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Manufacturing plans
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Manufacturing plans
updated 5 months, 3 weeks ago
36 Members
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75
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At 40 a day it will take Aptera over 2 1/2 years just to fill the pre-orders. Am I missing something? It seems like it will take a 100 a day to keep up with the demand.
Fair winds and Smooth sailing,
Lawrence Leonard
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Lawrence, once the first shift is up and running with 40 a day production, a second shift will be added to add another 40 a day, 80 a day is what APTERA’s goal is for the factory in Carlsbad.
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> “Am I missing something?”
Several things –
firstly, is the conversion factor. Typically only a fraction of people with pre-orders go on to actually order the vehicle (lets say 20%-40% is not unusual).
Secondly, is that a lot of these orders are outside the USA. Carlsbad will only be producing vehicles for NA, so you can discount those.
Thirdly, as Paul says, there will be secondary local factories in other regions – for example, an EU factory would be set up once the design has been modified to be legal within the EU. These secondary factories would most likely be funded via an IPO at the time that NA vehicles start to be delivered.
Fourthly, as John says, they’ll do a second shift once the first has ramped up.
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From the Republic investor site about three weeks ago:
Question:
I’d ask how much or what percentage of the tooling/equipment costs will go to CPC for molds and to other suppliers as a one time cost before bringing some operations in house? In that same vein, is production still planned at an agreed upon existing facility in Taiwan, is that a cooperative with shared costs, and is there an expected time frame for that? Trying to get an idea of repeatability cost for a second final assembly plant there and/or in Europe since much of the supply chain is EU based.
Chris Anthony Answer:
We think about a quarter of our CapEx for high volume production will go to our efforts with CPC. The rest goes to motors, batteries, solar, interior, and glass along with some other mechanical parts. We will do final assembly at our Carlsbad facility which is capable of 20,000 units per year. To duplicate this level of assembly in a new plant we feel it will cost about $60M for each additional plant. We plan to have 8 assembly plants open by 2028 around the world.
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LE Pre-Order numbers 5,001 and above SoL?
The LE has everything that was on my original pre-order except the wrap (Sol), interior (Coast), and 2WD. I don’t have a problem with AWD so now the only differences are the wrap and interior which are minor and easily changed.
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CA’s answer was “about 5,000” “but if we get overwhelming support, we may expand that number.” leaving the door open for it to be an ever expanding number.
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@Dennis Swaney At about 9:00 in this video, Chris Anthony sorta addresses the LE build quantity:
Aptera CEO Chris Anthony Talks Launch Edition with DC Fast Charging – YouTube
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I saw that video earlier today and it was pretty informative. I do have one question though: should we send Dark Chocolate flavored Rum, or Rum flavored Dark Chocolate to CA? 😆
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A new video describing the manufacturing:
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I think this is one of the best and most significant videos from Aptera to date relating to production. Thanks for posting this to the forum!
This video demonstrates (For those that are familiar with R&D and product production) that Aptera is no mom and pop shop WRT production control for cost containment, speed of operations, and defect minimization.
A significant advantage is that Aptera is starting from scratch with these systems and implementing them as a meta system. Other manufacturers trying to adapt this tech are trying to collage out of what they have currently and what they want. This includes keeping bad or reduncent data in the systems.
They have simulated the operation as a first step instead of putting it in production and debugging it as they go along.
And finally they used it to control the manufacture of their PV, operational verification testing.
The presenter is impressive. Articulate, knowledgeable, and good presentation skills.
Many on the forum (Even on this thread) miss the signifcance of this post. This is my area of technical expertise. Process implementation and improvement for R&D and production of mechanical products. I have been doing it for more that 50+ years. This is the best I have seen! I have just come from a consulting engagement with a vehicle manufacturer who is trying to make a transition. The Aptera implementation runs rings around them.
So for the haters and doubters on her, find somewhere else to criticise something you know nothing about.
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Some of this was mentioned/shown on the investor webinar but Jason Hill made this post today:
“Steel makes it real.”
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I’m guessing that this is one of the tool steel moulds for CPC? I’m not entirely sure which component it is for though. Could it be the rear-left fibreglass body casting?
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This reply was modified 1 year, 2 months ago by Michael Marsden.
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This reply was modified 1 year, 2 months ago by
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This was posted on Discord – looks like they are starting to buy/get/install production stuff (most of that was empty floor last month)
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Which discord?
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Discord group name: Aptera Owners’ Club. It’s from the same person how runs the Aptera Owner’s Club, YouTube Channel.
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Further confirmation that the use of Vista facility may be winding down and solar production being moved to Carlsbad:
“Aptera solar manufacturing has a mixture of human labor and precision robotics to ensure the highest quality solar panels are being produced.”
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Unfortunately, the “mixture of human labor and precision robotics” didn’t “ensure the highest quality solar panels” were “being produced” for Gamma and “filling shelves”. Hopefully, of course, things will be better for Delta and beyond!
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Posted on the socials today:
“Special delivery! Can anyone guess what these are used for?”
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Red Viking Automated guided vehicle number 5
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AGV unboxing
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Aptera has been a promise since 2005 as a startup that keeps moving the finish line. I would love to own one and am also in line. Has even one (1) order been filled to date?
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No.
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Not much new during the Chris Anthony keynote address at the Tesla event this last weekend but at 11:05 in the video he mentions the commissioning of the tooling at CPC – that’s sorta in line with what Steve Fambro mentioned about 6 months ago.
Chris Anthony’s presentation and Q&A at Tesla Takeover 2023 – YouTube
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Thanks for posting, it’s the most info I’ve seen come out from the Takeover. Good news about the CPC tooling.
@6:11 ”…headed into production hell now…”
@9:54 “…Launch Edition that we’re producing next year…”
But the part I like best was that they’re engaging new investors over a 2nd plant “sooner than later”.
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he just stated on a Munro Live video segment they won’t even have a battery pack till February or March of 2024!!!! The body and chassis may not be assembled until December for the first time….
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This reply was modified 8 months, 3 weeks ago by Chris Ho.
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This reply was modified 8 months, 3 weeks ago by
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So, the body in December 2023, the battery pack in March 2024, then they’ll have to add in all the supplementary electronics (assuming the software will be ready), finally several months of testing, before they MIGHT decide to start building actual vehicles for sale sometime in 2025.
I think that’s the body ready for assembly on the production line in Dec ‘23. The commissioning of the tooling at CPC and CA offering to send a BinC to Sandy Munro, means to me that the bodies will be available for misc testing sooner than December. I think in the next couple of months to get them from overseas. Mostly for the transport which is maybe 3-5 weeks of the lead time. The Battery Module has completed validation and the Pack is undergoing validation work now. The cells are just plug-in 2170s and can come from anyone for all testing purposes. It’s a really good thing for them to be negotiating with suppliers right now, as they should. Testing of production line units (complete vehicles) should be easy enough to complete between Q1 or early Q2 for 24Q2 deliveries considering all this new info. Sure, it probably sounded like pure speculation for everyone else couple of days ago, but hopefully it’s clearer for most people now.
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In this video at the 2:00 mark (also from last weekend’s Tesla takeover event) Chris says one of the CPC parts has been commissioned and then others should follow.
Aptera delivery CONFIRMED… but when? (EARLY PREVIEW OF THE UPCOMING SHOW) – YouTube
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It also confirmed that a full body (CPC parts at least) is what should be available in a couple of months. That piece was ‘produced’ and it’s the rest of the tooling that gets ‘commissioned’…IOW, ready to produce parts. Hope that clarifies.
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Just wondering…
Are all the “tracks” laid out (have seen a “line” or two)
Progress on the Red Viking AVGs (beyond unwrapping)
Any additional equipment received (robotics, battery pack conveyors, station computer hardware/monitors, etc.)
Solar arrays manufacturing pieces in permanent location and online/functional (relocated from other facility)
Power run to locations as needed
Thank you
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I speculate that they might be playing around with them freeform, but they won’t actually program the tracks for a few reasons until the first shells show up from CPC. I don’t think there will be too much in getting it set up given the preassembly approach. They have a bunch of work to do on the battery yet, which will command a lot of floor space.
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At 6:00 in this video, Chris mentions the production ramp, which seems much more restrained than the previous plans of going quickly to the 40 cars/shift capacity of the factory:
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Thanks for pointing this out. Not unexpected. Thought the original plan was a little ambitious/unrealistic especially with the lack of production capital. I can accept a constrained by available capital production plan. More important to get into production and vehicles into the market as early as possible than to stress about lack of funded ramping.
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For those not following the SEC filings closely. It has been known that Aptera was going to vacate the 134k manufacturing facility known by its location, Vista California. They only moved in last year. It was featured in their October 2022 video declaring solar production and they provided lots of pretty pictures of solar roof components scrolling by with an implied production line setup and rate.
We also learned that CPC is not only manufacturing major body components but also assembling and installing glass. One major component many of us have been interested in is the full solar rear hatch cover. This begs the question, are solar components being produced by Aptera or someone else?
Has anyone been permitted to see the production line progress at Carlsbad within the last few weeks? Has the solar production line been moved there? Are the AGV units off their pallets and being set up? Its obvious the production line has to be changed since CPC is now responsible for some of the work.
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They are merging their two locations into one – i.e., yes, things are being migrated to Carlsbad. I have a vague memory of a low volume solar production line being shown on one of Steve’s Aptera Owner’s Club videos, with the high volume line being mentioned but not present at that time. The rear hatch structure is being assembled at CPC (there’s no glass in it, and from the look of it, glass cannot be fitted on that variant of the hatch panels), but I presume that the solar panels will be clipped in at Carlsbad.
Presumably when Aptera release an option for a non-solar rear hatch, it’d need a new set of dies to be made at CPC.
When they originally got the leases, the expectation was that the body panel manufacturing was going take up a lot of space. With the signing of the contract with CPC, that was no longer the case, and suddenly they were paying for a lot of unnecessary space.
As an aside, they’re probably still paying for a lot of unnecessary space. They released the facility back to the landlord, but until the landlord finds a new tenant, they’re likely to be liable for the rent (or until the lease runs out, whichever is first). $7.5M is a frustratingly large amount of money to have to pay if they can’t find a new tenant.
13th Feb statement on forum
> No plans just yet! However, we will be consolidating our physical footprint in North County San Diego for greater capital efficiency. As you know, we currently lease two buildings. Now, with the manufacturing of Aptera’s carbon fiber bodies taking place at CPC Group in Italy to start, we won’t require as much space as originally anticipated to meet our first-year production goals. We are in the process of unifying our presence at one of those two locations as a creative strategy to keep Aptera as investible as possible over the coming months. Both buildings are on the market as we explore our options, and either location can accommodate our space needs going forward. Our low volume solar production line will continue to operate as it has been, and we’ll be gearing up to build 40 vehicles a day once we reach our funding milestones. In the coming years, we plan to expand and replicate our manufacturing and assembly facilities in more regions across the U.S. ☀️
20th July SEC filing
> In July of 2023, the Company notified the landlord of the Vista Building that the Company considered the terms of its lease to be terminated. The liability associated with the termination of the lease is in dispute; however, the Company no longer intends to use the facility and therefore will record an impairment of up to $7.5 million related to the right-of-use asset.
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This reply was modified 7 months, 3 weeks ago by Michael Marsden.
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This reply was modified 7 months, 3 weeks ago by Michael Marsden.
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This reply was modified 7 months, 3 weeks ago by Michael Marsden.
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This reply was modified 7 months, 2 weeks ago by Gabriel Kemeny.
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This reply was modified 7 months, 3 weeks ago by
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The following is the latest video I’ve seen showing the solar fab. It, apparently, was filmed in early May of 2023.
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The shelving system went up recently:
