/08
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Star Trek?!?! Darn, when you said the Aptera was being featured in a movie I had my hopes up that someone was remaking Woody Allen's Sleeper.
p.r.o.t.o at 12:22 PM on 03/27/08
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i wager 14 quatloos that not only will the aptera be as crappy as it is retarded, but also that imperial douchebag status will be all but a prerequisite for ownership. gods, i can only imagine the resultant smug levels when/IF that eco-P.O.S. hits the road.
JONNRG at 01:31 PM on 03/27/08
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@elhigh:

Some notable concepts featured in movies that did go on to sales sucess:

Ford Taurus in "RoboCop", Went on to be the top selling car in the US.
Cadillac CTS in "The Matrix", Started Cadillac's return to relevance.
Chevy Camaro in "Transformers", What? It's still not for sale? Nevermind.