![Aptera Motors to integrate openpilot driver assistance system into its solar EVs [Video]](https://i0.wp.com/electrek.co/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2023/03/Aptera-driver-assistance-openpilot.jpg?resize=1200,628&quality=82&strip=all&ssl=1)
Aptera Motors to integrate openpilot driver assistance system into its solar EVs [Video]
Aptera Motors is back with its second exciting news update this week, announcing it has selected an open-source driver assistance system called “openpilot” as its official system that will be integrated into its production model solar EVs.
Aptera Motors continues to take large strides in 2023 on its journey to reaching the holy grail of scaled EV production, hopefully sometime next year. The startup’s recently-extended Accelerator program should help it garner some big funding to purchase the necessary equipment for SEV production, which will be reimbursed by a recently-awarded grant in California for $21 million.
We got our first glimpse of Aptera’s Launch Edition this past January, and the hype train for the first commercialized solar EV keeps chugging along. If and when those Launch Editions roll off Aptera’s assembly line, we now know drivers will be able to utilize functions like adaptive cruise control and lane centering thanks to the openpilot driver assistance system.
Aptera selects top-ranked driver assistance system
According to the news from Aptera Motors today, its engineers will create and maintain the necessary code specific to its solar EV that can interface with the open-source driver assistance system openpilot, originally developed by comma.ai, though the companies currently have zero affiliation.
Previously voted the number one driver assistance system by Consumer Reports, openpilot is the only consumer system available (aside from Tesla) that can halt at stop signs and red lights, while only using 1/10th the power. As a result, Aptera states future owners should see virtually-zero efficiency loss while using the driver assistance system. Veteran openpilot community member Chris McCammon is spearheading the Aptera integration and shared his thoughts on how the open-source system has evolved since 2017:
Since then, the software has matured immensely and now supports over 200 vehicle models with an easy-to-install kit. Even though openpilot has vastly surpassed nearly all driver assistance systems on the market today, big auto players have not embraced it. They continue to throw hundreds of millions of dollars into developing their own inferior systems, while openpilot is open-source software that anyone can implement for free.
Free.
That’s another savvy business move by Aptera Motors as it looks to minimize expenses in finally… hopefully, bringing its long-promised SEVs to the masses. Aptera cofounder and co-CEO Steve Fambro is already a fan:
I’ve been using openpilot in my existing vehicle for over 6 months and have been blown away. It has completely changed how I drive, and I can’t picture a more efficient way for Aptera drivers to be a part of the autonomous future.
Aptera says that it is currently deciphering exactly how openpilot driver assistance can best be integrated into its vehicles and that several validation steps will be required leading up to the solar EV’s start of production. Right now, the plan is to deliver openpilot-capable SEVs to customers, who will then receive a shipment of the compatible hardware that can be installed thereafter in under 30 minutes.
You can learn more about openpilot and its integration into future Aptera vehicles from McCammon in the video posted by the startup this afternoon.
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Climate XChange’s 9th Annual EV Raffle is your chance to win the electric car of your dreams – from Rivian to Tesla to Porsche and more!
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Climate XChange EV Raffle rules summary
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China just connected its largest single-capacity solar farm built on a former coal mining area, which is in the Gobi Desert, to the grid.
The Mengxi Blue Ocean Photovoltaic Power Station, located in Otog Front Banner, Ordos, Inner Mongolia, came online on November 5. With a massive installed capacity of 3 gigawatts (GW) and over 5.9 million solar panels, the plant will generate around 5.7 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually – enough to power 2 million households.
This huge project will save about 1.71 million tons of standard coal each year and cut carbon dioxide emissions by roughly 4.7 million tons, which is equivalent to planting 62,700 hectares (around 155,000 acres) of trees.
Built on coal mining subsidence land, Mengxi Blue Ocean is part of China’s national West-East Electricity Transfer Project, which brings investment and development to western China west while supplying the growing need for electricity in the eastern provinces.
The solar farm includes the country’s first large-scale outdoor solar testing base in the Gobi Desert climate, demonstrating the potential for large solar installations in challenging environments.
The power station makes use of new rare earth alloy grounding materials, cutting costs by 40%. It also replaces traditional concrete foundations with steel to minimize impact on the local grassland ecosystem.
Chuang Xihong, deputy director of the Engineering Construction Department of Guodian Power Group, CHN Energy’s parent company, explained that Mengxi Blue Ocean is an agrivoltaic project as well [via PV Tech]:
Fine forage and sand-fixing plants are planted under the PV modules, providing grazing for Australian White Sheep and chickens. A composite ecological development model will be established where PV power generation and breeding will go hand in hand.
Read more: China powers up the world’s largest open-sea offshore solar farm
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