Aptera News?

[Biker]

You may need to lower your expectations.

[Wildman]

Howdy. We are all excited to one day own one of these amazing vehicles. Patience young grasshopper 😁

[john-malcom]

Morris has the best advice 😃 we will know when we will know. Worrying won’t make it come any faster. Something about a watched pot and boiling????

[kerbe2705]

@Russell Fauver Aptera usually releases an “update video” during the first or second week of each month.

[Pragmatic_to_a_Fault]

Worrying won’t make it come quicker , true

Posting discontent in the waiting , lack of updates , lack of expedience , etc ( if the boards are truly monitored and read by actual aptera employees ) may light a fire under their butts to maybe quit over engineering the vehicle to the point of failing again.

I doubt that I am the only one who feels this way.

People are funny , they will only wait so long , and when they see the price of gas continue to climb, the price or used cars continue to climb , inflation continue to climb , the recession hit next quarter.

How much more can the middle class take before it breaks , and those of us who ordered this as a saving grace in the face of all these economic hardships , will get tired of waiting and buy a hybrid at a price we can afford now and start saving money at the pump.

Don’t forget the only way to get this runaway inflation under control is to raise interest rates and by the time aptera finally produces cars we can actually buy , you won’t have 0.9% financing any more , we’ll be lucky if we don’t see the carteresque interest rates of 15% at this rate. ( this is not political discourse this is simple economics )

[jack-vincent]

I see this for what it is, yes it definitely needs to be out there for sure, yes patience is what’s needed. This vehicle is a game changer, it’s already been stated that this company has every intention to be fluid with upgrades with tech advances but don’t think (and you shouldn’t think like that) that upgrades will be free. Far from it, however know that this company will be doing their best to give you “the public” the best possible vehicle in the best time frame that is possible. You the public need to ask yourself is this what I actually need or am I just getting swept up in the hype of it all. After all it’s just an Autocycle. It’s no Tesla with all the bells and whistles. Lol. It is the most aerodynamic efficient vehicle out there though so if your happy to own a 2 seat aerodynamic vehicle then this is your vehicle (it definitely fits me very well) then this is for you.👌❤

[david-marlow]

They have recently made agreements with suppliers.

Right now they must be talking with them about the best ways they can work together to achieve the stated mission.

In the last year they have indicated that they know who their primary battery supplier will be and that they would be assembling there own battery packs.

It has also been stated that they are working on a true solar Beta, so my hope is that it will also have a 40KWH battery with a beta charging system and belly pan cooling system. This would be the first real world test mule, of the main concepts the Aptera is based on.

[Russell]

Note to my earlier self… Calm down, be patient, it takes time to build a new vehicle. I’m standing here in august and still hoping to see something other than a single bare bodied beta, so cool your jets! Oh btw, you’re going to need new batteries for your car in July so go ahead and order them now, it’ll save your future self about 8 weeks of down time.

[john-malcom]

Running short on time and a LOT left to do. Most important though is securing funding. Without capital even necessary things can’t be done or at least done on time. I think one drop dead will be to have something (Gamma or an up fitted Sol) for the event early in September. A lot of visibility there. If Aptera doesn’t have something impressive their credibility will be ruined nationally and internationally. The Elio finger will start to be pointed.

[Pistonboy]

It has been important to deliver “a” vehicle before the end of the year.

Delivering “a” vehicle before the end of the year may be a milestone that must be met before receiving further funding from wealthy investors.

[ROMAD]

All caught up on all rumors? 😁

[Russell]

It’s mid November, waiting to hear it’s ‘pencils down’ on the Delta design.

[ray-holan]

I had it directly from Jason Hill about 6 weeks ago that the Delta design was to have been finalized by November 15th.

[ROMAD]

Like production and actual sales would start before the end of 2022? The Gamma would be revealed by mid July 2022? I hope you took that with a large bag of salt as their previous predictions haven’t been that accurate. 🙂

[ray-holan]

I think “finalizing the design” is a much lower bar than “producing our first Aptera”. I took Jason Hill’s statement to mean final decisions about the initial feature set, dimensions, and shapes will have been made by November 15th. Producing a vehicle that incorporates those decisions is, of course, another matter entirely;)

[Russell]

Looks like Jason Hill was a little ambitious with his November 15th prediction. The latest word from Aptera, “We are eager to finalize our production-intent design and reveal renders of Delta by the end of the year.”.

[curtis-cibinel]

Two major webinars yesterday. More rumors, observations, and inferences will come soon.

[Greek]

Prior to Gamma reveal at Super Charged, teaser photos of the vehicle were shown almost every week since July.

So far we got a look at the new body frame and shell. I don’t recall any other pics. Does anybody else have something to add?

• This reply was modified 1 year, 5 months ago by  John Voules.

[Markus]

There is only one important point I picked up in these two webinars: Chris Anthony said that once Aptera will have fully reached their inicial funding goal (right now not yet there) it would take 9 months to set up everything until the first production Aptera would leave their facilities.

Said that, I’m leaning back till then.

The good part of the somewhat lengthy waiting time is that everybody can put aside some extra money that either can be spent on

• a possible price adjustment due to inflation👎,
• some extra features 😇 and/or
• additional Aptera shares 👍😁

[Greek]

I can’t imagine Chris leaning back too long. California grant of 22 million plus non-binding stock purchase offer for another $21 recently to be qualified late winter along with individual investors….we can’t be that far off. This is why I feel we are just waiting for them to finish Delta.

[jonah-jorgenson]

Rose colored glasses; I think. Chris certainly is not leaning back. He is all of these places where he appears beating the bushes for sources of capital.

At one time the target for full production was about $100M. I think the actual figure is close to that. Maybe more with inflation as high as it is lately. I suspect Aptera doesn’t have the $21M grant yet knowing how slow and bureaucratic grant money is to get once approved. The $20M is not a sure thing and if it comes, won’t come until the second quarter at the earliest. Aptera needs a lot more money now. If Aptera had both now they wouls still be significantly short of what is really needed.

A lot falls into production readiness. A starting supply of components for assembly. A reliable flow of those components to support continued production. These need to be paid for ahead of delivery to start. perhaps net 30 or 60 once credibility of the buyer is established. Production equipment procured and installed. There was no sign of any assembly equipment in the completely empty assembly facility during the gamma reveal. Payment for the equipment, payment for delivery, cost of labor to install. Procurement of assembly staff. organization and training of assembly staff. Assembly staff practice of documented (I hope by now) assembly process. All additional dollars needed. At this point an official delta can be produced. (Delta = production ready vehicle produced using production components in a production facility, using a production process)

Testing of the delta vehicles (Probably 10 – 20 needed) to include safety testing. Reengineering to correct defects found during testing, reworking production line to accommodate the changes, retesting to insure correction of defects.

Managing government certifications and approvals.

Staffing up for vehicle customer service, vehicle support, and sales and delivery processes. Finalizing the Right to Repair process. Establishing an initial support network. Financing and establishing an initial supply of repair parts based on an assent of component failure rates.

Establishing selling and delivery processes and acquiring appropriate licenses. Contracting for selected delivery process vendors.

A partial list of what it will take to get to production and delivery to retail customers. All requiring capital, which for the most part Aptera does not have at this point.

[kerbe2705]

@Jonah Jorgenson …not to mention, “Figuring out how the referral credit system is going to work”! 😁

[Greek]

You keep referring to rose colored glasses. A bit of an insult as to imply I do not see the world as it is. I will grant you that I do see things as a glass that is half full.

Your personal analysis which may have some truth is not a representative as to APTERA’s true position. You are not in the know for their complete situation, you are not employed by them as an analyst or a fiduciary consultant. Much of what you say is said in a way that kills conversation and scares off others. You can use a little tint in your own eye ware.

[dan-stevens]

Not sure, but I think the grant money is given out as reimbursement to expenses. I doubt they are given the cash upfront. Perhaps they will get a partial advance and then as they account for the spend in an approved way, they will get more. Not sure how it will work.

There are a lot of stipulations on what it can be spent on and you can bet California will monitor that pretty heavily.

[craig-merrow]

As my grandfather used to tell me, “If it’s worth having, it’s worth waiting for”.

[larry-kaiser]

What is the problem with Aptera. The accelerator data has not been updated since shortly after noon on the 13th. There have been several events that Aptera was supposed to attend but no news about them. The last entry in “news” was something posted a couple of weeks ago. It takes days to update a topic on the discussion board. It’s like the lights are on but no one is home!

[john-malcom]

Remember, Aptera has only 55 employees! The majority of those employees are in the development and production organizations. The rest are divided among marketing/customer service/response, finance, administration. so, spread pretty thin. I think that Aptera does a pretty good job with their response cycle given the volume of interest in the vehicle and public response to Aptera events and news. Let’s give them a break and exercise patience. They try their best to respond and get the word out.

[ROMAD]

Ah, Larry, if you look at the top of this window, you’ll see a bunch of Accelerator slots were just taken in the last couple of days as the available slots DROPPED from around 620 to 592. So 28 x $10,000 = $280,000 more to Aptera.

[Tom]

With changed investments (and 2 removed investments) the net change on 9/13/23 was actually about $365,061.

[Kamakiri]

I talked to them yesterday at WTA about these issues, and with the events this week I can confirm they are short handed at the moment. PetCo park on Thursday, ride alongs yesterday and today in Gamma, and WTA for the whole week until today and probably later to retrieve Sol from the event (it is up in the stands). It’s been an extra busy week for the marketing and digital content side.

I did make similar comments and I believe the message and suggestions were well received. I would ask a bit of patience in this regard. I sincerely believe they are doing what they can with the resources they have, after the one on one discussions I had yesterday.

[christopher-h-lynt]

Aptera is going to have competition in the aerodynamically designed EV soon according to this news:

“New images of the Chevy Equinox EV 2024 have been leaked in China, giving us a first glimpse of the electric SUV in its production form. This confirms that GM’s popular SUV will be going electric, playing a crucial role in GM’s “EVs for Everyone” strategy. The Chevy Equinox EV will soon be available in the United States, with a starting price of around $30,000, making it one of the most affordable EVs in its class. It will join other electric models based on GM’s Ultium platform, such as the Silverado EV and the Blazer EV.

According to Scott Bell, Vice President of Chevrolet, the Equinox EV is designed to be an electric vehicle for everyone. It features a spacious interior with advanced technology, and GM estimates a range of up to 300 miles on a single charge. Although production will start later this year, the first models were already seen coming off the assembly line at GM’s Ramos Arizpe plant in Mexico in June.

The leaked images from China, shared by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), show the Equinox EV RS, which is the high-performance sport version of the electric SUV. In terms of design, it closely resembles what has been shown in the United States. The Equinox EV will be manufactured by SAIC-General Motors and is expected to be 7 inches longer and 2 inches wider than its gasoline version sold in the United States.

The RS version of the Equinox EV will feature a dual-motor powertrain with a combined output of 283 horsepower (211 kW). It will be equipped with a ternary lithium-ion battery manufactured by SAIC-GM. The official debut of the Chevy Equinox EV is expected to happen soon in China, followed by its availability in the United States this fall.

There has been a petition urging GM to fulfill its promise of providing affordable EVs by launching the Equinox EV at its target price of around $30,000, especially after the base version of the Blazer EV was discontinued. It remains to be seen if GM will meet the expectations of EV enthusiasts eagerly anticipating the launch of the Equinox EV.

Sources:
– Leak from China’s MIIT
– Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT)”
https://www.motorblog.com.uy/en/noticias/first-leaked-images-of-the-chevy-equinox-ev-2024/49104/

• This reply was modified 7 months ago by  CHRISTOPHER H LYNT.

[ROMAD]

There are at least two MAJOR drawbacks to it:

1. Built in Red China.

2. FUGLY!

• This reply was modified 7 months ago by  Dennis Swaney. Reason: Spelling correction

[Jeff]

Lol. This is either a joke, or a wild misunderstanding, or deliberate misinformation by whoever runs “Motorblog Uruguay”. 😆

I mean, c’mon… no one could possibly look at that ridiculous rendering and believe that it’s actually the design of ANY passenger vehicle, let alone a mass-market Chevy crossover. Right???

Here’s what it actually looks like (from here: https://gmauthority.com/blog/2023/09/all-new-2024-chevy-equinox-ev-images-leaked-in-china/amp/ )

[john-malcom]

Most likely click bait to get view count up

[ROMAD]

My post of September 17, 2023 at 12:16 pm still applies, though.

[john-malcom]

It is a render so not built at all.

[craig-merrow]

That reminds me a little of the Apollo moon rover!