The Weirdest "Car" I've Ever Driven

All right, this is a more risky video, I

would say, because the car that I'm

about to review

isn't out yet. A lot of talk about why

it should be out and why it could come

out soon, but it's not out yet. But the

idea of it is really appealing.

400 miles of range on a fully electric

car with a lightweight battery that only

weighs 2200 lb total and that has solar

panels to get you up to 40 miles per day

of free driving and a starting price of

$35,000.

Who wouldn't want that?

Oh, but it also it looks like that. So,

I've had people sending me this car,

sending me this website, sending me

videos of this thing for years and years

now. Marquez, you should check out the

Upterra, the Abtera project. It's going

to be real soon. It's coming out soon.

And while that part hasn't happened,

there has been some noticeable momentum

for the company getting to production.

Uh, and that's still not guaranteed, but

they were actually able to get this car

here to let me be the first outside of

Atera to drive it and really get to know

the thing and figure out if the idea is

good or not. Spoiler, I think the idea

is really good, but there are so many

things about this car that are just very

different from a normal car. And we got

to go over all that stuff cuz as Doug

would say, there are quite a few quirks

and features and driving it should be

pretty interesting, too. So, let's just

first of all cover what it is. So, this

is a fully electric vehicle cuz it's not

a car. This is actually going to be

licensed and registered as what's called

an auto. So, you might have heard of

these, these little three- wheeled

vehicles that are around that are

essentially the same rules and

regulations and insurance and

registration as a motorcycle, which is

why it has a motorcycle uh license plate

here on the back and none on the front

and even this little light, which is

required by law to illuminate that

motorcycle size license plate. You don't

need a special license in the US to

drive it though. And that battery, which

is 41 usable kilowatt hours, is mostly

distributed along the bottom of the

thing. And then there are solar panels

on the roof. They're on the back trunk

part here. They're on the roof of the

whole vehicle up here. They're on the

nose cone up at the front here. And

they're actually also right behind the

steering wheel or yolk in that dashboard

inside the car.

And so all of that is combined to get

you roughly 400 mi of range base is what

they're promising. And then all of these

solar panels all over the vehicle are

supposed to have it gain roughly 4 1/2

kwatt hours of range per day in ideal

sunny conditions like these. Uh

something like 40 mi max range per day.

So, if you commute less than 40 total

miles a day and it's sunny every day and

you park outside, you can drive this for

free. Now, those fundamentals, I think,

are appealing to a lot of people, but

there's also, as you can see, looking at

it, just an unbelievable amount of of

quirks and features and weird things

about this to achieve that. Sorry, Doug.

I kind of have to use that term. But

basically starting from the nose, you'll

notice the whole thing is designed

around efficiency and aerodynamic

efficiency is maybe the most important

when it comes to cars. So this front

piece here, which has your DRLs and your

blinkers and even your headlights, this

is the beginning of where it cuts

through the air. No front plate because

motorcycles and autocycles don't require

that and that would ruin the air flow.

And the air just sort of flows around

the entire shape of this teardrop

vehicle from front to back. And you can

see this long extended back here. I

don't know if you remember the video I

did on the Mercedes EQXX, which is

another similar project from Mercedes

who has infinite resources to try to

make the most efficient possible vehicle

they can. It also kind of had that long

teardrop shape. So the whole thing is

supposed to glide through the air like a

teardrop. You have this elevated rear

section. The wheels are all covered.

Obviously, you'd get a lot of dirty air

flow over the wheels. So, it's got this

this sort of air foil here. Even over

some of the suspension pieces, they've

made some aerodynamic adjustments here.

There's lights on the wheels, which are

separated from the extremely aerodynamic

body. You have really slim side view

mirrors, which have cameras on them. And

you might also notice there is no door

handle on the outside anywhere, which

brings us conveniently to one of our

biggest quirks/features, which is this

door. Okay, I'm going to I'm going to do

it from the driver's side cuz I think

it's pretty crazy what they're doing

with the doors here. First of all, first

of all, split window. You see the bottom

half of the window here, which moves up

and down, and the top section, which

doesn't move up and down. Second of all,

the doors go up and out. So, kind of

like spider doors. And third of all, how

do you get in? There's no door handle.

Well, that's easy. There's a secret

knock right about here.

And that opens the door to reveal the

inside. So, yeah, they go up and out.

And you right away get a look at all

this forged carbon fiber because this

vehicle is built of a couple of really

large pieces of forged carbon fiber. The

body itself is one of the biggest pieces

of forged carbon fiber in the world. And

then this whole thing is like a top

piece, a bottom piece, side pieces, the

doors, a lot of forged carbon to be as

light as possible. So that's going to be

really interesting when it comes to

driving the car is just to keep an eye

on like the visibility of the split

window and the things like the tiny

rearview mirrors on the side. But

another little quirk/feature is that

right there is your windshield wiper

fluid. if you want to fill it up because

you don't get to open the hood, you got

to go right back there. But then there

is this whole back piece which obviously

is great for aerodynamics and you can

see the brake lights here. But there are

more crazy features. First of all,

there's that center wheel. Less rolling

resistance in the middle and more

aerodynamic with less dirty air being

only one wheel. Says a terra back there.

And this motorcycle plate also

conveniently moves over to the side to

reveal the charge port. And yes, that is

an NACS charge port. So, you can go to a

Tesla Supercharger if you want to when

this is out and you should be able to

plug it right in with no adapter. And

the magnet snaps it back in place, which

is crazy. But then this is also storage.

So, if you want to get in the back,

there's another secret knock. You might

have seen a video. It's right around

here. If I get this right. Yep, there we

go. And that lets you get into the back

of the Terra with way more exposed

forged carbon fiber. That looks kind of

sick actually, not going to lie. This

whole top piece is super lightweight cuz

it's carbon. And then you have all this

storage in the back, which is honestly a

ton. Like a lot of storage. It kind of

reminds me of that big Cadillac that we

had not too long ago, which had a ton of

space that kind of just goes right up to

the front two seats. So there you go.

You have storage space in the back of

the Upter. Now, some other design

choices back here. You have one of the

speakers, probably the biggest one. I'm

guessing the subwoofer. You have a power

outlet, which is a good spot for it if

you're going to charge bigger stuff. And

you have all these tie downs. So, if you

want to tie down bigger things to not

sort of slosh around back here, that

makes sense. And then back here, there's

a little bit of a sub trunk storage

because the middle wheel is up there.

So, you can put some private things, I

guess, if you don't want people to know,

back here. And then this whole thing

with that hood latch shuts

just like that. I think it's

fascinating. I've seen a lot of videos

and photos of this thing, and it's

really hard to get a sense of the scale

of it. The width of the body itself is

not very wide, and you can see these

brake lights here and this cool

heart-shaped top rear brake light with a

rear-facing camera up here. But then

when you add the extra width of the

front wheels, it's closer to the width

of a full-size car like a Tesla Model S,

for example. And so as you're driving, I

think you're going to have to keep an

eye on the extra width being beyond the

normal, you know, rearview mirror in the

door. You get a little extra width with

these wheels. Now, just a couple more

things before we get in. One, uh, all

these different solar panels are all

facing different directions, obviously.

So, as you charge throughout the day,

you know, in the morning, if you're

facing the sun, it's these front ones

that will do you the most good. Then in

the middle of the day, the roof, and

then maybe the back when the sun's up

there. Um, so you're never charging all

the solar panels to max capacity at

once. But interestingly, they're curved

a little bit, too. So, typically glass

and solar panels like on rooftops are

pretty flat, but that is a curved

surface. And that roof, you can see, is

curved as well. And then that back is

even a larger piece with all these

curved solar panels in it. So, that's

pretty cool. And then there's your logo.

And then, well, we should get inside.

So, let's go ultra wide here. This is

how you get into the Upter Terra

in the Yolk steering wheel.

And this is what it will look like in

the driver's seat. So again, I've seen a

lot of videos. I've seen a lot of

pictures online, but it's hard to get a

sense of scale and what's going on here.

I'll also mention, and I probably should

have said this earlier, this is not a

final vehicle. This is a development

prototype. This is what they hope to

send to validation. And it's nearly

finished, but a lot of these things are

not fully complete. There's some 3D

printed parts and some unfinished

suspension and things like that. But

this should give us a good idea of what

it's like for customers to live with

this thing, which starts with this big

wide yolk right here, which has a horn

button.

Nice. And a volume up and down on the

left. No play pause. I thought they

would also have like a play pause

control, but that leaves you some good

visibility of this screen in front of

you, which is just for your side view

mirrors. So, let's close this

door here. And you can see that's my

side view mirrors, which is good because

visibility wise,

can't really see over my shoulder very

well here. So, that's that front screen.

Then over to the middle is your primary

screen. They said they aim to have Apple

CarPlay and Android Auto support which

will be in this window over here to the

right. But until then, there are really

no other major buttons in this car.

There's the hazard button which is I

think required by law. But then even

these lights and everything else you do

in the car uh is operated on the

touchcreen. So you have this center

console storage space which is nice. Uh,

and you have these two cup holders in

the middle here, a place to charge your

phone, and then I believe there will be

not diagnostic ports, but two USB type-C

ports in the middle here. But then even

things from like AC controls to window

up and down

are

all on the touchcreen in the car,

everything. So, as I look around, as I'm

sitting here, it's not it's not totally

unfamiliar. I mean there's some normaly

about it. It feels like the size of a

small car. The way the windshield is

shaped, feels like a small twodoor

coupe, but then obviously behind me

there's a whole lot of nothing right now

because there's no visibility. And so it

should be working in the final vehicle

ideally, but they're going to go full

camera to see behind you with that

camera that I showed you that's on the

back of the vehicle. And so you have all

your closed storage space back here. I

think they even might have made some

accessories to let people like camp and

sleep in the back. I don't know if I

would do that without any sort of

windows, but that's a lot of space back

there. And then I also noticed that

these split windows have a pretty big

border to them. And that border is right

around eye level for me. So, as I look

out the window, I'm basically looking

right at this split window. And then

over my shoulder, I got to look at the

cameras. Other than that, sun shades,

pretty good headroom, good leg room. I'm

sitting on batteries, so I'm actually

not too low to the ground. This is good.

I've also noticed that the AC is coming

from vents around this screen, which is

kind of funny. All the way around is

where the AC is popping out. Nice. So,

you know, I can't do too much analysis

of things like how comfortable the seats

are cuz they could not be final, but you

know, these are cloth and have a pretty

interesting design and they feel fine to

me. Also things like the glove box over

here or this extra little documents

compartment or the width of the footwell

or you know how good the speakers sound.

I can't pair my phone to it. A lot of

this I can't really analyze because it's

not final and it's not even necessarily

good in a prototype yet. But the idea is

this is an extremely minimal interior

efficiency, simplicity, even easy to

repair ideally. Uh, but that does mean

things like uh the lights that are above

you, the dome lights are on the

touchcreen. The windows up and down are

on the touchcreen. That's crazy. Your

park, reverse, neutral, and drive are

all touchscreen controls. And so there's

there's a lot going on on the screen and

they're going to have to have pretty

good software, but also, you know,

CarPlay and Android Auto support would

be nice to have. Now, you know, my

initial reaction to any car like this is

it feels so clearly built around nice

weather, like nice weather regions. Uh,

I'm going to get out by pressing this

button here, which lets me open the

door. Uh, but similar to when I had that

Prius, one of our most popular videos

ever on autofocus, the the solar panels

only do you a lot of good if you live in

a sunny place where you get a lot of

sunshine during the day. And a car like

this with knocking on the side to open

the doors is not going to be great in

some place that gets icy or snowy. Uh,

and even these big covers on the wheels

aren't going to do you much good when

there's more than about 3 in of snow.

So, this is going to be good for, you

know, your Californiaiforns and your

warmer climates where it doesn't

necessarily ice over and snow as much.

But in those places, I mean, I get it.

It feels like a really compelling idea

to make the world's most efficient

100watt hour per mile EV and sell it as

cheaply as possible and hopefully make

it repairable and customerfriendly in a

lot of places.

But then you have to drive something

that looks like that. Is that going to

be weird? Is that going to be

challenging? Do we have to get used to

it? This is a good time to start

driving. Let's do it. All right.

driving the Aera.

>> First first people to ever drive it.

>> Did you think this was ever going to be

a real thing? Did you?

>> No. That's a sentence that I did not

expect to ever say out loud.

>> And this soon, too.

>> 2025.

>> Right off the bat, it's two doors. All

the storage is behind us. You can see

there's no rear view. This would

typically be a camera. It's not working

right now, but that would be how you

look backwards, which is not totally

unique. We've seen that in some other

vehicles. My blinkers are on. There's no

sound but

>> but that will be coming at some point.

>> Yeah, I think that's the theme of some

of the experience is it's not finished

obviously, but this is giving us a

pretty good idea of what it'll be like.

Visibility is forward pretty good.

>> Yeah,

>> sideways.

>> Noting the split window is not

incredible, but it is a window

>> controlled only by the screen as well.

>> Yeah, no buttons for that. rear

visibility like my rear 3/4 I just have

to use the cameras.

>> That would be a blind spot for me.

>> And this is a pre-production validation

vehicle. So the overall driving

experience isn't 1,000% representative

of what the final production version

will be according to Aterra. But it's

>> more or less a version of the car that's

usable enough for us to uh like evaluate

basically. For example, they mentioned

they have another version that they're

doing more suspension development on.

So, this is not a final suspension. It's

a little rougher, but

>> yeah,

>> we're driving it.

>> Yeah. It is interesting, though. This

It's a weird amalgamation of like

different vehicle concepts. It's like

it's a tricycle.

>> Uh-huh.

>> But you can use it as a car. It It's a

hatchback.

>> It's a lot more storage than a

motorcycle. Like actually a respectable

amount of storage.

>> No, like you can genuinely fit a lot of

stuff in there. Normally when you drive

a car, you're thinking like the width of

the car ends right here and maybe like

the width of the window.

>> This one you got to think a little bit

more about the the extra width of the

wheels sticking out.

>> So I can I can see them. It's fine. I

know I'm not on the lane lines, but

that's something to keep in mind,

>> which is good.

>> Not being able to see them would be very

uh misleading. I

>> If you were a little shorter, that would

be tough. Yeah,

>> I think that's going to be a theme of

this ride is uh people wondering what it

is.

>> So, he's he's like gesturing to like be

like like fly, go fly. Now, one thing

that I'm not crazy about is the footwell

space that I've got. It's very narrow.

>> So, it's like my my feet are almost

touching

>> because of how narrow this space is.

>> Interesting. The Atera team didn't

mention this being a not final thing.

>> So, I'm not sure if this will be

comfortable for people of all different

sizes and heights

>> and and shapes. It's a little awkward

for me right now. It feels like cuz

normally you have more uh horizontal

space for your your feet to move around

in within the cabin, but other than

that, I mean, it it is it's fine. It's

comfortable. These aren't the most

comfortable seats I've I've sat in, but

>> I've sat in worse, you Yeah, seats are

right. They're cloth seats. We've got I

would say my my footwell space is also

okay.

>> Yeah.

>> So, a little shallow.

>> I will say this is probably one of the

most chill, peaceful carbon tub cars

I've ever been in.

>> So far,

>> I mean, even the Remont Nea that we

drove, there was a lot of chatter, a lot

of like rock chip noise. I feel like

that was just a noisier car than this.

>> I think that maybe because of how much

wider the wheels typically are on those

cars,

>> like just picking up stones, cup twos,

throwing them up in the wheel wells. But

I agree. I mean, this feels

>> reasonable. I wouldn't think too hard

about like, oh, this is the lightest

thing I've driven. The steering ratio is

is a little it's super slow and light,

so I feel like I'm doing a lot of

movement for not a lot of turning. that

they can change that obviously, but

>> um it does feel like they're tuning it

to be a little more like a daily Civic

type of experience, nothing too like

sporty.

>> And that's what they said. They said in

any scenario in which you could drive a

Honda Civic, you should be able to drive

>> this car.

>> I have an interesting comp.

>> Yeah.

>> All right. A little more regular roads.

>> Yeah,

>> it's firm. Yeah, it's definitely firm.

>> That's fine.

>> I mean, we're not super low to the

ground, but it is it is firm.

>> So, the car is pretty small and pretty

low, but you are sitting on top of

batteries, so you're not feeling super

low to the ground, which is nice.

>> And I think we'll we'll have to wait

until we get into higher speeds to to

truly find out. But I mean, I think

people see a car like this not

understanding how like things like a

carbon chassis work and they'll think,

"Man, there's no way I could drive this

where I live. If I got into an accident,

I would be smooshed. I would be

destroyed." Does it actually feel like a

notsafe car? To me, I feel I feel fine.

>> Yeah. Like heightwise off the ground and

like enclosure-wise,

I feel surprisingly safe. I see this

thing from the outside and I did not

think I would feel that way.

>> Yeah. And now I feel like I'm just in a

small car. And that's just the way small

cars feel.

>> Yeah.

>> All right. Now we're moving.

>> All right. First real

>> above 30 mph test.

>> Yeah.

>> How does it corner?

>> It's a bit wy.

>> The front Yeah, the front is is wide

enough that you feel planted. Obviously,

the back is still one wheel, so you can

only do so much, but

>> Right.

>> Nothing too dramatic.

>> Yeah. the pedal response is. So, this is

a front-wheel drive.

>> I don't even know what the horsepower

rating is, but

>> it does have the quick torque. Not like

instant punch, but it has a quick torque

>> of uh of an EV, so you feel like you can

place yourself on the road pretty well.

>> Yeah.

>> What does your butt dyno tell you? Cuz I

mean, based on the range and the 0 to 60

claim, I would guess it's probably

somewhere around high 100s, like 200. It

feel that was wide open throttle. I

don't know if you even noticed.

>> So, I would say that felt closer to like

the 200 horsepower number.

>> Oh, no.

>> It is.

>> Yeah. What? 2,200 lb.

>> Yeah.

>> Wide open throttle. Yeah. I don't want

to spin anything. Yeah. It's like

good enough to to place myself among the

cars on the road. It's not It's not

quick. So, you don't feel like it's too

slow to the point of like not being able

to survive amongst other East Coast

drivers?

>> No, I would say it's not too slow for

that.

>> Okay.

>> If you want something sportier, they're

going to make one that also has a motor

in the rear, which will make it

all-wheel drive. It's three wheels, but

it's all-wheel drive.

>> And that may get a little more punch.

That may do a

>> a quicker 0 to 60. And

>> for those who want it, great. But yeah,

this is the most efficient version of

this vehicle. Frontwheel drive, cutting

through the wind.

Feels fine. Yeah,

>> I need the Aera RS with with a 285 rear

section.

>> Oh god.

>> Yeah, it's a sunny day in New Jersey. We

are gaining a little bit of battery as

we drive. Not gaining battery, but we're

gaining some energy.

>> Yes.

>> From the sun, even as we drive right

now.

>> One thing I was nervous about is

watching you go through the toll booth.

>> Yeah. because of the width of it.

>> Yeah, the width of it and not like

having a the clearest idea of like where

each side of the car ends.

>> Yeah.

>> But I think I was in the middle there. I

felt like I was good.

>> Yeah. I think if you just go based on

instinct, you'll be you'll be fine. So,

even just based on riding shotgun, it

feels like a car that you don't really

need to learn how to drive if you

already know how to drive a regular car.

>> Yeah. And so despite being such a

completely different take on this kind

of transportation, it's it there's

really no learning curves

>> for general stop and go.

>> I I thought I would notice the rear

being one wheel more. I mean, I notice

when I'm turning and thinking about it,

I can feel the weight distribution,

>> but like you don't need a special

license. It's a it's basically a

motorcycle. Yep. Uh it's registered as

and it's insured as a motorcycle, but

you just have a regular license and

you're good to go. And I think that

tracks I don't think it's it's

dramatically different in the way it

behaves. Nope.

>> Which is a good thing. So now that we're

on like a regular driving road, it it's

pretty smooth. I feel like you can get

used to the actually the I know it's not

final, but the calibration of the

accelerator pedal is pretty good. So I

can modulate my speed really well.

>> Yeah, it feels smooth as a passenger.

>> Okay. One thing I will say, this has

happened more than once now. When I'm

driving at the right angle and the sun

is in front of me,

>> the sun reflects and glares off of this

dashboard worse than any glare dash I've

ever seen in my life.

>> It literally blinds me to whatever's in

front of me. And they that they got to

figure that part out cuz

>> that could be dangerous actually. Like I

know that that's a good amount of like

solar coverage and you want to maximize

coverage, but because it's basically

reflective glass and it's at an angle.

It's if you're driving the right

direction, it's literally blinding you.

So that I don't think they can keep

that.

>> So what do we think is missing from this

driving experience that

could actually be improved and doesn't

compromise on the mission

of this car slash tricycle?

Um, most of my things I'm noticing are

are little things. They definitely took

a minimal approach to the interior,

which is efficient and repairable, but

also it means everything from the AC

controls to the the window controls and

everything, it's all on the screen.

>> Yeah,

>> I don't love that. that I would rather

have a window switch and a door lock

switch, but uh other things are just

kind of like minor and aesthetic. I

think in general they've they've gotten

the fundamentals down, which is

encouraging. I don't know how hard that

is in building an EV.

>> Yeah.

>> But they did do the fundamentals.

Accelerator pedals calibrated.

Suspension is good enough that I don't

feel like I'm swaying even though

there's only three wheels.

Um, they do need to add a blinker sound.

>> Yes.

>> That right there. That Did you get the

glare there?

>> Yep.

>> Oh, yeah. Right. Yep.

>> I briefly could not see what was in

front of me.

>> Wow.

>> And it's a good thing we're turning cuz

it was brief, but

straight line roads sometimes that's

going to be challenging.

>> Yeah. Other than that, it's got the one

windshield wiper.

It's got quirks. It's got features.

cameras are are decent, but they look

like kind of the first gen Rivian

cameras which are like magenta tinted

and not very high resolution.

>> Yeah, I'm I mean resolution I think it's

usable. I've seen worse even in some

cars like the 911.

>> But it's just very dim. That's kind of

my issue with it that I just can't see

it that well on an average sunny day.

>> You know what's funny? It's, and this

might be a weight thing, like it handles

the bigger bumps better than I expect

>> and it handles the smaller bumps worse

than I expect.

Like whenever we get a like a huge

pothole, we'll go through it and I'm

like, "Oh, this rides really well." But

we go over some of those like paint

lines on the road and I'm like, "I can't

believe I can feel that."

>> Yeah. And as feel it as much as

>> as we do. Yeah. Overall, I'm I'm I'm

curious to see where this is where this

goes. I I mean just the fact that we

went from this is never going to be real

to we just took it to Wawa and plugged

in a

>> a Tesla supercharger cable. I mean, it

wasn't actually charging, but the fact

that we were able to do that, I mean,

>> now I'm kind of just looking forward to

seeing where where this uh mountain

peaks. So, I want it to exist. And I

we've talked to the people at the

company who have told us something I've

heard and read for over a year now,

which is roughly 50,000 pre-orders.

>> Mhm.

>> Why do you think there's not more? Like,

it's 100 bucks to get in line. It's only

a $35,000 vehicle potentially to buy.

Everyone seems to be interested in it

when they see it and hear that it

charges with the sun. Like, why why

isn't more? I think people are into it

when they see it, but I don't think, you

know, they haven't had a super strong

marketing push for this car yet. Um, and

so I think once it gets in front of more

people's faces, I think then we'll see

an uptick in the amount of people that

actually want to put their money behind

this potentially. But I mean,

>> it is compromised in very specific ways

that would make it hard to live with

>> in certain regions. in certain regions

like here. And so there's only going to

be so many people in California that

want to spend $40,000 on this versus a

Tesla or, you know, an EV6 or or

something along those lines.

>> Yeah. Norm equivalently priced efficient

standard EV.

>> It's interesting. I think my my theory

is that it it's different and that's

what's getting all the attention. It's

maybe too different to get people to

commit to buying it.

>> But it is interesting enough that it

could potentially push the industry a

little bit, which is exciting.

>> Yeah. I think if you're just looking for

practicality and to do something

different and not spend a a ton of money

on an EV, because a lot of these EVs are

very expensive and not giving you a

whole lot for that money as far as

usability. Yeah.

>> I think that's where,

you know, this car might have a pocket

to to sit in. All right. Well, give it a

year. See where we're at. Yeah. Check

back in.

>> Yeah.

>> Thanks for watching. Catch you in the

next one. Peace.