It's a Bird…It's a Plane…It's Super-duper-green-motorcyle?!

Not anymore.

The car of my life. It is like it has been just brought our from sci-fi book or movie. I can imagine how Luke Skywalker is jumping angry around when he sees that baby.

By voting 80 to 17 to approve a compromise bill allocating $33.5 billion to fund energy and water projects, the U.S. Senate redefined also on October 15th what qualifies as an "automobile".

The word DOE loan comes from Aptera that it has officially resubmitted its application for DOE loans. The manufacturer of three-wheeled electric vehicles had previously submitted an application for funds from the DOE's Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing (ATVM) program, but the application was declined as the funds were only available for four-wheeled vehicles.

Previously, any vehicle with fewer than 4 wheels was considered under the Federal Motor Vehicle code to be a motorcycle.

The new wording includes "any enclosed vehicle that seats at least 2 adults and gets at least 75 mpg" within the definition of a car.

All such vehicles must meet National Highway Traffic Safety Administration safety standards, which require multiple airbags, specify various crash tests, and impose other requirements. After President Obama and Congress have revised the program to include three-wheeled cars that can carry at least 2 people and return at least 75 miles/gallon (or the electrical equivalent), Aptera can go for it. And of course, Aptera has now updated its application for a $75 million loan.

It still needs to be approved by the powers that be before any funds will be distributed, though it would seem that Aptera would be a shoe-in now that the program's guidelines have been revised.

Beneficiary: Aptera 2e

In particular, this unusual provision benefits Aptera Motors, of Vista, California, which is developing an ultra-aerodynamic three-wheeled electric car, the 2e.

Production Design Image

Aptera 2e development prototype at company offices in Vista, California

Aptera 2e

Development versions of the final 2011 Aptera 2e are expected to go into limited production within months.

"We drove a prototype Aptera 2e last month, and called it "work in progress that's likely to get smoother, more powerful, and more refined before the first paying customer takes delivery," wrote John Voelcker. The bill approved by the Senate increases spending only slightly over the current year's funds, it boosts spending on energy efficiency programs- which include solar energy and biofuels, as well as advanced vehicle technology- to $2.2 billion.

HERE is what Jay Leno wrote about it after his ride:

The biggest problem with most electric cars is that they are adapted from conventional cars and you end up with something less than you started with. For example, you take a VW Golf, strip out the internals, add batteries and make it slower and heavier, with less range and fewer safety features.

The nice thing about the Google car, or Aptera as it’s correctly known, is that it is a purpose-built electric car and looks great. That’s important. When the ’64 Ford Mustang came out it was really just a Ford Falcon but it was the greatest-looking Falcon in the world. The fact that it didn’t have independent rear suspension and so on didn’t matter because it looked so stunning.

It was the same thing that saved the Cord 810 and 812 in the 1930s. They were unreliable but they were so beautiful, people saved them. That’s why so many remain.

Beauty can cover a lot of sins. It’s like dating a beautiful woman — you are willing to put the problems aside. That’s not to say the Aptera has problems but it has solved the biggest one: making a good-looking electric car. You have something that looks like it could fly, it could float, it could go underwater. It’s the kind of car that James Bond would drive. However, it is extremely eco-friendly and is extremely advanced. The drag coefficient is 0.15, which is almost unheard of. It cuts through the air. That’s what makes it so exciting.

The car I drove was a prototype, so inevitably there were a couple of clunks and things that are not production standard yet. But that’s okay. As I said, it’s such a good-looking car you are willing to put that aside. I would say that almost every driver I passed on the freeway had their cellphone cameras out. People were looking and pointing. It makes a statement. Kids think it’s cool. Women find it attractive. It looks like the Jetsons’ car: something you would pull out of a garage in the year 2060. It is eco chic. Not many cars look good in white but this one does.

But what is eco chic actually? Is is written in the The Eco Chick Guide to Life: How to Be Fabulously Green? I don`t think so.

Maybe it is more likely that to be the 22-year-old student at the University of Central Lancashire, who used spray to paint a battered Skoda Fabia to match the car park and entrance to her art studio.

Art student Sara Watson has found the ultimate way of avoiding traffic wardens – by making her car invisible, wrote the Daily Telegraph. "People have been stopping in the street to look and coming up and almost bumping into it, so it's had the desired effect," she said.

Maybe some of the politicians on COP15 will try to solve the problem on the same way. They will close their eyes and say that the problems have disappeared.