Accelerator Program

[robert-engelhart]

This is Horrible news! $10000.00 from 2000 people to jump to the front of this line. Are they this desperate for money, seriously am I the only one who sees this. 20 million will be gone in a few months. Unless they get a Loan or an investment of at least say 200-250 million we will never see an Aptera. The,, we need 50 million to start production is not truthful.

[john-young]

The $20M unlocks the California grant. The grant is a matching one. So every dollar that comes from this effort is doubled. They have more institutional money in the works but that will take months to close. This is truly an effort to speed up the production. If they can raise $20M by the end of March then they can unlock another $20M from the grant.

[Qiang]

I like any idea that can help Aptera kick start the production process. Everyone wins!

I would propose a small amendment: the program is interesting only to those wanting LE. How if it adds a clause that for reservations with 250, 600, 1000 miles variance and listed at top 2000 of the leader-board, they will jump the line when these variances become available as well. It will open the pool for a wide investor base. It will also effectively shorten the line for other LE reservations outside the leader-board.

Or even better, in addition to the 2000 for LE reservation, just open another 2000 slots for those interested in non-LE variance…

[rob-whitlatch]

I really like this suggestion. Investors might not want the launch vehicle but are still willing to invest capital. Therefore they should move to the top of whatever variant they are ordering. Well put.

[GNiessen]

As far as I see it, if more that 2,000 invest, we all win. I hope that we do raise the $40M+ with this effort. I hope to be part of it. But I need to do some thinking and also talk it over with my wife. I want to be part of what makes it happen. Getting an early edition is a bonus. And I say that as reservation holder #11 and someone who has already invested more than $10K.

Let the games begin. And may Aptera be the biggest winner.

[robert-engelhart]

You all realize they are burning money right now correct? You do understand they are producing nothing right now, and will not produce anything for at least 12-18 months. Small $10000 investments will never ever get this to production. Rose colored glasses are on so many people. They need 250 million or so to become a viable company.

[Plowboy]

Just placed my $10,000+ investment in Aptera, do not plan on taking delivery of the first addition, unless that becomes the only option they produce. But do believe in the concept of the Aptera vehicle and the need for the our future. Simply able to show my support and hope additional funding becomes available because of the grassroots support. Fully understanding the risk.

[Russell]

I’ll be very surprised if Aptera gets 2,000 people to invest $10k during this Accelerate program. It’s been my experience that lots of people like something until it’s time to pony up the money, then you get maybe one in ten to hand over the cash. So, 40,000 reservation holders = 4,000 buyers. Limit that number by those who will accept the LE over the other three variants and then reduce it again to those with enough disposable income to invest/bid on the LE. I hope I’m way off and Aptera reaches their 40million goal for this Accelerate round but I have my doubts.

[rojo]

For the Accelerator Program, can I move both my reservations up if I invest $20000.00? How do I specify this since both reservations are on the same email/account?

I have a reservation for the Launch Edition made a few days ago, and a reservation for a Paradigm Edition made back in Dec 2020. If would like to move the LE reservation to get one of the first 2000 LE vehicles. I may also want to do the same with my PE reservation but I want to keep it a Paradigm Edition (with customized options). From the Accelerator Program info, it sounds like I can participate in the program, invest $10000 and move my Paradigm Edition up to become a Launch Edition (no options) or keep it as a Paradigm Edition that will be delivered in the first year of production.

What about Paradigm Edition Vehicles?
Paradigm Edition owners can invest under this campaign to receive a top delivery spot, or their vehicles will be delivered in the first year of production, after these first 2,000 Launch Edition vehicles have been delivered.

https://aptera.us/accelerate/

Somehow, keeping it a Paradigm Edition and investing in the Accelerate Program doesn’t seem worthwhile. I would think with a limited number of PE reservations, they all would be delivered not far in time from each other, with the major roadblock to delivery being the options you chose, such as wanting the 1000 mile long range battery.

Does anyone have any insight as to why investing $10000 and moving the reservation for my Paradigm Edition “to a top delivery spot” is worthwhile? Considering that there will be 2000 Accelerate Program vehicles, maybe for my situation, if I had $20000 to invest, it would be better to leave the PE reservation alone, and have all the $20000 go on the Leaderboard for the LE reservation I have (I made that reservation on 01/20/2023 so that one is a the end of the queue).

• This reply was modified 1 year, 2 months ago by  x y.
• This reply was modified 1 year, 2 months ago by  bbelcamino.
• This reply was modified 1 year, 2 months ago by  Gabriel Kemeny.

Accelerate

[len]

You may want to ask your question directly to Aptera.

info@aptera.us may get a faster view ….

Well any money added to the program gets production started for all! And you have an Aptera investment.

[rojo]

I did send them a message but historically I’ve had very long wait times for a reply. My PE reservation is for 2wd, noir exterior, 400 mile range, vida interior. I may adjust the options depending if one or more of the options will cause a huge delay.

• This reply was modified 1 year, 2 months ago by  x y.
• This reply was modified 1 year, 2 months ago by  Gabriel Kemeny.

[joshua-rosen]

If I were you I’d want the full amount of the investment to push me to the top of the leaderboard list for the LE and then leave the second car for later. The first vehicles will be missing features such as safety pilot, the software will be bare bones (no mention of navigation so I assume that’s for later) and it will be buggy, new Toyota’s have bugs so you can imagine how a car that’s built by a company that’s never built a car before using a technique that never been tried before will fare. Once they’ve delivered the first 2000 (assuming that they get that many investors) then they will be back to the original list and if you have a Paradigm reservation you will be on the head of that list. By then they should have addressed a lot of the bugs, gotten safety pilot working, maybe have the bigger batteries and perhaps 100KW charging (they’ve said that they are working on that, 100KW is 1000 miles per hour the same as a Tesla at 250KW).

Bully for you (as Teddy Roosevelt would say) wanting to be the first customer to get an Aptera, you are helping to get the car launched and will be a willing beta tester for an all new vehicle. That’s great for everyone else, thank you.

[rojo]

Yeah, I am leaning toward that conclusion. I had a reservation for the v1 electric/hybrid version of the Aptera back in 2008. I was hoping that by having that history it would give me a better spot in line, but I don’t think anyone that supported the first version of the Aptera got anything other than their reservation refunded. I think I got my $500 deposit back in 2011.

• This reply was modified 1 year, 2 months ago by  x y.
• This reply was modified 1 year, 2 months ago by  Gabriel Kemeny.

[scott-ullerich]

Was thinking Aptera should offer an additional 5% discount for every $10K invested. Wouldn’t that get everyone’s juices flowing even more?

I’m currently in for $25K, 15 before accelerate and 10 after. I’d gladly throw in another $5K if it meant an additional 5% discount on my LE for a total discount of 15%.

Also, how many high rollers out there who for a $200K investment get a free car and one of the first ones at that. Get five of those folks and that’s a quick million right there.

Let’s turbocharge this thing and get the ball rolling!!

[Greek]

Scott, I understand the intent and I’m sure you are right about gaining more investments by increasing the increments of discounts, BUT…APTERA is also in the business of making a profit. I may also add, especially the potential investment whale that APTERA is looking to secure, it may look like an act of desperation. Of course just my opinion. Not looking to raise any red flags just yet. This new phase of fundraising just started and I have faith in our two CEOs decisions for this program.

[SuperSteve]

Suggestions for Aptera:

1) Improve the visibility of the 5% discount for the $10K new investment.

2) Anyone who additional invests $10k is on the list. Do not limit it to only 2000 investors.

This will let people invest now instead of waiting until March.

3) Add collectability to launch editions 1-10, 11-100 to encourage extra bidding.

[Dr.D]

We get to March 26th and there haven’t been 2,000 new investments of $10,000. OK, what next?

Does it mean those with $10,000 hanging around can now be guaranteed to get one of the first 2,000 vehicles? Or does the window slam shut on the 27th regardless of the number of new investments? Or, something else?

[BigSky]

There are many things that can happen. I think it all depends on how things come together in the end of March. If it is going well, but just a little short, I would think they might extend it. If they are off by a lot, who knows? If they are wildly successful, I could also see a scenario where they expand beyond 2,000 cars.

They told us that this is an accelerate program, meaning they would simply just need to wait longer for the deep pocket deals to be done. I think 1 poster astutely speculated that this may be a way of gaining leverage with respect to those negotiations if the deep pockets are looking for too many concessions which would likely dilute us a lot. Maybe the window does slam shut because soon after the rest of their funding plan comes together.

One thing is for sure. Nobody knows how this will land until we get to the end. The final frenzy I’m expecting needs to happen in late March once people are more clear how much it will take to get in line.

[glenn-zajic]

I hope people don’t wait to the very last day, then have trouble with the website, or their bank, broker, credit card etc.. Based on the early response, I think they will get all or almost all the 2,000 and the final several hundred will only be at the minimum $10k.

That is an early guess, as is that I believe they will net about $25 million from this plan. I hope it is more as I think it was a good idea. I bet 98% of this money never would have been seen by them had they not done this.

[glenn-zajic]

This is an incentive/auction for these 2,000 spots. If you were unwilling to commit that $10,000 you have hanging around to them, why would you expect them to commit a spot to you? It is a push to get things moving faster. My total guess here is that they felt 2,000 spots would be enough to be sacrificed, but not so many that there would be no competition. 1,000 would have been more competitive but possibly not generated enough total funds. I believe that if they had only a few hundred show interest then it may get extended, but if that were the case it would not have served their purpose.

[george-hughes]

I’ve already called this program brilliant, but I think a few words about the risk.

This is truly a moment in ‘business history’ and the kind I remember reading about in the day when I had access to the Harvard Business Review. (Someone needs to tickle their editor to what is transpiring here.)That moment, of course, is the start-up of an automotive ‘mobility’ manufacturer which has the carcasses of thousands of hopefuls over time in this brutal business; proven by this companies written history that begins well over a decade ago.

In terms of risk, everyone on that list and the 15,000 of us who have etched our desire to will this concept into reality, are utterly aware this venture early on, was more of a lottery pick, based on the odds.

But this list and effort will give the end users a greater benefit. The rule here is the greater the participation, the lower the risk. So, unlike the notion of participation in this project being a “U” consider that it is possible its realization could be more like a snowball rolling down hill.

But the point is it reflects the broadening power of people-powered constituencies to impact public events.

Our challenge is to not only pony up and get on the list but make sure the right folks also get on that list.

For instance, that outfit featured on the front of autoline on youtube with the add-on adaptive suspension that could be engineered for add-on – if these folks had one. How many people contacting them saying they’d be interested in an aftermarket addition of that for the rear-wheel only. Notably, one of the reasons to do this kind of ‘upgrade’ is that I hear games and movies ‘become’ the ‘feelies’ we all wanted when we first read Brave New World by Huxley 🙂 They should get at least a couple of the Launch Edition’s for development, don’t you think?

Then there are the S3XY button-folks. You know they tested it on their personal Tesla’s … I’m down for adding a few S3XY buttons around my Aptera cockpit as are a few others. Someone with that skill ought to get at least one LE.

Really, I think this last round of investment could almost be considered a subsidy for your purchase of your LE as production will begin and be assured long before delivery. That should be happening at the same time as the IPO, which will turn that investment liquid, if not liquid gold.

Indeed, the general belief out there in the so-called real world is that if GM and Ford are struggling, then anything else is toast. Indeed, it is not so much as defying the odds – Aptera has been doing that all along – but in debunking the expectations that will make it a case study for the business types. (And boy will their ears burn when they start hearing what Sandy Monro has to say about the MBA types – I mean Harvard MBA types.)

Oh … and the leverage it will give in the negotiations with the very same money men. Could this exercise be pivotal?

• This reply was modified 1 year, 2 months ago by  George Hughes.
• This reply was modified 1 year, 2 months ago by  Gabriel Kemeny.

[christopher-barrett]

Add a recession on top of it, and you have the makings of a Disney like epic comeback story. Viewing this exercise in disruption, is fun, and Harvard/Wharton should watch. I believe if taken as a group, Aptera were lumped into the names out there today, in the publicly traded stock market, Aptera would become odds defying. Investors will back this even in a recession, with the “Venture Capitalists” running for the exits. The entire concept is so well thought out, that investors will figure it out, and open those wallets and vaults. The times change, and this device is a gamechanger, and totally different approach to the problem of transporting ourselves. Aptera will come shining through, because it makes so much sense.

[Jim-Pace]

I’m not quite that convinced that the 2000 reservations plan will be Harvard Business Review worthy, but I am cautiously optimistic that the plan will raise the ‘match’ that deep pocket investors will appreciate. Then production funding will come sooner and I’ll get my 10666 reservation number Aptera sooner too.

I’m a first round go fund me Aptera investor, so I have a few shares with a very low basis. I’m pretty confident my investment will pay off, helping to recoup some of my purchase price, or later (10 years?) pass on a tidy profit to a good cause or my kids.

Will 2000 customers pony up 10,500? I bet they will. Will I be one of them? No, I don’t have that money available to invest.

[david-marlow]

One thing that I have realized that this program can do is to allow friends who have ordered at different times to pick up theres together by investing the same ammount.

For me who ordered early and my friend who ordered a year later, we can fly there together, pick them up, ship one back and share the road trip back with the other.

[rojo]

Can the new Accelerator Program investments be made in multiple installments or does the $10000.00 have to be made in one transaction to be eligible for the Accelerator Program?

I may want to invest say $6000.00 now and another $4000.00 perhaps in 2 weeks time. I assume Aptera will use the timestamp of the 2nd investment of $4000.00 to qualify me for the Accelerator Program. That is, until I invest $10000.00 or more during the Accelerator Program period (Jan 27, 2023 – Mar 26, 2023), I will not be timestamped in to the Accelerator Program. Also, if by the time my Accelerator Program investments reach $10000.00 and the 2000 slots have already been filled, I will not be in the Accelerator Program. Is that about right?

The FAQ is not clear on this, but I’m assuming to be the case, which can be a bad thing if the reality is different.

My main reason for asking is because I want to use 2 different credit cards to cover my Accelerator Program investments. 😛

• This reply was modified 1 year, 2 months ago by  x y.
• This reply was modified 1 year, 2 months ago by  x y.
• This reply was modified 1 year, 2 months ago by  Gabriel Kemeny.

[Qiang]

To reach 2000 investors in about 60 days, we need average 30 investors per day. The current pace is lagging.

Although there are 40000 reservation holders, the “real” pool of investors are actually much smaller: assuming 75% of the reservation holders are serious buyers, further assuming 50% of those interested in the specs of the launch edition, the pool of potential investors for the accelerator program is now reduced to 15000. Will there be 2000 investors out of a pool of 15000? I hope so but am not sure.

Maybe Aptera can think about some “enhancements” in the accelerator program, for example:

1. Give 250/600/1000 mile reservations the benefit of investing and jumping the line when these variations start production. That could potentially double the investor pool.

2. Currently the program offers investor a 5% discount on the price. Instead of that, Aptera can offer the investor to lock in today’s list price. I think that could be a large incentive for many buyers.

3. Offer investors of the accelerator program the option to apply the face price of the stock to the purchase price of the vehicle. I bet many reservation holders like the deposit better than stock purchase. With an option to convert the stock to purchase price, this is effectively deposit. I was actually surprised by the amount of the money Sono raised. The key difference between Sono and Aptera program is that Sono’s program is a deposit program.

• This reply was modified 1 year, 2 months ago by  Qiang Fu.
• This reply was modified 1 year, 2 months ago by  bbelcamino.
• This reply was modified 1 year, 2 months ago by  bbelcamino.
• This reply was modified 1 year, 2 months ago by  Gabriel Kemeny.

[Qiang]

Since this is an auction, an extension is not possible or at least would sit badly with the bidders. If I were a winner bidder for an item in ebay, and the seller says sorry the deadline has just been extended by another month and I may just be outbid later, I would be very mad. So any idea that can generate interest to reach the largest potential bidder pool possible during the bid period should increase the chance of a successful auction.

I think Aptera should have the data to do a rough estimate on the investor pool. For example, hypothetically, if 80% of the current accelerator investors had LE reservation before the accelerator program was announced, and if there are 4000 LE reservations as initially targeted, then the potential investor pool is limited to 4000/80% = 5000. Then they can ask the question whether there are 2000 actual investors from a potential pool of 5000. Again, this is hypothetical and none of the numbers are actual, just to be clear.

You are absolutely right that fixed price will add uncertainties to Aptera. I think it is probably manageable since this is open to the first 2000. And, I would propose whoever takes this fixed price to give up the 5% discount, to make it a more fair play. 🙂

Yes, applying investment to the car purchase will reduce working capital. On the other hand, this investment helps bring the company accelerating to production, which will increase the investment interest and bring in more investment money. So I think net-net Aptera benefits from this arrangement.

• This reply was modified 1 year, 2 months ago by  Qiang Fu.
• This reply was modified 1 year, 2 months ago by  Gabriel Kemeny.

[john-belmonte]

What they need to do seems pretty clear: add some further incentive to counteract late bidding, such as offering some vehicle option, exclusive event access, or official collectable to anyone on the leaderboard at the 1 month mark.

[noah-blumenthal]

I’d gladly settle for one of those little Aptera models on the shelf behind them in the presentation. That’s extra incentive enough for me.

And frankly, if I get outbid and knocked out of the top 2000, I’ll be thrilled. It means they got plenty of cash. They’ll get to production. They’ll get to IPO. My investment will pay back. And I’ll get my Aptera a little bit later. All good.

[rojo]

Invest

I think this main page content is new/different. I guess the heads at Aptera heard about the confusion and updated the page. It sounds very clear NOW that there will only be 2000 investors that can get in to the Accelerator Program, and those 2000 will be ranked based on investment amounts.

So, for those believing Aptera would let as many investors in to the program even exceeding 2000 to fight for the 2000 first vehicles, I think you are wrong.

I’m glad they are doing it this way. It makes perfect sense if they are trying to raise $20million (2000 investors * $10000 = $20million) to get a matching grant. They will of course get more than $20million because $10000 is the minimum to get in the Accelerator Program and people will buy more shares to get a better spot on the leaderboard.

• This reply was modified 1 year, 2 months ago by  x y.
• This reply was modified 1 year, 2 months ago by  bbelcamino.
• This reply was modified 1 year, 1 month ago by  Gabriel Kemeny.

[Tom]

The website does still say “We reserve the right to change the promotion details at any time including but not limited to timing, the quantity of vehicles, and minimum investment amount.” (my emphasis).

Regarding your statement “They will of course get more than $20million because $10000 is the minimum to get in the Accelerator Program and people will buy more shares to get a better spot on the leaderboard.”: This does of course assume that they do get 2,000 Accelerator investments. They are running a bit behind right now (11.3% of 2,000 investors and 13.8% of the $20M with 19.0% of the program’s duration transpired so far), but many are predicting a surge at the end (a la eBay) or even along the way as the program gets more publicity or if it looks more and more like it might be successful.

[john-young]

It’s is obviously the top 2,000 dollar amounts. So yes, you could put in $10K and get bumped out if 2,000 other people put in more. You still get $10K in stock. I wouldn’t worry too much about it though if you’re on the fence. I think finding 2,000 people to put up $10K is going to be tough.