Fambro

Fambro says the car will go 600 miles with the generator running.

APTERA Diesel-Electric Hybrid Car On Sale Now! | Inhabitat 2007

Fambro says that folks are already putting in their orders.

CNN Transcript Jun 5, 2008 2008

Fambro originally predicted the equivalent of 330 miles per gasoline gallon.

1 Gallon of Gas, 100 Miles — $10 Million: The Race to Build the Supergreen Car Eric Hagerman 2007

Our instructions are to take one lap at 50 to 55 mph and head back to the pit, but as we come to the exit Anthony stomps on the accelerator and, with the whine of the drive belt filling the uninsulated composite cabin, we blow by Fambro in his Ford Five Hundred.

1 Gallon of Gas, 100 Miles — $10 Million: The Race to Build the Supergreen Car Eric Hagerman 2007

Fambro will describe the battery system only as a mix-and-match package of several chemistries, lithium-ion included.

1 Gallon of Gas, 100 Miles — $10 Million: The Race to Build the Supergreen Car Eric Hagerman 2007

"I don't want to say it was an epiphany, because anyone who's looked into this knows that at highway speeds, 60percent of the energy goes to push air out of the way," Fambro says.

1 Gallon of Gas, 100 Miles — $10 Million: The Race to Build the Supergreen Car Eric Hagerman 2007

Fambro hired designer Jason Hill, who did the original work on the Smart Fortwo and the body styling on the Porsche Carrera GT.

1 Gallon of Gas, 100 Miles — $10 Million: The Race to Build the Supergreen Car Eric Hagerman 2007

Several days later Fambro emails me to report the data they collected: According to the AXP spreadsheet, the Aptera has more than double the efficiency it needs to qualify: It gets 340mpg and spews only 78 grams of greenhouse gases.

1 Gallon of Gas, 100 Miles — $10 Million: The Race to Build the Supergreen Car Eric Hagerman 2007

But to actually produce the Typ-1, Fambro needed an inexpensive method for producing a lightweight, high-strength body that could be molded into the crazy shape he envisioned.

1 Gallon of Gas, 100 Miles — $10 Million: The Race to Build the Supergreen Car Eric Hagerman 2007

Then, Fambro says, "I chained him to a desk" with Aptera's aerodynamicist, Miles Wheeler.

1 Gallon of Gas, 100 Miles — $10 Million: The Race to Build the Supergreen Car Eric Hagerman 2007