Frequently Asked Questions

Aptera will create the most efficient transportation on the planet. We achieve this by leveraging breakthroughs in battery efficiency, aerodynamics, material science, and manufacturing.

Aptera’s Launch Edition vehicle is the first product in a portfolio of Solar Electric Vehicles (sEVs) being produced by Aptera Motors that are powered by the sun and won’t need charging for most daily use. We are an efficiency-obsessed brand offering an array of safe, comfortable, and fun-to-drive vehicles. Through innovation and intelligent efficiency, we pride ourselves on our creative solutions to problems previously thought impossible.

Aptera’s specialized composite structure is called a Body in Carbon (BINC). The majority of the BINC is made of Carbon Fiber Sheet Molding Compound (CF-SMC) combined with Glass Sheet Molding Compound (SMC). Fiber-SMC is a lightweight material consisting of a random arrangement of short fibers that make it possible to mold intricately shaped parts. It offers much higher stiffness and strength than standard SMC and can be press-molded, substantially reducing manufacturing time for the vehicle’s body. We are looking towards more organic fibers like Hemp and Bamboo for our non-structural parts.

In the rear cargo, Aptera will have six tie-downs — four for separation between the cargo area and the seats. We also plan to offer a high-strength cargo net and dividers to shield the luggage space and the cabin. There are plenty of aftermarket possibilities to explore as well.

The first 100 Apterae will get special treatment, but after that, we will have a fairly standard warranty. Comparable to that of any modern electric vehicle. We expect to offer a 10-year warranty on the high-voltage battery pack. Warranty information will be released on our website nearing the start of production, and we encourage you to subscribe to our email newsletter at the footer of our website to stay up-to-date with all announcements.

Our goal is to sell Aptera worldwide everywhere possible. Our first three-wheel vehicle may not meet every global market’s requirement— we have an EU homologation and certification expert working with us to investigate minor model changes and help streamline the process as much as possible to meet the earliest production deliveries. We are still preparing for U.S. deliveries— we hope to begin international deliveries shortly after. Please follow our social media handles @aptera_motors and subscribe to our email newsletter for updates.

We encourage you to reserve your spot and help bring Aptera to your region even sooner. You can reserve your very own Aptera at https://aptera.us/. 

We are in the process of selecting financing partners— our goal is to offer market competitive rates, and you are always welcome to find your own financial institution if you have a favorite bank or credit union. Our team will keep all Aptera members up to date with the options available at purchase time! Please look out for updates as we near the start of production.

We will focus on aerodynamic, lightweight vehicles with efficient powertrains. And those will likely not look like standard passenger cars. We will expand to more seats and wheels over time, always ensuring our vehicles exceed the highest safety and performance standards.

We will contact customers who have preorder reservations for Aptera with more information about shipping options once production is underway. You can find out an estimate of the current timing in your Aptera member portal, along with configuration information for your vehicle.

You can make changes to your configuration once logged into your Aptera account until contacted to confirm the final selections closer to the date of purchase and delivery!

We will optimize order delivery and early adopter satisfaction, by announcing that certain configurations will be made first, such as the 400-mile range battery pack. The goal is to deliver vehicles as closely as we can to the order in which they were placed. 

Many cells can fail in our pack design before things need to be replaced, and if replacement is needed, you would only need to replace the pack itself. We expect to offer a 10-year warranty on the high-voltage battery pack. The replacement costs will vary, but they should be far less than any other EV, as our packs are smaller for a given range.

We will have exact answers regarding our battery warranty and repair/replacement cost and plan as we get closer to production time.

The first Apterae we plan to produce will be the 400-mile range version Launch Edition vehicle. Timing (or your reservation slot number) will depend on factors including – your geographical location, vehicle’s configuration, and reservation date. Additionally, through the Aptera Accelerator Program, the first 2,000 Launch Edition vehicles produced during the first few months of production will be prioritized for early deliveries to investors for us to accelerate the production plan for everyone, then our 350 Paradigm members.

We will share a delivery timeframe or approximate position in the delivery queue for all Aptera preorder reservation holders once we meet our funding objectives and have finalized our regional rollout plan. We are in the business of doing the once-thought impossible and are committed to bringing solar mobility to life. It would not be possible without the strong and passionate community behind us and the sun that powers our movement. The road for solar mobility is paved, and we are a team of innovators and pioneers who are not afraid to challenge the status quo to change the world for the betterment of humanity.

Aptera is registered and insured as a motorcycle. We are working on partnerships in this area to make it as easy as possible for Aptera drivers to obtain coverage. For companies to quote you, it will take a VIN #— those will become available closer to our production start date! Please stay tuned for more information through our website and email newsletter as this develops.

Our goal is to sell Aptera worldwide, though it may take some time to be fully certified. Just like the universal nature of the sun, our movement is for everyone– not just someone. Updates to the timeline, pricing, and delivery details will be announced through your Aptera account page.

We encourage you to reserve your spot in line so that you will be one of the first to experience Aptera in your region. Please stay tuned for announcements through our social media channels; you can also subscribe to our email newsletter at the footer of our website. 

Accepting delivery at our final assembly facility in San Diego, CA, may allow for earlier delivery, but it is too soon to provide specifics. Our team will contact you to discuss your options that way, you are well informed and can prepare ahead of time. 

Aptera’s Launch Edition is the first vehicle we will begin to produce out of San Diego, California. Read more about its core specifications here. New and existing pre-order reservation holders can reconfigure their vehicles online to the Launch Edition with the click of a button through the Aptera dashboard.

No, you do not. Please feel free to modify your vehicle’s configuration once signed into your Aptera dashboard at https://aptera.us/. You may do so until contacted to confirm the final selections closer to the date of purchase and delivery.

You can view your Aptera order online once logged into your account. Please click My Account on the top right-hand corner of the web page and then select Modify order next to your vehicle order identification number. If you would like to get your vehicle as soon as possible, we encourage you to reserve the Launch Edition Aptera.

Aptera has the longest range of any electric vehicle ever created – breaking the 1,000 mile per charge barrier. Integrated solar can be configured to provide over 40 miles of range per day with over three square meters and 180 efficient solar cells designed into the body structure. This makes the Aptera the first vehicle capable of meeting most daily driving needs with solar power alone.We have solved key manufacturing challenges allowing for rapid, high-volume and cost-efficient vehicle production – Aptera has just six main pieces.

At Aptera, we believe efficient transportation is crucial to managing our natural resources. With a focus on efficiency, Aptera makes better use of materials in construction and in their use. This saves resources we cannot afford to waste and lessens our overall impact on the planet and each other.

We’ve revolutionized every aspect of transportation, including repairs and customer service. We are designing Aptera to require very little routine maintenance. Whether it’s you performing the repairs, or the auto shop down the street, the documentation provided will be clear and easy to understand. We believe anyone should be able to diagnose and repair their vehicle and will provide all the documentation to do so and make spare parts easy to acquire. Learn about our philosophy in our video.

Aptera was created by Chris Anthony and Steve Fambro in an effort to make a better future for the planet possible through more efficient transportation. You can learn more about how Aptera was conceived and launched in this video.

Hear from our fearless leaders, co-founders and co-CEOs, Chris Anthony and Steve Fambro.

• https://invest.aptera.us/ – $1,000 minimum investment
  • Questions? Please do not hesitate to contact our support team via email at invest@aptera.us.
• https://republic.com/aptera – $210 minimum investment
  • Questions about investing through Republic? Please email us at equity@aptera.us. For support-related questions for Republic, please contact investors@republic.co.

Watch this video to see efficiency explained.

Aptera has significant safety advantages over other vehicles. Complete with an anti-lock braking system, forward collision warning with the safety pilot package, two airbags, four external cameras, and parking assist. We are designing to meet or exceed all applicable federal motor vehicle safety standards and use industry-standard testing protocols to ensure reliability and durability.

Our Formula One-inspired safety cell uses advanced Carbon Fiber Sheet Molding Compound (CF-SMC) that is ultra-lightweight and many times stronger than steel, paired with metallic front and rear subframes that absorb energy after impact. We will show our testing and provide Aptera’s safety rating upon passing a production vehicle through the full safety tests. 

One of the key features setting Aptera apart from other electric vehicles is our unique combination of solar and electric power to get you where you need to go with less impact on the planet.

Aptera uses the Sun to enhance its range — charging up to 40 miles a day from the solar cells alone when parked outside; this is made possible by Aptera’s aerodynamic design – fundamentally solving significant energy loss from drag. In other words, Aptera only uses 1/3 of the energy of a typical EV, charges more than 3x as fast, and gets 3x more mileage per battery charge.

And for those who drive farther than the sun can take you, not to worry. You can plug in your Aptera to a standard 110V or 220V outlet and achieve 250, 400, 600, or 1,000 miles in range, depending on your battery pack size. Watch our video and learn more about Aptera – a True Zero-Emission Vehicle.

You can plug Aptera in like any other electric vehicle — Aptera can be charged and travel 250, 400, 600, or 1,000 miles (depending on your battery pack size) by plugging in at home to a standard 110V or 220V outlet. The built-in solar power is a bonus.

We plan for Aptera to be compatible with Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3 DC Fast Charge stations; and to ship the vehicle with a charging adapter so that you can charge it anywhere.

Our charging infrastructure is stellar. You will achieve up to 40 miles of range per day while outside in the sunlight, trickling down into your battery pack. From a 110V cord, like what you’d charge your cell phone on, you receive about 13 miles an hour, or about 150 miles of charge overnight. At roadside charging stations, you’d likely get about 100 miles in 10 minutes. Once we have final charging specifications, we will be able to provide you with exact charge times based on your battery pack size, home outlets, and amperage available, as well as any onboard chargers we might recommend.

Depending on where you live and how your vehicle is configured, some drivers can get up to 40 miles of range per day powered by the sun.  Our Co-CEO Steve Fambro explains the science behind this engineering innovation from the team at Aptera.

Most vehicles today waste more than 65% of their energy at highway speeds due to aerodynamic drag. Aptera’s unique body shape allows it to slip through the air using far less energy than any other vehicle on the road. We can burn 30% of the energy the average EV does to go the same distance. Aptera puts over 90% of its battery pack’s energy into propelling itself with regenerative braking to add range.

The vehicle is made of lightweight composites that are many times stronger than steel, allowing its unique body shape to slip through the air with an unheard-of drag coefficient (Cd) of .13.

Efficient transportation is crucial to managing our natural resources. With a focus on efficiency, Aptera makes better use of materials in construction and in their use. This saves resources we cannot afford to waste and lessens our overall impact on the planet and each other.

Aptera uses 100 Watt Hours (Wh) per mile, a fraction of the energy larger EVs are using to go the same distance.

There will be a jack point to lift the vehicle for wheel/ tire repairs. The wheel covers can be removed without unusual tools or special skills in a couple of minutes. See for yourself at minute 1:37 in the video below:

Aptera is designed to carry a 500 lbs payload of passengers and cargo, or a max of 300lbs in the rear cargo (if you only have the driver).

This may change slightly in production, but it is 6’2″ right now.

Aptera is 87.6″ wide. We realize this may be wider than local regulations permit for some of our global customers and we are working through this process with industry experts to ensure we can make Aptera available in Europe and the UK.

For production, our complete HVAC system will include the following— windshield and side window defrost, left and right under IP footwell vents, left and right outer corners of IP vents, and the main screen vent system, which will be fully controllable in both temperature and velocity of the airflow. The center venting system was born of our design process and philosophy with roots in intelligent efficiency and radical simplicity in that we had two needs fulfilled by one solution.

Aptera will utilize Eve Energy’s 21700 NMC 811 cylindrical cells in its vehicle’s structural battery packs. These lithium-ion structural battery packs will be produced in San Diego. You can read more by clicking through this link.

Imagine going to the pump and filling up 1.2 gallons into your vehicle and then traveling 400 miles. That’s what our 42kWh Launch Edition battery can do.

With all-wheel-drive and vectorized torque control, Aptera handles beautifully in the snow and ice. Aptera will have a full climate control system capable down to -20 and up to 125 degrees Fahrenheit. Aptera will be equipped with defroster grids, and our sandwich core composite body offers great insulation and a nice heater, making it very comfortable to drive in the winter.

Additionally, according to our calculations, even the most dreary places would average about 8,000 miles of solar “free-charging” per year. In the winter they may not get a lot of sun, but in the summertime, these regions have even longer hours of sunlight. For most people in the world, 8,000 miles of free charging is a game-changer.

We are using a standard 16” tire size that you can get winter tires for anywhere.

Yes. The vehicle is charging while driving now. The charge rate is just less than the rate that it is consuming, hence, it’s not a perpetual motion machine.

Adding a third motor on the rear wheel allows for improved performance, handling, and traction. Those are the key value-adds for paying for the third motor. It is better for driving and handling in snowy, off-road, or icy conditions. The additional regenerative braking capability is a bonus with a third motor, but it is not the driving factor.

Not to worry – Aptera will be able to go over speed bumps. Our wheels can take a pounding, and there is much less weight on them when compared to a typical EV. The wheel covers have EVA foam at the bottom, a high-energy absorbing and closed-cell foam in case of any impact shock. The vehicle’s 5″ ground clearance and good entry and exit angles on wheel covers will be able to handle speed bumps and potholes! The exact vehicle specifications will be shared nearing production once the design is locked down.