Accelerator Program

[Lou]

Goodness gracious Riley! Let me be the first of “everyone to dislike these paths”! And absolutely no, I would under no circumstances take Aptera up on such an offer. What you’re proposing is that it all depends on the size of one’s resources, not on one’s legitimate place in line. In your scenario…”All is well – I can just buy my way to the top of the list”! But, whoops, turns out Joe’s pockets are even deeper than mine and now I’ve been knocked out of first place. And, whoops again, Mary’s got even deeper pockets than Joe, and down we all go another peg…ad nauseam! While we can all worry about supply chain delays/cost overruns pushing back our hoped for delivery date, let’s please at least keep this a democratic process! If Aptera wanted to fail in the most epic way possible, they should absolutely take you up on this idea!

[mario-drapeau]

Sorry, but it happens all the time with other EV car manufacturer. Not the same way, but the most expensive car and trim (i.e. car with the largest margin) get manufactured and delivered first. Myself I don’t accept to play that game, in my portefolio of car réservations I selecdt models that fits my budget and my needs and no more. That said, I paid up to 1000$ Can as reservation deposit, Aptera asked only 100US$. Therefore I am willing, for the cause and because I love very much the projected car and the project, to invest about 870 Can$, wherever it putting me ahead in the line or not. But I will invest 5K or 10K, I am at a point of my live where I am getting out of individual stock, so investing significantly in Aptera is kind of going in the wrong direction for me.

[benjamin-wall]

Mario, that is great for you, but I agree with Lou. Just because other car manufacturers “do it all the time” is not a good reason. These sorts of “pay to win” scenarios are what people loathe about Ferrari and Porsche and how you gatekeep access to only the rich. This car was supposed to be about bringing a SEV to the masses. A car that can speak to the future of transportation for the planet, not a status symbol for the rich to virtue signal about how “green” they are. At the current proposed rate of ~300 cars per year, the line just got 4 years longer for those of us that put in our money early. It seems obvious that Aptera has generated the demand but its starting to feel very ponzi-scheme ish to actually potentially get one. I sincerely hope that an angel investor takes an interest in Aptera because of the merits of the idea and the engineering. I do not want Aptera to become just another EV manufacturer and do the same things they do. The whole point was to be _different_ from other EV manufacturers. Others are going bigger and heavier, choosing comfort and convenience. Aptera was about change, disrupting the current trajectory with an alternative idea. In the end it may just have been hype about another product, and all that other stuff was just marketing bs.

[bruce-mengler]

I have Order Number 10026; which should be the 26th produced Aptera Paradigm Edition (400 mile range).

What are you offering me to trade Order Numbers?

[benjamin-wall]

Nope. They just started another line and you have to buy your way into it.

[BigSky]

Personally, I’m not willing to pay my way up the food chain, but I would respect the company for using that as a means to manage supply chain and revenue streams. Not easy being a startup and while I wouldn’t like it as a buyer, I’m ok if it helps Aptera be successful in the launch hump. I’m not clear on the wisdom of a 5 year ownership contract unless you are thinking about people “flipping” cars at a profit by depleting inventory. If that is a case, I’d be more inclined to support an order limit. If Aptera will have that kind of problem, then they would be underpricing the car. I would not be ok with an ownership duration contract. I’m equally not supportive of connecting the product purchase with investment requirements. I think Aptera already does this the right way by incentivizing a discount if you invest over $10k. Making it a requirement would not help any parties from my perspective.

[joshua-rosen]

I have no moral objection to someone paying to jump ahead of me in the line, in fact I welcome it. I don’t want the first car off the line, I’d much rather wait for them to work out the major bugs before I get mine. The rule of thumb for new cars is to wait a year before you buy one, I might be willing to reduce that to six months in this case but not less than that.

As a practical matter I don’t see where it would be worth it to anyone. The reservation fee is very small which means that there are a lot of people on the list who are merely curious about the car, the actual conversion rate of reservations to purchases is likely to be only 10-20%, that’s a WAG but does anyone think it will be higher than that?. The real queue is therefore only a couple of thousand which might be a year, the time I’d like to wait anyway.

[OZ.]

I figure if you invest $1,000,000 or more you could probably get an early copy.

[Tom]

If Aptera were to contact me with an offer like one of these, it would definitely leave a very sour taste in my mouth — it’s almost a bait-and-switch tactic. If there’s a way they can do it without others’ places in line dropping, then maybe that’d be okay. For example, if #156 cancels their reservation, then maybe Aptera could offer the #156 spot for a premium. But I would rather see everyone else just move up in the line.

[peter-jorgensen]

This is a hard decision. On the one hand I want it sooner and I don’t mind paying for it, but I don’t want to jump the line. Maybe if there’s a cancelled order or something that they are offering I could see the justification there… I think it makes more sense to just buy it then resell it for more on the used market. Then Joe and Mary with the $$$$$$$$ can get the Aptera sooner and we don’t technically do any queue cheating. Although if said Aptera went to the next person in line then we’d all get it sooner.

[Markus]

I absolutely dislike companies and people who change the rules of the game once the game has started. If Aptera came up with that idea of charching money in order to climb up in the delivery list (I can not imagine they would, as far as I understand such a business model is just not part of their mindset), I certainly would walk away and look for a less efficient but still affordable EV. Simple like that.

[V-Pilot]

WOW, I think you’ve touched a nerve here???? They have no dealerships that may be likely to add large markups, and would most likely lose a great deal of credibility and trust if they tried to do it of their own volition so it’s unlikely anything like that would happen. I can only hope Joshua’s guess as to the purchase conversion percentage is close as I was late to the party. I am starting to have dreams about having my car…I can’t wait!

[philip-simon]

This is one of the things that have turned me off on Archimoto and their FUV. I did a preorder for their vehicle and was well aware that they were going to deliver vehicles not only on order sequence but also by territories. The started out in their area and would expand from there. That seemed fair and understandable and knowing that I was located far from their headquarters I knew I and many others would have to wait for them to expand into my area. Then we get news that they are delivering groups of vehicles to rental companies far from their facility. I feel like I have been passed over because I only ordered one. Will not be getting a FUV and will be cancelling my order. For a company or an individual to not keep their word and just chase the money over prior commitments is a sign that they are not true and honest and makes you wonder what else they are not telling the truth about. When I placed an order for an Aptera and was given an order number with an estimated production date I expect them to fulfill their promise to me and not just kick me to the curb because some one with more money is willing to pay more for what I ordered and waited for.

[david-marlow]

It has been stated that the first production units will all be the 40 KW versions, so if you want to have a chance to get one in 2022 or even early 2023 this is what you need to order. Also it makes sense that the Ambassadors who are eager to let people see, touch, ride in and possibly test drive there Aptera, should be the best way to get more people interested in Aptera. So it would make sense that they would be given some priority. I am sure there will be some reasons for a few others to receive priority.

It is good that Aptera is being fairly open about these things. As I was frustrated with GM’s hidden agenda’s on where Volts were sent to. They prioritized deliveries of fully equipped units and those for the east and west coast’s. I was unable to purchase one in Michigan (where they were made) without paying $2,000 to $4,000 over ticker price. So I had to purchase from a dealer in New York, to get one at list price.

[benjamin-wall]

I’m not sure that the Ambassador program does make the most sense. Yes, we live in a world of social media and the “word of mouth” may be a very enticing way to market, but almost all automakers are still using traditional advertisements to sell cars. It seems to work well for Toyota, Kia, Ford, etc.. A fleet for the journalists makes more sense than “Ambassadors” because journalists already have an audience and people looking for cars already go to them for advice. They also have the benefit of being very knowledgeable about automobiles, and that is why people trust their opinions. I would much rather go to an expert in the field for advice than ask reddit.

[Greek]

The Ambassador program was set up early in APTERA’s development. These people tend to be the most excited and willing to do things that go beyond advertising the APTERA. Including contacting local legislators and keeping up with the latest information from APTERA itself. To stay lean APTERA has not put forth an advertising budget, at least none of any monetary consequence. Most of the Ambassadors are either retired or semi retired and have life long experiences and contacts that help bolster the company’s development. The amount of Ambassadors that are engineers willing to inform people on this forum and others is amazing to me. As far as advertising, word of mouth has given rise to over 40,000 reservations. Input from many Ambassadors has helped shape many of the things the company is doing. We are blessed with several that have experience in build quality along with many other aspects of manufacturing in the auto industry. Let me remind you, all this is done without any budget loss from APTERA.

Once the vehicle is in its manufacturing phase, funding towards typical forms of advertising may be budgeted. For now, it’s all about getting into production.

[Ronnie]

If you invest, say $100,000. into shares then moving up the line doesn’t offend me in such a circumstance, offering or instance.

I could buy into the logic.

Buy two or more Aptera and also move up. ????????

Priority to all fully loaded, fully optioned & accessorized versions too.

YES, I’m stoking the fire in this thread.

Oh, that AND… first priority to ALL Canadian preorders regardless of everything else as well. ???? Bonus points just because we’re “good people”, eh?!

Then I woke up; tears on my pillow.

[joshua-rosen]

First priority has to be to Aptera employees followed by people who are close to San Diego. The first cars off the line are going to be buggy, being able to bring it to the plant when something goes wrong is important. After that I’d suggest a beta program. People who are willing to be beta testers should go to the head of the line. Not everyone should be accepted as a beta tester. Beta testers will need to demonstrate that they have some level of technical expertise and that they understand that their vehicle will have faults and that it’s their job to report those problems.

[dan-roberts]

It’s not like selling water to disaster victims for $100 a liter but it is in the same vein. The Aptera company leadership I have come to know would never consider that approach to sales. It is an unethical practice. I could see a scenario where, due to inflation, all reservation prices might increase due to increased production costs.

[preston-of-rockville]

Definitely not. I’m number 50 trillion in line for the Cybertruck and would be furious if someone could buy a spot and knock me down further. No idea what number inline I am for my Aptera.

[joshua-rosen]

Tesla is effectively doing this. If you buy FSD you can get a car in a couple of months instead of next year. FSD is $12,000 for a feature that doesn’t exist yet, I have it and in it’s present state I value it at $0 so this is just a way of buying your way up the line. Aptera could do something like this by prioritizing the more expensive versions. In the long run it makes sense to do this but for engineering reasons they are prioritizing the 400 mile FSD version. Until they have all variants in production there isn’t anything they can do about changing the production order.

I have no problem with them offering early delivery for a premium. They are running on a shoestring budget and this is a way to get money in the door faster. As an alternative that might also consider early delivery for investors that hold at least a certain amount of stock, $10,000 for example. I’m not an investor but I might consider a $10K investment if I can get the car six months earlier.

[larry-kaiser]

Offer canceled spots in line for a 5K premium. The money to be used to hire extra workers, pay premiums to vendors whose production is lagging and slowing down the production of vehicles, or use the money to forestall price increases. This way you get your Aptera sooner or cheaper or both.

• This reply was modified 2 years ago by  larry kaiser.

[david-marlow]

As an Aptera Ambassador, it has been implied that it in the company’s best interest to have some preference in getting them to people who want to spread the word and give as many people as possible a chance to experience one.

As for the early ones being buggy, I am a pro at finding bugs. Working as a Biomedical Tech, many times I have called manufactures to talk with them about a with their product, to have them tell me they never heard that complaint before. In most cases I was able to work with their engineers in solving it. It would be a pleasure for me as a customer, to work with Aptera in this way.

[Biker]

Aptera is doing exactly as @riley suggested, and the leaderboard can be found here:

Aptera Investor Leaderboard | Aptera

[Solana]

It is not uncommon for Investors to receive perks.

For Example:

A small investor might receive a free coffee mug

A huge investor might get a seat on the Company Board of Directors

The more investment dollars Aptera the Company receives now, the sooner we all will receive our desired Aptera.

[scott-ullerich]

Yeah what everyone but Ron Scholz is missing, is that if this program raises enough money EVERYONE gets their Aptera sooner. So if you get bumped from position 1000 to 3000 as a result of this but get your car 3 months or more sooner, where’s the problem?

[raymond-nettleton]

This looks like this was posted before the accelerator announcement, but I absolutely support it and may consider it. Not the no resale concept. Startup car companies that are successful are rare.

Aptera has been floundering at almost there for a while IMHO. They need to start the limited run otherwise they are just burning overhead. 90-98% sourced for tooling and manufactured parts is great.

For people that place a reservation for $70-100 and think they have locked in an order or price too bad.

I think this program will move everybody up in line with an earlier start of production date.

The only downside would be if this effort falls flat and they don’t get 2000 takers in a month. That would be very bad.

[Shawgrin]

I know Aptera needs the money, they just made this a game by those who pay the most win. It is kind of a poor thing to do to people that might just barely be able to buy the car and not make the investment of 10,000 additional dollars. Basically it kicks all up poor people down in line and raises all the people that can afford it to buy their way up the line.

I have the money to invest, but I had no longer think that this is a healthy idea for this company.

I could see somebody investing $100,000 or more being bumped up. But 10,000 increment we just push someone off the bottom.

[robert-paris]

As great as this program is, I feel it’s a slap in the face to the paradigm reservation holders. I would love to see a modification to the program to include their early reservation holders.

[rob-whitlatch]

I live in Pennsylvania. If I invest an additional $10,000 in hopes of that making the 2,000 unit list, will I still be able to take delivery if I simply fly out to your facility? I recall previously the idea was to limit the sales to California first and then branch out. So I just want to make sure that if I invest more and land on the leader board that I will be one of the first Aptera owners regardless of my location in the U.S.

Thanks!

[john-young]

Yes. You will be able to pick it up and drive it home.

[john-fletcher]

Hi Rob! I live in PA and hope to take delivery of a Launch Edition and drive across the country to Bucks County PA.