Vroom! At CES 2025 - Aptera EV solar panel design

 Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

The layout of solar panels on the Aptera EV longitudinal axis is a patented invention. The US design patent, USD939430S1, titled Solar panel layout on a vehicle, was granted on December 28th, 2021. The patent was awarded to four inventors: Jason Hill (US), Steve Fambro (US), Chris Anthony (US), and Darren McKeage (US). The patent was assigned to Aptera Motors Corp.

As a reminder, a US design patent only covers the ornamental aspects of an invention, or how the invention looks. How an invention works, and/or how the invention is produced, are aspects of an invention covered in US utility patents. Thus, the present design patent only covers how the panels look on top of the Aptera EV, rather than how they work, or how they are manufactured to capture energy on the roof, front and rear car hood. Only a utility patent covers how the captured solar energy is designed to provide users with a minimum quantity of free power each day.

Below, the patent Figure 1 depicts a plan view of the solar panel layout, on the Aptera EV longitudinal axis, together with a top view image of the soon-to-be-launched Aptera EV.

Reference

Aptera (website)

https://aptera.us/

USPTO MPEP – Chapt. 1502-01 – Distinction between design and utility patent.
https://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/s1502.html