Is The Aptera Actually A Car?

No, according to a United States government loan program.  The three-wheeled electric Aptera, which we talked about some time earlier right here, does not technically qualify as a car, and thus didn’t qualify for loans offered by the program.

Here’s the part that’ll really blow your mind open.  See, the government’s loan program defined “car” as a four-wheeled vehicle.  Thus, the Aptera is out of the game as it only has three wheels.  But, the three-wheeled non-car Aptera is also an electric vehicle, and is pretty much the epitome of everything the Obama administration claims to be looking for in green car tech.

Me personally?  I wouldn’t buy one myself.  Yes, it looks awesome and running on electric guarantees the fuel is cheap, but the biggest problem is that this thing would be eaten alive by wintertime roadways in the northern United States, where I’m from.  Road salt would do horrendous things to that ultralight body, and those three wheels likely would get terrible traction on icy, slushy, or just plain snow-covered roads, doubly worse considering that body is so low-slung it’d likely get caught in any snowdrift over six inches.  It’s a great idea, but it’s got a long way to go before it replaces a solid gas car.