Electric carmaker Aptera raises $24 million round
Posted on March 20, 2009
Filed Under Aptera 2e News
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
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