Oh Cool, Another Electric Car for the Few

by Michael Satterfield - 12/22/2022 

I get a lot of press releases from car companies, mostly ones we have all heard of, but today I opened my email to find out that yet another new electric SUV has hit the market, and it is Italian. The timing couldn't be better, with the average automotive sales price hitting an all-time high, auto loan defaults on the rise, and a retracting economy looming on the horizon, in this time of darkness, the world needed another luxury electric car, that you can't actually buy. 

To be honest, I am really bored with all the six and seven-figure electric cars that keep finding their way to the market, including the Hummer. It seems every few months another electric car company is launching a $200,000 limited production car, it seems the goal isn't really to sell cars, it is to secure the next round of venture capital funding by getting consumers to put down a small deposit to show the world that thousands of people are ready to buy this amazing new car. The fact that most people are committing to the fully refundable deposit just so they can post a screenshot on social media for clout is irrelevant.  

Aehra's press release might be one of the stranger ones I have ever received from a car brand, it included odd units of measurement like "accommodates four full-size NBA players", but is that Muggsy Bogues full-size or Shaq full-size? Because it makes a difference. They also don't give their vehicles model names, it is simply Aehra SUV and Aehra Sedan. They call their touch screens, "Human Machine Interface Screens" because, why not. Also if you are wondering, the name is pronounced eye-air-ra which apparently is a combination and the Latin word "aetas" which means  "era" or "age" and "aerodinamico" which is Italian for... well aerodynamic, thus proving once again that to speak Italian you simply just add an 'O' to the end of English words. 

Now, most of the media heap tons of praise on these brands as innovative and disruptive, and the fact that Aehra flew a bunch of media and influencers to Milan for an extravagant launch party with celebrities, I am sure has not swayed their opinions at all. Wining and dining is common practice in the world of automotive launches and I have been to some pretty epic launches myself, but the start-ups have taken things to the next level, hyping amazing features of a vehicle that doesn't exist, and most publications simply run whatever the PR team says as fact. I typed in "Aehra SUV" into Google and clicked on News, the top search result is simply the press release. Most of the videos from the launch event in Milan simply parrot the talking points that the company has provided, including the vehicle's NBA basketball player storage capacity. 

Jalopnik contributor Kevin Williams might have shared the only honest review from a recent VinFast launch event that included jet-setting to private exotic islands, luxury accommodations, and very controlling handlers who never let their guests stray too far from the script. While most of the journalists and YouTubers that were at this event heaped praise on VinFast, Kevin pointed out that despite the nice accommodations and food, the VF8 is just not ready for the US market. VinFast I'm sure wasn't happy that his story dropped just as the first shipment rolled off a ship in California this week, but it is lost in a sea of sycophantic praise positive reviews from almost everyone else.

While VinFast is going for a more mainstream car buyer with their $41,000 VF8, there are plenty of established players in the luxury EV world, including Tesla. In the last few years, we have seen Fisker, Lucid, Rivian, Faraday Future, Lotus, Porsche, Audi, Polestar, and others enter into the luxury electric vehicle space, some of them actually have even delivered cars. But despite all of these new vehicles, Aehra founder, Hazim Nada, saw a gap in what he calls the "ultra-premium" EV market and wanted to "build a car focused on design and eco-sustainability”.

Speaking of design, the Aehra was sketched by Filippo Perini, whose previous works include the Lamborghini Aventador and Huracán both cars that are unquestionably Lamborghini, the Aehra SUV shares some of Perini's Lambo styling, but doesn't strike me as particularly beautiful or interesting. I am a big fan of Filippo's work at Alfa Romeo and Italdesign, but this one feels like what I would expect the Pontiac Grand Prix would look like had GM decided to resurrect that brand as an electric car. 

Now to be fair, I haven't seen it in person, perhaps it is less awkward looking in the metal, but I might not be so merciless if the press releases for the vehicle weren't so over the top. Claims that Aehra is "groundbreaking" and sets a "new standard for automotive design" are pretty bold claims for something that cuts the same profile as a Jaguar i-Pace. Aehra also claims that their new SUV is not just premium, it is "ultra-premium" which is apparently defined by having lots of leather and touch screens, I am sorry I mean Human Machine Interface screens, which does make it sound like it should be more expensive. 

Since this vehicle is built to be a flex for the wealthy TikTok influencer demographic, attention-grabbing overly complicated doors, are of course, a standard feature. These are not Lambo doors, and they are not even Falcon Wing doors like the Tesla, the Aehra features “elytra wing” doors, which apparently are designed to mimic the way beetle shells open when they are flying. Oh, and since it would be indecorous (and impractical) to reach for the doors to open and close them, they are electric. Don't worry the silly doors aren't the only needlessly complicated feature, the Aehra has "home theater" mode where the center screen rises up out of the dash so you can lay back in your parked car and watch a movie. Apparently, there is also a "meeting room" and "lounge" configuration, for all the meetings you hold and lounging you do in your car. Still, I suppose the fireplace mode in the new Jeep Wagoneer needed some competition for pointless interior features. 

“From the outset, the Aehra SUV, and the Saloon (Sedan) that we will unveil early next year, were designed as true products of the digital age to reflect and accommodate our customers’ modern and busy lifestyles,” explains Aehra Chief Design Officer Fillippo Perini. “With the screen fully extended, the occupants can relax and enjoy a movie, perhaps when the car is charging or when a parent is waiting to pick up a child from school or a party. And for those who have work to do, the screen and the spacious interior afford the perfect solution for video conference calls. Instead of staring at your smartphone or laptop, you can sit back and not only see all the participants on the call in perfect high-definition clarity but also listen to them with crystal-clear, pitch-perfect audio quality.” 

I suppose while you spend hours waiting to charge watching a movie could help pass the time, but how long are parents in Italy parked in front of their kid's school waiting to pick up? Plus do we really need a car that can keep us connected to work Zoom calls in HD? Perini told Robb Report that the Aehra is a car that is designed to be sporty and fun, something you will just drive for the joy of it, and we all know that nothing makes an exciting drive along the Amalfi Coast more enjoyable than knowing that you can do Zoom meetings with work at a moment's notice. 

Don't worry, they assure us it really is a driver's car because it has an "oblong-shaped yoke-like steering wheel" and nothing says high-performance driving like a yoke steering wheel. They claim it evokes a race-car-like ambiance and is a homage to the Aehra Founder and CEO Hazim Nada’s passion for flying and skydiving. Remember nothing says "race car" like home theater and enough space for lounging NBA players.

The Aehra SUV is mostly carbon fiber with some aluminum, even so, with the batteries it will still be over 4,000lbs so about the same as most traditional SUVs like a Land Rover Discovery Sport. They also haven't been super clear on the range, or power, it will be around 700-800hp, and they have a goal of over 500 miles of range, which would give them more than 405 miles offered by the Tesla Model S. This is likely due to the stretched out wheelbase and a large battery pack, but bigger batteries also mean longer charge times as I learned with the Hummer EV. 

As expected this news of the luxury, 500-mile plus range, SUV is being pushed out in front of their first round of external investor funding. They haven't started accepting reservations yet, but I am sure that will be happening in early 2023, so start saving your pennies to reserve the $160,000-$180,000 car for a few hundred dollars soon. 

For a company that only has what looks to be a rolling prototype with no interior, its target of delivering vehicles by the end of 2025 is ambitious. But as we have seen before with brands like Faraday Future, Lucid, and Tesla, there seem to be few consequences in the EV world for missing deadlines. We have been waiting nearly 8 years for our self-driving car with built-in aromatherapy technology that Faraday Future promised us at the LA Auto Show, and so far the only thing you can buy from Faraday is their stock which is currently trading at around .35 cents a share. Did we all forget about Lordstown Motors? 

Will Aehra be one of the few electric car start-ups to make it? Maybe the market for a race car/mobile workstation/basketball player lounge has been untapped until now, but I am doubtful. In my opinion, the problem with many of the electric car start-ups is they are more focused on being a luxury product than being a good car, and they have to be both, which includes developing a service and support network on a global scale that even Tesla has struggled with. But if you are looking to spend $160,000-$180,000 on a luxury four-door electric car, the Porsche Taycan Turbo already exists and I even bet you can get four basketball players in it.