Driver Awareness: Aptera Acquires Andromeda Interfaces
Aptera recently acquired Andromeda Interfaces, a company that it was already working with to develop its upcoming vehicle’s user interface.
One of the biggest things Andromeda brings to the table is its Energy Tipster software. While other manufacturers have trip planning software, that requires you to pick a destination and a route at the beginning of a drive to get an accurate estimation of whether you’ll get to the destination or to the next charger. With Andromeda’s software, you can get a lot more information about range and efficiency than other manufacturers are providing drivers.
One way it does this is by giving drivers an idea about things they can do to get more range. As you can see on the above image, it gives the driver options to increase calculated range and how much each option would add to it. For example, you could add 5 miles by cutting the HVAC fan off and gain 10 miles by using the seat heaters instead of the regular heater. It appears that this would also give other tips as situations change, giving a true dynamic experience to the driver to maximize range as needed.
As the featured image shows, they’re also going to offer a map that shows everywhere you could go on what charge the car has left. The example shows San Diego, and shows what appears to be a vehicle that doesn’t have much battery left. Instead of needing to input different destinations to see if you can make the charger or home, it can instead show you a map of everywhere the vehicle can actually go. This gives a two-dimensional view letting the driver make choices instead of a one-dimensional route.
“We’ve been lucky enough to have worked with Brian and the Andromeda team for many years, and we’re routinely amazed at their ability to disrupt the industry and put efficiency at the forefront of their technology. Acquiring Andromeda was the strategic next step as we ramp to production, and we’re confident that this acquisition will not only benefit our timeline, but also the end-user experience for drivers.” said Aptera Co-CEO, Chris Anthony.
Anyone who has hypermiled knows that behavior is at least as important as an efficient vehicle. The most efficient vehicles can get terrible mileage or range if driven poorly, and even the most inefficient vehicles can be surprisingly efficient if driven carefully by someone who understands how vehicle efficiency works. But most people don’t know a lot about automotive technology and don’t have the time or the interest in developing the kind of skill necessary to hypermile.
What makes these sorts of driver interfaces revolutionary is that they lower the skill level needed to make efficiency decisions. By being able to visualize a vehicle’s efficiency and know at a glance what one can do to get better efficiency, a driver can be a lot more like a hypermiler without having to make it their hobby. So, it really makes sense for Aptera to bring this kind of expertise in-house and bake it into their overall effort.
Do you think we’ve helped you understand Aptera better? If so, feel free to use my Aptera referral code to get $30 off your own reservation. This will help CleanTechnica get Aptera test vehicles to feature in articles in the future!
Featured image and Energy Tipster screenshot by Aptera.
Have a tip for CleanTechnica? Want to advertise? Want to suggest a guest for our CleanTech Talk podcast? Contact us here.
Latest CleanTechnica.TV Video
CleanTechnica uses affiliate links. See our policy here.
