Aptera 2e Car Eligible for DOE Loan Program
Finally some new good news from Aptera Motors back in November. Three wheel vehicles, which include the Aptera 2e. Are now eligible for the DOE’s (Department of Energy) Advanced Technology Vehicle Loan program. Aptera’s 2e Electric Car was previously not eligible due to the wording of the original DOE loan program rules.
After much hard work by Aptera and high profile politicians, the rules have been changed to include the 3 wheel vehicles like Aptera 2e and 2h. Even though Aptera had applied previously, now they have to go through the whole application process again. Aptera Motors seems confident in their ability to be approved under the new DOE rule changes for the loan program. Aptera is in the process of submitting the application, which includes a full and detailed business plan specifically outlining where the money will be used and when they will pay back the loan.
And how will this loan help Aptera Motors bring their Aptera 2e to market? Here’s what Aptera plans:
- With the loan funds in the bank, Aptera intends to scale up much faster than their past organic growth strategy. They will still launch in California, but will move to new markets more rapidly than planned before.
- The launch of a second bigger family sedan could come much sooner than initially planned. This would still come after the initial smaller Aptera 2e car.
- With the new loan cash to grow their market more quickly, comes the need for more production facilities and the staff to work in them. All part of their plan to put more Americans back to work. The plan is to have at least 2 production plants providing as many as 3,000 jobs for Americans, not to mention all the spin off jobs in construction, part supplies, sales, and service people.
Aptera 2e Gets More Interior Space
Aptera 2e Gains Interior Volume
Aptera has getting customer feedback from the Aptera 2e or Aptera 2h prototypes, and that feedback has translated into a new, roomier prototype. Feedback indicated that the oval shaped intior is not big enough for most people so they’ve mad a few adjustments.
The company released a newsletter to it’s subscribers today, saying “We tested men and women of every age and stature and found, in many cases, we were not offering enough room in the cabin. With that information, we enhanced the cabin using our Aptera formula – safety, then aerodynamics, then lightweight. The new interior cabin is now roughly 10% larger by every measure.
“The new 2 series also now has headroom and legroom comparable to, if not better than, the Mini and Chevy Volt. We widened the area at the hips to provide more space than the Smart EV and the Nissan Cube. Then to top it off, we increased our cargo capacity
by more than 24 cubic feet, which is nearly two times the space available in the Honda Accord,” Aptera went on to explain.
Other enhancements included lightening up the dark interior cabin, by redesigning the console, and less importantly (for some) adding a Big Gulp sized cup holder. If Aptera 2e customers start drinking a lot of big gulps, Aptera may need to increase the size of the seats! And one wonders, is 7 Eleven investing in the Aptera 2e? hmmm…
Aptera Motors Denied Federal Loan Money
This is absolutely ridiculous news about the Aptera 2e and 2h electric and hybrid cars, still trying to find more info on this news from Wired:
WIRED reports that the federal government pretty much automatically denied Aptera any of the loan money that it requested because the feds are not interested in funding a vehicle with only three wheels. California Congressman Brian Bilbray is working to change this through an “Innovative Vehicle Act,” but it’ll take amending the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA) to do so.
[Source: HadleyRille, WIRED]
Business Update: Aptera is American, Californian and ‘Obaman’ Share
When talking about the future of the American economy on Jan. 26, President Obama said, “…We must ensure that the fuel-efficient cars of tomorrow are built right here in the United States of America.”
Well, what’s more American than a vehicle that’s been conceived, designed, engineered and, come October, built in the U.S. innovation hotbed of California?
Besides adding an expected 1,500 jobs to the U.S. economy and about 100,000 vehicles to the U.S. roads over the next five years, Aptera will also provide a practical means to minimize dependence on foreign oil and allow Americans to drive right by the gas pump.
According to CEO Paul Wilbur, ” We hope that Aptera can be a standard-bearer for a new green economy. Great mileage, remarkable efficiency, innovative technology and it’s priced to fit within many family budgets.”
So next time somebody asks you, “Why an Aptera?” You can tell them that you’re just being a good American.
Aptera Deposits Safe and a Good Investment
When someone places a deposit with Aptera, they can be secure in knowing their money is doing exactly what it’s supposed to do: guaranteeing receipt of one of the first production Apteras. In fact, we place each deposit into escrow, where it will later be applied to the vehicle purchase and NEVER to fund the company.
If you haven’t secured your Aptera yet, you can join more than 4,000 Californians by making a fully-refundable $500 deposit at https://www.aptera.com/reserve.php. And if you choose to “lock in” your deposit, you’ll see that initial $500 investment turn into $750, just like that.
Where else can depositors see a 50% return on investment just by locking a deposit? No, it’s not another poor banking strategy, but a way of rewarding those who are joining our family and purchasing an Aptera.
Spaceage and efficient, Aptera gears up for launch
By Nichola Groom
VISTA, California (Reuters) – Thousands of miles west of Detroit, a California start-up hopes to find a market for a three-wheeled, ultra-efficient, downright odd-looking car among consumers sick of spending their hard-earned cash at the gas pump.
The Aptera is an egg-shaped two-seater often likened to a space-age car from the futuristic 1960s cartoon “The Jetsons.” Looking more like an aircraft than a road vehicle, it is a far cry from the hybrid sedans and electric sports cars being produced by conventional automakers.
Riding in the all-electric version of the Aptera feels similar to a regular car, although its roof-attached doors make getting in and out a challenge. Its long shape provides extra legroom and the car runs with a tinny, high-pitched hum.
To the executives behind the vehicle, its aerodynamic design and 100 miles per gallon (42 km per liter) range points the way to the future. And, with 4,000 customer orders already, they believe they have the early following to back up that confidence.
“We have a breakthrough level of energy efficiency which really means you are going to save so much money on operating costs,” Aptera Chief Executive Paul Wilbur said in an interview at the company’s headquarters and vehicle assembly facility in Vista, California.
Like Tesla Motors, Fisker Automotive and ZAP, Aptera is one of a handful of young, West Coast-based companies making cars that, unlike the sport utility vehicles that have been integral to the U.S. auto market in recent years, save gasoline and global warming emissions.
Automakers, however, have a track record of over promising and under delivering when it comes to new technology. Tesla, for instance, ran into a series of cost overruns and delays rolling out its electric Roadster. General Motors Corp, meanwhile has said that its highly-anticipated Volt plug-in will be a low-volume money-loser when it comes to market in late 2010.
Fuel efficiency is harder to sell than it was last summer when gas prices hit records. As gasoline prices have fallen, so have sales of premium-priced fuel efficient cars such as Toyota Motor Corp’s Prius hybrid.
MONEY SAVER
Aptera’s makers are still shopping the car as a money saver despite an initial price tag of between $25,000 and $40,000, depending on whether buyers want an electric, hybrid or traditional powertrain.
“It doesn’t matter if gasoline is $2 or $4 a gallon, you are still going to be buying a lot less when you buy our vehicle,” Wilbur said.
Aptera will begin shipping its all-electric vehicles to customers in the fourth quarter of this year. The electric version has a 100 mile range per charge and can be recharged by plugging into a regular electric outlet.
The company plans to make about 10,000 cars a year initially, increasing to 100,000 in the next few years. Ultimately, it will employ several thousand people at its facility just north of San Diego, Wilbur said.
Consumer research Aptera performed at the end of last year led the company to believe it will be able to sell many more cars than it originally thought.
“We walked in with one mentality about our what our volume estimates might be, and quite frankly were very happy and surprised and even a little overwhelmed by how positive the reaction was,” Wilbur said.
To fund the production rampup, Aptera is actively seeking new investors. The company’s early investors include company incubator Idealab, Google Inc’s philanthropic arm and Esenjay Petroleum, and Wilbur said the company has more than enough money to meet its fourth-quarter production target.
But the U.S. federal government declined to invest. Because of its three-wheeled design, Aptera was excluded from participation in a Department of Energy program that extends low-interest loans to manufacturers of fuel efficient cars.
Disappointed company officials said they were producing exactly the kind of car President Barack Obama advocated.
“This is Obama’s poster car for everything he is talking about,” Wilbur said. “We are the most efficient vehicle in the world. Sometimes it’s good to be innovative but in this case it’s bad to be innovative.”
Aptera aims to have fulfilled its first 4,000 orders by the middle of next year, Wilbur said. Its first customers are mainly tech-savvy, educated, affluent men who will use the Aptera as a second or third vehicle.
(Editing by Alan Elsner)
From: www.eleconomista.es
Electric carmaker Aptera raises $24 million round
Aptera Motors, the electric car start-up that on Tuesday nabbed funding from Google.org, announced Thursday that it has secured $24 million in a series C round.
The Carlsbad, Calif., company aims to spend the funds on its manufacturing center in nearby Vista.
Aptera has set the end of this year for the release of its all-electric 2e, a two-seater, three-wheeled electric car whose streamlined shape might look at home in a Jetsons cartoon. Each street-legal vehicle would cost less than $30,000.
The electric version of the three-wheeler would drive 120 miles per charge, while a hybrid version due for release near the end of 2009 is meant to achieve 300 miles per gallon.
“The Aptera 2e is designed to be the lowest-energy way to transport two passengers safely from point A to point B,” Bill Gross, chairman and CEO of start-up incubator Idealab, which backs Aptera, said in a statement.
Google’s philanthropic arm on Wednesday shared that it will split $2.75 million toward its RechargeIt initiative between Aptera and battery start-up ActaCell. Other investors in Aptera include Esenjay Investments, the Simons Family, and the Beall Family Trust.
The company said it has received 3,300 deposits of a minimum $500 each from potential customers in California
Aptera 2e Pictures
