Delivery Idea

[Michael Jordan]

I was just thinking about Aptera delivery v. picking it up at the factory. What if Aptera did regional deliveries to start? Find the orders for a geographic area, take a car-hauler full of Apteras to a central location, and deliver the whole hauler-full of Apteras to the local owners. It could be a full-day event with promotions, PR, test drives (if one of the cars is a press car), etc. A delivery in Dallas would serve Houston, San Antonio, Amarillo, Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Shreveport, Little Rock, and everyplace in-between within one charge of the 400 mile range version.

[Joshua Rosen]

I’m assuming that they will just deliver it to your driveway. If they had service centers then doing a central delivery makes sense but they have no plans for service centers and without a permanent location it’s not practical to do deliveries at a central locations, suppose you can’t make it to the designated location on the day of the delivery, then what. The deliveries will have to be directly to peoples driveways or to service partners who act in lieu of dealers.

They will need to do regional events so that people can do test drives but that’s different from deliveries.

[Stefan Obel]

I would modify this idea slightly into a concept of regional showrooms and service centers owned and operated by the company (no middleman dealership involved) similar to how another EV maker is doing it.

[Che McKittrick]

On a related note, I didn’t factor in a delivery charge when I added up total upfront costs of purchasing the Aptera. Given that I’m on the East Coast (DC area), would $500 be a reasonable estimate?

[kerbe2705]

@Che McKittrick You might could get a ballpark figure here… https://roadrunnerautotransport.com/car-shipping-lp

[kerbe2705]

I’m still bucking for giant electric drones – with unicorn-drawn covered wagons as a backup… 😄

[Ray Holan]

What about ornithopters?

[kerbe2705]

@Ray Holan So long as they’re electric ornithopters AND they’re flown by licensed unicorns, I’m good!

[Eric Quinn]

When I ordered mine it said Free delivery

It will take me 10 days to drive it home🤔

[John Malcom]

Eric that is the current Policy. The above are just having a little fun with this topic ……or smoking something. I am not sure which is more credible. If they start talking about puff the magic dragon you will be able to tell.

With inflation out of control free shipping may be deleted from the deal.

• This reply was modified 1 month, 2 weeks ago by  John Malcom.

[Dennis Swaney]

Hmmm, will that mean we have to pick our Apteras up in Honalei on Kauai?

[John Malcom]

I think just mine…….

[Eric Quinn]

No matter, John I am so looking forward to driving around in my EJQ Aptera

And driving up to friends and family’s houses who think this isn’t real.

[John Malcom]

Me too! I will turn into a smug “I told you so person”

[kerbe2705]

@Eric Quinn Only 3.5 days, for me (at 600 miles per day): It would be a nice opportunity to really get to know the vehicle… 🙂

[Eric Quinn]

At 55 I’m not seating in any vehicle for 600 miles a day

[kerbe2705]

@Eric Quinn Is that age 55 or speed limit 55? 🙂 At age 65 (and speed limit 75) I do it a few times each year: I stop when nature calls, take leisurely meal breaks and drive until I start to tire. A full day of driving is a great way to demolish audiobooks!

[Eric Quinn]

Age 55. Was never a long distance driver. Maybe I can hire you go get mine😀

[Rodney Kagy]

I’m wondering about sales tax in relation to the delivery point. I live in Washington state. For pure electric vehicles the sales tax is waived for a vehicles in the price range of the Aptera. So If it was delivered just over the northern California border, in Oregon, would I then pay the Oregon sales tax, which is zero and then, when I registered it in Washington, I would have the Washington sales tax, which would be waived? Of course a Washington or driveway delivery would be okay, but at least in this case the Oregon delivery might save Aptera some money. It all depends on various state laws and tax structure.

[kerbe2705]

@Rodney Kagy – If you’re ordering online, sales taxes are paid to the state where the order is placed and not to the location from which it is shipped. In other words, if I live in PA and order a refrigerator from CA, I pay PA sales tax. If I travel to CA and buy a refrigerator there I pay the CA sales tax – and I’m not taxed again when I take it back to PA. If I order a refrigerator from CA and then travel there to pick it up, I’ve already paid the PA sales tax when I placed the order. I’m fairly certain the same logic applies…

[Stefan Obel]

At least in Florida the sales tax works slightly different.
In case of a car it is based on the city/county you live in since they all add their own additional sales tax on top of the state sales tax.

When you buy a car you pay the sales tax based on your city/county. When you “import” a car from a different state you may have to pay either again or the difference depending on how “old” the car is.

Now here we are not talking about a “car” but since motor bikes are quite popular in FL (so popular that a major manufacturer lobbied to get the state get rid of a helmet requirement) I think that works the same for all motorized vehicles.

[John Malcom]

I think that CA taxes the “Vehicle” if it is delivered in the state of CA. When I lived in CO I had a neighbor go to San Francisco to buy a VW at a “Great” deal. He took delivery there and had to pay tax. Then had to pay again when he registered the vehicle in CO. Later he learned that some CA dealers offered a service to drive the car to a state boarder and deliver it in the state on the other side of the boarder thus avoiding the CA tax.

Some on the forum may have some experience with this and can let us know if we take delivery in CA what we will be responsible for.

[Dennis Swaney]

It depends on whether your state and California have a reciprocal tax relationship, meaning they provide credits to each other whenever their residents pay sales tax across state lines. Also, you may be able to avoid paying sales tax in California if you give the dealer proof that you intend to register your car in your home state, such as your driver’s license.

[John Malcom]

OK here is the answer to the question of if you take delivery of a “Car” in CA even if you live in another state.

“Annoyingly, yes.

All vehicles purchased (from a licensed dealer) in california, no matter where the initial registration is done, pays california sales tax on the purchase.

Even if you dont live in california at the time of the purchase, and never intend on registering it in california you must pay california tax.

A few other states do this as well, but california has the highest initial vehicle sales tax in the country.

The good news is, several states have a agreement, where if you paid tax at the transaction, you dont owe tax at the initial titling and registration, if the tax you paid is more then what you owe at that state.Annoyingly, yes.

All vehicles purchased (from a licensed dealer) in california, no matter where the initial registration is done, pays california sales tax on the purchase.

Even if you dont live in california at the time of the purchase, and never intend on registering it in california you must pay california tax.

A few other states do this as well, but california has the highest initial vehicle sales tax in the country.

The good news is, several states have a agreement, where if you paid tax at the transaction, you dont owe tax at the initial titling and registration, if the tax you paid is more then what you owe at that state.”

Found many other references saying the same thing.

Perhaps for those that go to the Aptera location to pick up their vehicle, Aptera can make son sort of an arrangement to help them not pay the tax if from out of state.

[Gabriel Kemeny]

I don’t think Aptera is or has any “dealers” so that part of the CA tax law probably doesn’t apply.

[John Malcom]

I am pretty sure that if Aptera delivers cars to new purchasers directly they will need a dealers license or some exemption from the state as they represent the potential for a significant source of tax revenue. If taking delivery directly from Aptera, Aptera will be processing the title work and temp registration thus dealing directly with the CA DMV. I m sure that Aptera will want to be fully complaint with the applicable laws.

That is an issue for Aptera to determine and resolve. Then Aptera can let us know what conditions apply if we take delivery directly from them in SD.

I am sure Aptera will figure out the best approach.

• This reply was modified 1 month, 2 weeks ago by  John Malcom. Reason: removed formatting controls

[Joshua Rosen]

Don’t know how it works in other states but in Massachusetts a dealer or service center (in Tesla’s case) can handle the registration and payment for the customer as a convenience but if they don’t then the buyer has to pay the sales tax directly to the Registry when they register the car. I’ve bought several cars in New Hampshire, New Hampshire dealers can’t or don’t do Massachusetts registrations and they don’t collect sales taxes because New Hampshire doesn’t have them. In those instances I had to take the paperwork first to my insurance agent to get a stamp and then to the Registry along with a check for the sales tax to register the car and get the plates. I’m assuming that it will be the same process with Aptera, they won’t have a Massachusetts service center so they won’t be able to handle the process for me, I’ll have to do it myself.

For those states that have dealer laws I expect that the process will be more complicated.

[Stefan Obel]

Tesla sells directly and there is no licensing/registration in CA (or now TX since HQ moved) involved. Tesla registered my car in Florida.

I don’t see any reason why this should be different for Aptera.

[Gabriel Kemeny]

This is from their recently filed annual report to the SEC in the distribution plan:

Regional pre-delivery warehousing in leased facility requires little CAPEX

Aptera Motors Corp 2021 Annual Report 1-K (sec.report)

I think the only question at this point is where that nearest warehouse will be and can you pick it up there.

• This reply was modified 1 month, 2 weeks ago by  Gabriel Kemeny.

[Monica Key]

Carvana would be a good company to do business with, they are already have vending machine pickup and touchless delivery. Not in the business, I just making a suggestion for delivery options. They charge delivery from California to Texas for some cars is $400, I think. Also, there are Carvana car vending in the DFW area…AMONG OTHERS.😌

[Jonah Jorgenson]

Carvana and Vroom are in business trouble, (On the verge of bankruptcy) and have a lot of formal complaints by customers and state DMVs because of late or non-processing of vehicle registrations. I would want to think very carefully about making a business arrangement with either of them. If they go into receivership they may not be able to honor contractual agreements or meet delivery schedules. If they have a reputation for very late processing of vehicle documentation Aptera would not want that reputation passed on to them by association.

There are a lot of good multimodal logistics companies that could bid on Aptera distribution that have been in business for a long time and have a good track record. I would examine who NASA and the Artimus Program uses as they are very carefully vetted.

• This reply was modified 3 weeks, 6 days ago by  Jonah Jorgenson. Reason: corrected spelling

[Dennis Swaney]

Yep. There is a guy in Phoenix who bought and received a vehicle from Carvana, but can’t drive it because Carvana has never sent the title. So the vehicle just sits parked on the street in front of his house.

[Oz (It’s Oz, just Oz)]

That’s a good way to get a citation in CA. A vehicle cannot be on a public road without a current registration here.

[Dennis Swaney]

Yeah, I didn’t understand it either but that is what was shown on the news program. Maybe they pushed out on the street for the filming, but the reporter said it just sits in front of the house.

[kerbe2705]

@Dennis Swaney Here’s a report from Atlanta… https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/metro-carvana-customers-say-they-havent-received-titles-cars-they-bought/YWJND4W3QZCYFAG3LZSRYXDACA/

[John Voules]

I have purchased used vehicles from many different states…I live in Illinois. I have driven back all of these vehicles, usually I just throw plates from another vehicle to drive home. Once home I take the sales / purchase receipt along with title and then pay my registration & taxes.

If I could pick up my Aptera from the factory,

I would definitely drive it home (maybe not directly). Maybe this would allow me for earlier delivery…I own a Zero motorcycle that I would sell and plates are transferable here in Illinois.

I too plan on driving as much as I can with my tent package.