Aptera Update Videos

[alain-chuzel]

I wish Aptera would stop claiming “we invented automotive grade curved solar panels” (at about 5:05 of the above video). It’s just not true. Check out the following for at least one earlier possible inventors:

Car

• This reply was modified 6 months, 3 weeks ago by  Alain Chuzel.
• This reply was modified 6 months, 2 weeks ago by  Gabriel Kemeny.

[Kamakiri]

I think it only becomes a legal problem if they inserted words like “the first” or “the only”. I get what you’re saying, though.

[alain-chuzel]

See 1988 Patent granted to Gochermann: US Patent #4,717,790

The above is the “prior art” the Aptera’s patent application examiner is citing to “non-final” reject Aptera’s patent application for “automotive grade curved solar panels”.

Also, here is the USPTO’s “non final rejection” write up of Aptera’s solar panel patent application.

Non-Final-Rejection.pdf 746 KB PDF - Click to view

• Copy Download Link

[Biker]

Reservation holders should have received a link to this video in which Chris answers some questions:

Dear Reservation Holder | Our Answers (youtube.com)

For those that didn’t get the email, here’s the text from it:

Dear Aptera Reservation Holder,

We hope that you’re as sunny as ever.

We received a lot of great questions from our inspiring Aptera reservation holder community. Thank you so much for engaging with us. We love hearing from you! Hear back from our Co-Founder, Chris Anthony, with answers to the most asked questions in the video below.

Your support as a reservation holder continues to play a crucial role in achieving our mission. We’re moving on to better and brighter days because of your perseverance. While good things take time, we are doing everything in our power to advance our mission forward as quickly as possible.

Aptera is transportation built for you, and with each investment, it is advancing because of you. We’re excited to create waves of positive change in the transportation industry as we prepare to launch solar mobility into the world.

For those who invest $10,000 or more before the Aptera Accelerator Leaderboard is filled (445 slots remaining upon receiving this email) you receive:

A priority delivery reservation slot for a one-of-a-kind Launch Edition Aptera

A 5% discount off your Aptera

NEW: A $1,000 coupon off the purchase price of your Aptera vehicle (beginning 12/1/2023 for investments of $2,000 or more)

Keep shining bright,

Your Aptera Team

[ray-holan]

Thanks for highlighting this video, Biker. It was very welcome IMHO.

Love to see this presentation format repeated perhaps on a monthly or quarterly basis. Clear away the marketing, cheerleading fluff, and just have Chris answer most common questions providing current best guesstimates and hard points. Please no more mountain bike commercials;)

Based on viewing this latest video, I’m resigned to 2025 as the most realistic delivery date for my Aptera. Was really hoping for quick ramp-up in 2024, but it looks like that’s not happening. Additional tooling, suspension tweaking, and crash testing must needs get done before Aptera LE’s get released into the wild.

[john-malcom]

Agree with your position on this kind of presentation vs. your term, my agreement “Marketing fluff” Marketing fluff is fine once in steady state volume production, but at this point, the most believable and effective format is simply answering lingering questions openly and honestly. Builds credibility and flattens speculation on both end of the distribution.

And thanks to Biker as always for his finger on the pulse for these kind of things.

• This reply was modified 4 months, 3 weeks ago by  John Malcom. Reason: added additional response

[ROMAD]

Nope, never received it. Must have been limited to Accelerator Reservations, not we hoi-poilloi LE reservation holders.

OK, having watched it, I saw that they don’t plan on making LE deliveries to NON-accelerators until some time in mid – late 2025, thus it looks like I won’t see my LE until 2026. So I went to see if they had updated my dashboard delivery date – nope, they still have the false 2024 date there!

However, there was an even WORSE announcement by Chris: the Enhanced Audio feature that was made part of the LE originally, is now apparently only for Accelerator LEs! Someone asked about any special items for the Accelerators, and Chris mentioned there would be things like special VINs, markings, the Enhanced Audio, among others.

I suspect they will see several cancellations after this video.

[Kamakiri]

No…Not quite sure who did get this distribution, but not all Accelerators either. I didn’t get it. But there was discussion and public posting as of yesterday elsewhere. Curious about what happened.

[former_fan]

Well, I watched the video, I receive all their emails, so I am surprised others do not.

Anyway, this was just a talking point type presentation, and the only real information is the slipping dates. Until they remove the language “subject to change” from the reservation page any price quotes need to be taken with a grain of salt. don’t get me started on that average American spends $7000 on fuel.

Still more funding hype, the latest buzzword obviously being term sheets. Look, yes, they sound meaningful, but we have had nearly two years of similar talk that never comes to fruition.

The reason is the company is structured in such a way that chris+steve+director control 55% of the company and will not relinquish that position. The rest is held by guaranteed supporters. Only their Class A stock has voting rights. So, it can be expected that more than one term sheet has crossed their desk demanding similar rights and influence and honestly it may be the only way to get the funds, just how much control they have to give up is the question, but I bet it is significant enough to make them blanche. Term sheets could also be for straight up loans, but the rates are not fun right now.

That new investment offering that has an $1100 coupon off the price which worries me. It can be added to the existing 5% discount to boost the discount up to $3600. That is in the regulatory filing. Of course, without a locked in price that can just reclaim it all through price adjustments.

• This reply was modified 4 months, 3 weeks ago by  Chris Ho.

[BBP]

Great Q&A with several interesting pieces of info, so a huge thanks to chris!

The only knock is pricing strategy being based on current EV pricing and specs because this is a 2 seater that, unless it is revolutionarily cheap, like the bug example in the video where families can buy 2 to accommodate family size households, it is has significantly less market than a typical 4+ seater EV. The logic is like me pricing my 1 bedroom 2 bath house at $400,000 because that is the median home price, but it is not a median home. Also, in your primary market that average EV price of $58,000 gets a lot of federal as well as state and local tax spiffs on the EV and home charging equipment. I am not harping on this to be mean, but to say get a far more compelling story to support $35,000 LE price or lower it so your production equipment will be at a high utilization rate which is what a strong ipo will want (plus decent margin, of course).

[Biker]

The CTNS agreement and January Update video just released:

Aptera Forges Strategic Alliance with CTNS to Build Battery Packs for its Solar EV and Beyond in California | Aptera

[Biker]

The February update:

Aptera Update — February 2024 (youtube.com)

[Ron]

No new money no new vehicle.

[Dr.D]

That has always been the case.

[scott-ullerich]

I thought they had what they needed for low scale production. The extra money would be needed for high volume production, no?

[Greek]

APTERA has mentioned that low volume production was an option. APTERA has also said that if needed they would get a lone to go into full production. I think at this point if no Sugar Daddy is found, it’s better to go into full production via a loan and what ever other means they will have when they reach that plateau.

[SolStew]

They never really defined what low scale production is. It could be as low as the 16 PI builds only.

[Mike-Mars]

I visualised it as being about 1 vehicle per day, assembled in much the same way as the PIs, basically just enough to be able to tell big investment trusts & the ATVM loan office that the vehicle was officially in production. Purely symbolic.

• This reply was modified 1 month, 3 weeks ago by  Michael Marsden.

[Greek]

Chris had mentioned a while back that 2-3 per a day was definitely doable as a low production goal.

[ROMAD]

[Sam]

I wonder if it’s by land, probably not, ocean or air.

[Greek]

Chris M from Aptera confirmed it’s being airfreighted.