Manufacturing plans

[john-malcom]

there is no “Change” in manufacturing facilities. Aptera is “Looking” for a manufacturing facility. The facility they are currently in is their development facility where they are advancing their prototypes. It is a development facility

[peter-pantoliano]

can anyone out there tell me when cars will start to be delivered ?

its like pulling teeth to get any sort of idea on projected delivery dates …….

[Pistonboy]

In the 2021 Annual Report, it says on page 19:

• Deliver a vehicle to a customer by the end of the year.

• Then build out our facilities and ramp up production accordingly in 2022.

It is interesting they say “a customer”.

This report can be accessed from their website.

If I remember correctly, they found their development facility in a location which had ample room they could expand into for manufacturing. Apparently they decided to not use the potential manufacturing space, and instead look elsewhere.

[Biker]

If you look at the location of their current office/development facility, there’s no way that could be a manufacturing location – way too small. Even at the low end of 10K vehicles per year produced, it would mean just the parking lot outside to hold the vehicles to be shipped needs to probably accommodate at least 100 vehicles (less than a week of production).

[Pistonboy]

In the following video with Sandy Munro, Chris and Steve talk about their manufacturing and development building plans.

It is at time 6:00.

https://youtu.be/4DhzkUnIh58?t=360

[steven-g-bueche]

So by this time (8/13/21) the first stage of the manufacturing facility could be set up already? Wouldn’t it be cool if a few shots of that set up could be shown. ????

[john-trotter]

As much as I would also like to see signs of manufacturing progress, with the hand assembly process we’ve heard about, I’m not sure how one would judge much before cars are actually moving through. (gamma’s?) No giga (or even mini) presses, stampers, fancy robots, paint dips, etc. Patience, I guess, (although I have often felt patience was overrated.)

[bruce-mengler]

https://aptera.us/aptera-expands-into-new-assembly-location/

“As our supply chain becomes more established, we’ll ramp to 250 per month, and eventually reach our target of producing 40 vehicles per day.”

— Pablo Ucar, Vice President of Production and Procurement

In very round numbers 250/month is about 10/day & 3,000/year
In very round numbers 40/day is 10,000/year or 833/month

Above are totally realistic, but the bigger question is when will they become reality.

• This reply was modified 8 months, 1 week ago by  bbelcamino.
• This reply was modified 5 months, 3 weeks ago by  Gabriel Kemeny.

Aptera Expands into New Assembly Location

[peter-jorgensen]

Back on topic – According to Aptera there are 3 facilities – This main final assembly location, and two others for Betas/R&D, Solar, and Composite manufacturing. Two in Carlsbad and one in North San Diego.

This makes a lot of sense to me – Prebuild parts nearby then assemble them there. This is so exciting!!!

[ray-holan]

Your point is well taken, Peter. Yes, I’ve hear of these separate facilities for the components you describe. That is not the same thing as having 3 self-contained manufacturing locations — each capable of independently producing X number of Apterae per month.

[llewellyn-evans]

I would love a progress update from Aptera …. but I am sure they are all busy with Beta builds and product development and the new factory etc etc.

[david-marlow]

Some of the recent videos have info indicating that a lot of things have some issues to resolved. There was one statement that the first delivered Aptera will come before crash testing even begins?

They have indicated that they want to make the first delivery this year, in the spring that was going to be a production unit, in mid summer it was going to be a Delta after crash testing had been done, Now?

[Qiang]

Sounds like it. I did also hear that crash test will be done in Q1 so my guess is that the first delivery will have to be in Q1 at the earliest.

Frankly I was a little down that the gamma release did not come with a release of test data. Showing interior and exterior designs are nice but showing the prototype can achieve the expected technical spec (efficiency, solar output, charging speed, zero to sixty, etc) will be reassuring. I am hoping they are test-driving the gamma and collect these information, otherwise, gamma is just a design mule.

<font face=”inherit”> </font>

[ROMAD]

I now doubt they will even make the absolute basic delivery of ONE vehicle being SOLD and DELIVERED to ONE person (almost definitely an in-house employee) by their 11:59 P.M. on December 31, 2022 Pacific Standard Time promise.

[WesMan]

I promise you I’ll buy this car when it’s made. Let them have their goals. I’m already planning on buying 2 Aptera’s eventually. I was hoping my second Aptera would be something with 3 to 4 seats. But I could also live with two, 2 seaters.

[christopher-barrett]

“Time keeps on slipping into the future!” I know that the Aptera folks are keenly aware of the drumbeat of customers yet to be, waiting in line for the dream machine. They are focused on getting this assembly line going, but maybe even as difficult as production, it is gathering the needed dollars in a market that is growing cold towards raising capital. Money almost has to come first, as delays in production will be impacted by not enough money to pay for parts, and workers to put them together. Maybe instead of thinking when we will get this magnificent Aptera, we should be out beating the bushes of your wealthiest of friends to get them to invest. I am getting older awaiting my Aptera, at 73 soon to be 74 how much longer do I have to wait? I know one thing, they need the $$$$ to get to the next level of producing them. As the order book get fatter, the investor types see the potential, and it will happen. Buying stock in a new company, before it has revenue, is not for everyone. The risks are still big, but when I look at the passion on this community bulletin board, I think, “oh yeah, the money will follow!” Talk to your friends who drive fancy cars, and those who believe that climate change is real, show them this concept, and ask if they might wish to get involved with a purchase of the shares.

[Leaver]

Yeah… certainly not the best indicators of making it to production. I think the odds are still against it, which is why I’m buying a new Bolt EV in the new year as a hedge. If, on the off chance Aptera survives and makes it to production, then I shouldn’t have too much trouble selling the Bolt.

[harry-parker]

One employee at the factory tour or the reveal ( I forget which) mentioned production ramping up “mid-year”, say Q2 next year.

The way I figure it is that production starts early next year but the first few dozen will be tested to the max, including destructive crash testing, over the first few months of 2023. Only IF they pass all their safety and performance tests THEN we might see the first Apteras in customer’s hands in March or April. If ANY major mechanical weakness shows up, we will be waiting for quite a few more months for a redesign and repeated testing.

[Dr.D]

Crash testing is required for CARS and SUVS by NTHSA. As Aptera is an autocycle, no such testing is required. That the company wants to do the testing is great. However, the degree which the vehicle passes the testing matters not a whit to the NTHSA. Hell, the motorcycles I rode for over 20 years would have flunked crash testing. I still rode them…….

[joshua-rosen]

My guess is that first deliveries won’t happen before the end of Q1. They said that they haven’t finalized a lot of their supplier agreements yet, it doesn’t seem possible that they can have even one vehicle with all production parts by the end of this year. I suppose they could deliver a late prototype to an employee this year and call it a shipment, they might even deliver a handful to employees, but those cars won’t be production vehicles they will just be test vehicles.

[OZ.]

The original stated production order for the various model was stated at least as far back as the first day of reservations (12/4/20) on a FaceBook Video chat. It was:

400 mile

250 mile

600 mile

1,000 mile

During the busy week of the Fully Charged show, at a factory tour before hand, it was recorded during an unscripted battery brief as being 400-600-250-1,000, it appeared to go unnoticed at the time, but was picked up by intrepid viewers of the video. Since then it has been making the rounds here and elsewhere as the new order, with various opinions offered as to why it was changed. As it seemed an unusual change, that had not been formally announced I inquired. The response from Aptera follows:

“Thanks for asking about this! It was misspoken, our apologies! The planned order at this time is still 400, 250, 600 and then 1,000. Please let me know if we can be of any further assistance!

Driving solar mobility forward,
Nicole Hall
Community Success Associate”

The production order, at this time, remains:

400 mile

250 mile

600 mile

1,000 mile

• This reply was modified 8 months, 3 weeks ago by  OZ (It's OZ, Just OZ).
• This reply was modified 8 months, 2 weeks ago by  Gabriel Kemeny.

[Greek]

• This reply was modified 6 months, 3 weeks ago by  Harry Parker. Reason: Removed doubled link
• This reply was modified 6 months, 2 weeks ago by  Gabriel Kemeny.

[curtis-cibinel]

The hatch just makes no sense. The opening shown is similar to the gamma and has no notched depression for the elongated hatch glass shown later. The transition at at roughly 1:50. Either the rear of the body needs to be different (which is supported by the parts shots shown related to CPC) or the hatch wont reach to the end of the car. I quite like the look of the hatch going to the end of the car but it may be far more prone to damage.

[Greek]

The longer hatch seems to match up better with what will be produced by C.P.C.

Then I tried counting the solar cells on both the hatches to see if they match up, I don’t believe they do.

At the end…I think APTERA doesn’t want us to see the complete picture until the Delta is revealed.

[Scott]

Unclear in that assembly process where the discussed exterior wraps will be manually installed onto the exterior body pieces. Perhaps wrapping would occur as additional (just currently un-labeled) steps at final station 13+. Or perhaps it implies that wrapping would be done on each individual piece prior to assembly. TBD.

[Greek]

Originally mentioned the completed APTERA will take 2 hours. Hand wrapping is not a quick process. Towards the end of the rendition, it showed the vehicles exiting facility towards a loaded truck. I would think they would have been driven off to a parking area.

[Pistonboy]

I find it interesting that fluid filling occurs at station 12, but the belly pan (which contains fluid) appears to be added at the following station (station 13). The belly pan is also mentioned at station 1.

I know, it is only cgi. But the build functions performed at each station has already been determined.

It is very futuristic that each station is controlled by equipment which is accessed by a hand print.

[Russell]

I’m surprised at how different it looks without the front and rear wheel covers. Very motorcycle-ish. Also looks like two of the 3 pics posted by Curtis show the front wheel drive versions. The rear wheel without the motor looks pretty light weight.

[JRWiley]

If I recall correctly, the solar panels are being manufactured at the rate of about 10 a day. Makes sense at this point because they don’t have any cars to put them on. How about when they are assembling 40-80 cars a day? Does anyone have any idea how they plan to spit out 4 panels per car times 80 cars per day, or 320 panels, from their solar panel assembly plant?