Coordinates	39°44′21″N104°59′5″N
name	Aptera 2 Series
manufacturer	Aptera Motors, Inc.
aka	Aptera 2e, ,Aptera 2h
production	2011 ''(planned)''
assembly	United States
predecessor	Aptera Mk-1
class	Subcompact
body style	2-door three wheeled car
layout	Front-engine, front-wheel drive layout
engine	2e: Remy 82kW electric motor2h: Gasoline generator + Electric Motor
transmission	2e: Borg-Warner single ratio transaxle2h: Series hybrid layout
wheelbase
length
width
height
weight
fuel capacity	2e: 20 kWh Lithium iron phosphate battery2h: 5 gallons of gasoline
electric range	2e: 2h:
designer	Eleven
sp	us }}

The Aptera 2 Series (formerly the Aptera Typ-1) is an upcoming high-efficiency passenger three-wheeled automobile produced by Aptera Motors. The California-based company opened a pre-ordering process for residents of California, but stopped taking deposits in July 2011, and on August 12, 2011, Aptera announced it will return all deposits from customers who had signed up to buy an Aptera 2e electric car or the planned 2h hybrid.

The first variant of the 2 Series slated for production is the Aptera 2e (formerly Typ-1e), a battery electric vehicle. Aptera claims the 2e will accelerate from in less than 10 seconds, and be capable of reaching a top speed of over . A later variant will be the Aptera 2h (formerly Typ-1h), a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle. According to Aptera, the 2 Series will be priced from the mid-s to mids, depending on the variant and options selected by the buyer.

An Aptera 2 made a short appearance in the 2009 film ''Star Trek''.

History

Design and fuel consumption

The Aptera 2 Series is expected to be a low-energy vehicle; early estimates of its energy consumption ran as low as 80 watt-hours/mi at 55 mph. Later estimates are as high as 200Wh for aggressive driving. The company stated in September 2009 that "if Aptera was given an official EPA rating [the fuel-efficiency figure assigned to all cars by the US Gov], it would be 851 mpg", suggesting that it is 2.2 times more efficient than Nissan Leaf. The Aptera 2 Series has a drag coefficient (C_d) of 0.15, compared with 0.19 for the record-holding EV1, and 0.24 for the 2010 Mercedes-Benz E-Class Coupé, currently the lowest for a mass-produced car. The Aptera's atypical shape is a result of extensive optimization in a virtual wind tunnel. It uses recessed windshield wipers and low rolling resistance tires.

The prototype attained a C_d of 0.11 by making use of an "Eyes-Forward" rear-view camera system instead of side-view mirrors, which create a large amount of drag. A September 2008 Aptera newsletter showed a rendering of the car featuring a conventional driver-side mirror and no driver-side rear-view camera. Aptera CTO Steve Fambro has stated that the system was simplified to make use of a single camera mounted near the top of the vehicle.

The body design is similar to the human-powered 'Pegasus' and 'Fusion' vehicles and the MIT Aztec, but the direct inspiration was the Volkswagen 1-litre car.

The Aptera 2 Series is a three-wheeled vehicle with front-wheel drive. On March 23, 2010, Aptera announced their use of BorgWarner's 31-03 eGearDrive transmission for the 2e drive train. An April 14, 2010 press release announced further suppliers: A123Systems for the 20kWh lithium iron phosphate battery pack, and Remy International, Inc. for the 82 kW HVH250 electric motor.

The freeway range is promised to be around with two passengers and some luggage. They plan to offer a SAE J1772 compatible charging system, at either 110 or 220V.

Plug-in series hybrid

An early Aptera 2h design used a "small, water-cooled EFI Gasoline engine with closed loop oxygen feedback and catalytic converter," coupled with a 12 kW generator/starter. With a tank capacity of "up to five gallons," the Aptera 2h would have a claimed range of , compared to the range of the Aptera 2e. The 2h will be a series hybrid: the engine would not be connected to the drivetrain, instead being used to recharge the batteries.

As with any plug-in hybrid, fuel economy of the Aptera 2h depends on trip length and battery charge. For trips of less than about after a full charge the engine may not turn on at all, resulting in approximately the same energy consumption as the pure electric model: 96 watt-hours/mi. If on the other hand the car was never plugged in, the Aptera 2h would get . Aptera Motors quotes , which applies to a trip after a full charge. They justify this by stating that 99% of Americans drive less than daily.

Safety

Because the Aptera 2 Series has only three wheels, most states in the US classify the vehicle as a motorcycle. This means that safety and emissions tests are not mandatory, as they are for automobiles.

Despite this, Aptera Motors has emphasized that safety has had a high priority in the vehicle's design. Aptera Motors has performed simulated crash tests using ABAQUS FEA software, crush testing on structural components, and is planning real-world crash tests before production. The Aptera 2e features a Formula One-inspired passenger safety cell and boxed sandwich foam core composite structures. Frontal crumple distance is , large for a vehicle of its size. As the body is above most cars' bumpers, a colliding vehicle's bumper will travel under the body, deflecting the energy. Despite its height, the placement of the heavy batteries lowers the center-of-mass of the Aptera 2 Series, a design similar to the highly stable Commuter Cars Tango. Driver and passenger airbag-in-seatbelts are also provided.

Accessories and interior

The design intent model, revealed on April 14, 2010, seats two adults, has power windows, cup holders, and has of cargo capacity, enough for a couple of surfboards or a dozen bags of groceries. It will use LED running and interior lights to reduce power consumption. An optional solar panel mounted on the roof runs the heat pump during the day. This keeps the interior comfortable and reduces the size of the heat pump needed. The seats can be heated or cooled by forced air, both for comfort and efficiency reasons. The only comfort downside is that the suspension has been described as "hard".

Radio, CD/DVD/MP3 player, and GPS navigation are integrated into an in-console touch screen carputer, based on Moblin by Wind River Systems, but the climate control uses physical dials. It will also have RFID-based keyless ignition and entry and scarab doors.

To reduce the ecological footprint of construction, EcoSpun recycled materials and organic dyes will be used for the seats and flooring, and the dashboard and the door panels are free of heavy metals and plasticizers. Aptera also plans to have leatherette and leather seats as options.

See also

Computational fluid dynamics

Finite element analysis

Plug-in electric vehicle

Notes

External links

Category:Electric cars Category:Electric motorcycles Category:Battery electric vehicles Category:Plug-in hybrid vehicles Category:Hybrid electric vehicles Category:Three-wheeled motor vehicles Category:Upcoming automobiles Category:Proposed electric automobiles

de:Aptera 2 Series fr:Aptera (automobile) pt:Aptera 2e

Coordinates	39°44′21″N104°59′5″N
name	Seth Godin
birth date	July 10, 1960
occupation	author, marketing guru
website	sethgodin.com }}

Seth Godin (born July 10, 1960) is an American entrepreneur, author and public speaker. Godin popularized the topic of permission marketing.

Background

Born in Mount Vernon, New York, Seth Godin graduated from Tufts University in 1979 with a degree in computer science and philosophy. Godin earned his MBA in marketing from Stanford Business School. From 1983 to 1986, he worked as a brand manager at Spinnaker Software. For a time Godin commuted every week between California and Boston both to do his new job and to complete his MBA.

After leaving Spinnaker Software in 1986, Godin used $20,000 in savings to found Seth Godin Productions, primarily a book packaging business, out of a studio apartment in New York City. It was in the same offices that Godin met Mark Hurst and founded Yoyodyne. After a few years Godin sold the book packaging business to his employees and focused his efforts on Yoyodyne, one of the first online marketing companies. It was with Yoyodyne that Godin came up with the concept of permission marketing. For a period of time, Godin served as a columnist for ''Fast Company''

Godin and his wife Helene now live in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York with their two sons.

Viewpoints

Godin believes that the end of the "TV-Industrial complex" means that marketers no longer have the power to command the attention of anyone they choose, whenever they choose. Second, in a marketplace in which consumers have more power, he thinks marketers must show more respect; this means no spam, no deceit and a bias for keeping promises. Finally, Godin asserts that the only way to spread the word about an idea is for that idea to earn the buzz by being remarkable. Godin refers to those who spread these ideas as "Sneezers", and to the spreading idea as an "IdeaVirus." He calls a remarkable product or service a purple cow. Yahoo! currently has a model of a purple cow in the lobby of its Sunnyvale campus.

Advertisements on television and radio are classified as 'interruption marketing' which interrupt the customer while they are doing something of their preference. Godin introduced the concept of "permission marketing" where the business provides something "anticipated, personal, and relevant".

Business ventures

Yoyodyne

In 1995, Godin launched Yoyodyne which used contests, online games, and scavenger hunts to market companies to participating users. In August, 1996, venture-capital firm Flatiron Partners invested $4 million in Yoyodyne in return for a 20% stake. The site gained significant traction, with over one million viewers visiting the site, and companies like America Online, American Express, H&R; Block, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble, Sony Music, Sprint, and Volvo using its services.

At Yoyodyne, Godin developed the principle of permission marketing and authored ''Permission Marketing: Turning strangers into friends and friends into customers''.

In 1998, Godin sold Yoyodyne to Yahoo! for $30 million and became Yahoo's vice president of direct marketing, a position he held until 2000.

Squidoo

In March 2006, Godin launched Squidoo, a community website allowing users to create pages (called "lenses") for subjects of interest. The site donates 5% of the profits to charity, and 50% to the lensmasters. Godin and Squidoo have been profiled on CNN and the Washington Post. The site was given top prize in SXSW's community/wiki category. As of July 2008, Squidoo is one of the 500 most visited sites in the world.

Other projects

ChangeThis

Godin developed the idea for ChangeThis, a website aimed at spreading ideas through PDF files. In the summer of 2004, Godin hired five interns—Amit Gupta, Catherine Hickey, Noah Weiss, Phoebe Espiritu and Michelle Sriwongtong—to build and develop the website. The website went live on August 14, 2004. Tom Peters, Chris Anderson, and Guy Kawasaki all had manifestos featured on ChangeThis. In July 2005, ChangeThis was turned over to 800-CEO-READ, the leading distributor of business literature in the United States.

Six month alternative MBA program

In December 2008, Godin announced in a blog post that he would be offering a six month alternative MBA program at his office in Hastings on Hudson, NY. 48,000 people looked at the post and 340 applied. He invited 27 applicants to his office for a group interview. They spent two hours interviewing one another. After co-mingling, they and Godin together wrote down the names of their favorite candidates. Three weeks later the chosen 9 showed up at Godin's office. This group graduated in July 2009.

Books

Godin is the author of 11 books; his ''Free Prize Inside'' was a Forbes Business Book of the Year in 2004, in its first two years of release, ''Purple Cow'' sold over 150,000 copies in more than 23 printings. ''The Dip'' was a Business Week and New York Times bestseller. And Godin has called his free ebook ''Unleashing the Ideavirus'' the most "popular ebook ever written". In the early 1990s he created a ten book series for children titled ''Worlds of Power'', which was written by various writers. In each the plot of a single video game was told in a novelized form.

Beginning with ''Permission Marketing'', Godin uses the concepts discussed in the books to promote the book. For ''Permission Marketing'', Godin gave 1/3 of the book away for free to anyone who sent an e-mail. For ''Unleashing the Ideavirus'', Godin released the entire eBook on the Internet for free, which led to eventual publishing deals in 41 countries and a public speaking career. For ''Purple Cow'', Godin created a milk carton container for the book which generated attention from work colleagues. For ''Tribes'', Godin launched an exclusive online community for the first 3000 people who pre-ordered the book. For Linchpin, Godin gave the book away for three weeks before its release for free to anyone willing to give $30 to the Acumen Fund for the $20 book, and raised $100,000 for the Acumen Fund.

Bibliography

''Book online'' - Detailing the idea of Viral marketing

Blog

Godin's blog, is ranked in the ''AdAge Power 150'' as the #1 marketing blog out of 976 tracked.

References

External links

Official site

Great New Interview with Seth Godin

Seth Godin on TED

An interview with Seth Godin on ''The Marketplace of Ideas''

Category:1960 births Category:Living people Category:American business writers Category:American business theorists Category:Business speakers Category:American bloggers Category:Stanford Graduate School of Business alumni Category:Tufts University alumni

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