Aptera wins breakthrough award from Popular Mechanics

Now that we're so close to the end of the year, perhaps it is finally fitting to ask: What's the biggest automotive breakthrough of 2008? Popular Mechanics has done just that, and their choice is the Aptera Typ-1e. This is the car that looks like a spaceship and is powered by electricity (with is a hybrid version expected to come sometime next year). Specifications for the electric Aptera promise a range of 120-miles following a full 8-hour charge. Much of its amazing efficiency comes from its shapely body, which was designed with one goal in mind: slipping through the air with the least resistance possible. The team achieved this goal rather admirably; the Typ-1e scores a drag coefficient of just 0.15, making it about the most slippery shape the roads have ever seen. Couple that with the relatively low price of around $30K and you've got yourself a winner ... or so says PM. Feel free to pick your own winner in our comments if you disagree.

[Source: Popular Mechanics]