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Aptera
- Thread starter TEG
- Start date
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- Electric Vehicles
From Chelsea:
Seems they've let go founder Steve Fambro and others from the company.
Is everything ok @ Aptera motors? - ApteraForum.com - Aptera Car Forum
Seems they've let go founder Steve Fambro and others from the company.
Is everything ok @ Aptera motors? - ApteraForum.com - Aptera Car Forum
Domenick posts about it on ABG:
RUMORMILL: Aptera co-founders booted, staff slashed! - Autoblog Green
At least it looks seaworthy...
RUMORMILL: Aptera co-founders booted, staff slashed! - Autoblog Green
At least it looks seaworthy...
Last edited:
Siry digs up more on the story and manages to get some statements from Aptera:
Aptera Founders Ousted in Boardroom Showdown | Autopia | Wired.com
Aptera Founders Ousted in Boardroom Showdown | Autopia | Wired.com
Sounds like spin, but obviously some damage control was necessary:
Aptera's Rumors of Founders Ousted - Aptera Founders Aren't Fired, They're On Vacation - Popular Mechanics
Aptera's Rumors of Founders Ousted - Aptera Founders Aren't Fired, They're On Vacation - Popular Mechanics
From email:
[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]Welcome to the new Constant Contact Aptera Newsletter! Nov, 2009 - Vol 1, Issue 1
[/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]Greetings! [/FONT] [FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]
It's been a little while since we last chatted and we miss you dearly. We have some interesting developments to share and some great stories to tell. We are on the road to changing the world, and you have been with us for most of the way. Our hope is for us to learn and grow together and prove to the world that Aptera is truly everything you believe we can be.
[/FONT] [FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]Aptera gets a Texas welcome![/FONT] [FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]
Thanks to a gracious invitation from Reliant Energy, the Aptera 2e was on display at the Reliant Football Stadium in Houston, Texas for the Texan/Titans game on Monday, November 23rd.
Reliant Energy and its parent company, New Jersey based NRG, are looking to lead the charge for electric vehicles in the future. And call us biased, but we can't think of anyone better for them to take the ride with than Aptera.
For Aptera, this was an opportunity for us to introduce ourselves to one of our target markets and to the utility partner that will help us make that market viable. Sounds like a win-win.
-Marques McCammon
[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]What does the potential of a DOE loan mean to Aptera?[/FONT] [FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]Good news! After many months of hard work by a number of people, 3 wheeled vehicles, including Aptera, are now eligible for the Department of Energy's Advanced Technology Vehicle Loan program. The approval of this bill is a big deal because it proves that the White House and Congress have made a positive, supporting statement about innovation in American transportation.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]
Change is needed for progress. But all too often, it seems as if Washington has fallen back on the status quo, especially when it impacts Big Business. This could have easily been a repeat of that type of politics, but it wasn't. Quite the opposite... [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]
At Aptera, the fact has never escaped us that we have created a vehicle that is innovative and maybe even a little audacious. In fact, we have embraced our differences as a means to impact real change in this world. Being out of the ordinary is a risky proposition, but if you are doing it for the right reasons, you hope that smart people will take notice. In this case, they not only took notice, they took action. It's kind of funny when you think about it, with all the partisan rhetoric that gets tossed around in the press these days. This Bill was sponsored by a Republican, Rep-Brian Bilbray, and a Democrat, Rep-Adam Schiff working across the aisle to support our collective future. This bill is what America is all about - innovation. The idea was so compelling that it drew support from both sides of the aisle. Not many bills are getting bi-partisan support these days. What's more, when the vote was called, it was approved by an overwhelming majority. What that says to me, is that innovation cannot be stifled in America. This country was built on innovation and the onus is on us to show the federal government that we are worthy of their support.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]
Let's talk about this process:[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]Aptera applied for a DOE loan in December, 2008 and was rejected in 3 days. The program was only open to 4 wheelers and we have 3 wheels.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]Now, we have to re-file the application, this time, in full business plan detail. The loan program details are quite specific about what the loan money can be used for and when the loan will be paid back. The process is a lot like a "government grant" program in its technical detail, but more like a commercial loan from the monetary side.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]Okay Aptera...So now that you are eligible for the loan, what will you do if you get it? [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]
1.) For starters, we are going to go faster. Let's be honest, Aptera is a start-up and doesn't have the resources most other automotive companies have. To date, we have had a strategy of slow, organic growth. It is not that we didn't want to go faster; we just didn't have the balance sheet to pull it off. With the support of a DOE loan, we could take a more broad view of the market and institute a strategy that allows us to scale much faster than our previous plans. We will still start in the California market, but the movement to subsequent markets could come more rapidly than our prior plans...with more volume, more technical support staff, more sales and service support. The result is touching more of America, faster. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]
2.) The other key acceleration would come in the form of the 2 series 'big brother'. We have maintained from the beginning that the 2 series line of vehicles was only our entree into the market and a larger, more family-oriented sedan would soon follow. The potential of a DOE loan makes that vehicle become a reality much more quickly. That single action would take Aptera from a small iconic brand in the marketplace to a contender for as much as 1% of the overall market. In case you were wondering, that is the 100,000 units you have heard us speak of reaching in ~5 years. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]
3.) Lastly, we would do our part to put more of our American neighbors back to work. Our plan is that Aptera will occupy at least 2 production facilities. These facilities will provide gainful employment for as many as 3,000 American workers. That is to say nothing for all of the suppliers and service providers that will be positively impacted. Construction, logistics, parts suppliers, sales people, and service professionals would all rise in the marketplace in support of the distribution of the world's most efficient vehicles. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]
The bottom line is that Aptera is out to change the world and the Advanced Technology Vehicle program could help us accomplish just that...only FASTER!!! We have to show our worth, but we have confidence in the vision that is Aptera
[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]
[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]-Paul Wilbur[/FONT]
Aptera's Beach Body (evolution of the 2-series composite body)
When I came on board a year ago, it was clear that the approach to composites was useful to produce the initial concept vehicles, but was inadequate for producing a vehicle at any scale. The two primary fronts included product development and process development, both of which required a substantial commitment of resources and time.
Product Development: The initial body design had the vehicle split top to bottom with a joint, which extended the entire length of the vehicle. As you can imagine, this was a major issue from both a manufacturability and warranty perspective. The problems resulting from this construction included:
1. Manufacturability: The butt joint, the resin, and the material choices made the ability to match components a major issue and would have severely limited production and product quality. The vehicles that could be produced with this scheme would have had substantially higher costs to achieve an acceptable finish due to seam treatment being in direct view of customer sight lines.
2. Warranty: The butt joint was placed directly in an expected impact zone, which meant even low speed crashes would result in the integrity of the body being severely compromised. Butt joints are weak and difficult to control for body alignment. The safety of the vehicle in side impact collisions would be substantially less than a body with properly designed and placed joints.
Process Development:
1. Manufacturability: The initial materials and processes used were suitable for demonstrating the powerful application of composites in a one-off mode, but were not adequate for high quality, cost effective manufacturing.
2. FMVSS Compliance: These same materials would not have passed the FMVSS standards for flammability.
The interest, excitement, and anticipation of the vehicle has caused many to speculate and over simplify the need for our re-design efforts, which is very understandable given how revolutionary a vehicle like ours will be. However, we could not move forward with those kinds of serious, identifiable, and solvable issues.
We only get one first impression as we deliver the promise while caring for the safety and confidence of our customers.
The re-design of the body enabled us to resolve these issues from a structural standpoint while enabling us to develop potentially compelling alternative finish methods. These finish methods will require less capital and have less impact on the environment. That means a less expensive and more earth friendly composite body! The process re-design is something that we have not discussed publicly, but it too took the same type of time commitment to get right using best practice tools like Six Sigma. Both of these efforts were imperative if Aptera was to stay true to the dream of lightweight, aerodynamic, and safe vehicles. Had we cut the corner, we would have killed the world's most efficient EV. Having taken the time and effort, we insured its ability to flourish.
-David Oakley
[/FONT]
Newsletter I received in email:
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif][FONT=Century Gothic,ITC Avant Garde,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]Aptera News [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]A line into the present and future at Aptera Motors, Inc. Dec, 2009 - Vol 1, Issue 2[/FONT]
Aptera IS composite
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]From the feedback we received from the last newsletter, we realized we needed to clarify that the developments in the Aptera body system have not moved us from our founding strategy of composite bodies, and we have no intention to do so. The body is still composite, but the composition of those composites has changed, along with the construction of the basic body structure. This work was the result of the efforts of Mr. David Oakley and his team. Mr. Oakley is a degreed Chemical Engineer and a subject matter expert in manufacturing operations with more than 20 years of experience in his field (including being the head of research and development for composites at Calloway Golf). The commentary offered on composites work in the prior newsletter was based on the test results and expert observations of the composites team, which was composed of automotive body engineering, fabrication, an experienced systems engineering, including a six sigma black belt (certified process quality expert). Sorry if we unclear.[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]-Marques McCammon[/FONT]
You heard it here first[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]t[/FONT] [FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
Don't be surprised if you open up a paper to find that Aptera is looking for, or even closing on, a new facility. No, we haven't fallen and bumped our head. Not recently anyway. [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]As you all know, we applied for support from the Department of Energy's Advanced Vehicle Technology Manufacturing loan program back in December of 2008. At that time, our application was rejected due to the fact that our 2-series vehicles only have 3 wheels. Since then, the President has signed into law a bill (in October of 2009) that modifies the language and allows vehicles, like the 2e, to compete for funding. Within the month of January, our new application will be filed and we will be in the queue for consideration. [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]As a part of this loan process, we were asked to detail our facilities plans for the next 10 years. As you can imagine, this forced the team to start thinking in much greater detail about how our short term plans translated to our long term needs. We had to think through what Aptera needs tomorrow as a start up, and in the future, as a sustaining automobile manufacturer with annual production volumes numbering in the 10s of thousands of units per year. (Now that's an exciting thought!!!) . At those levels of production, one thing is clearly apparent; our current facilities are woefully inadequate. Now this is not exactly what you would call a revelation. Our current facility has only 4 dock doors and parking for less than 100 people. Considering that our plan calls for more than 10,000 units in the first 3 years and more than 300 employees, this is clearly a temporary solution and we knew that from the start, but the planning required for the loan application makes this fact more glaringly obvious. So the bottom line is Aptera is looking for a new production facility. [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]This new facility will be the replacement for our Southern California facility. Before you ask, yes the replacement facility will still be in Southern California, and yes it will still be in San Diego County. There are a lot of good reasons for San Diego, but our personal favorite is because we really, really (really, really, really) like it here. So San Diego County is and will continue to be home to our corporate headquarters. At some point in time we will have another facility that is dedicated to manufacturing, but that is fodder for another day. For now you have a sense for where we are going.[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]We have a partner in composites
[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]When Aptera first set off in the development of our manufacturing plan, we were under the impression that we would do all of the body manufacturing in-house. In fact, when we moved out of our old Loker[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] Avenue facility in Carlsbad and into our Vista plant, we re-purposed Loker into a composite body facility. It was a good interim plan. The challenge was that in order to capitalize the facility to a capacity where we could even satisfy the pre-ordered vehicles it would have cost the company several millon dollars in invested capital. Additionally, there were the expenses associated with recruiting and training a manufacturing employee base to understand the nuances of building a composite body with quality. Then there were the space constraints in the facility that would limit our capacity to such a level that it would take several years just to build out the depositor list (for example - Loker only has one loading/unloading dock). The bottom line is we all new something had to change.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]A stroke of good fortune came in March of 2009 during our first visit to Washington DC. On that trip Aptera executives were introduced to entrepreneur and businessman David Slikkers, president an CEO of Energetx composites. The introduction came by way of one of the many members of Congress that we met during the visit. [/FONT]
Energetx is the surname given to the company that was formerly known as Tiara Boats (a small to midsized premium yacht manufacturer). I say formerly because as yachting is a leisure activity, much of Tiara's core business had been adversely impacted by the recent economic changes. Seeing those changes on the horizon, the leadership at Tiara had repurposed parts of their business to focus on other technology sectors that could benefit from their nearly 50 years of manufacturing and composites experience. In particular they have focused their business on various sectors of clean tech. This new focus is what created Energetx Composites.
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]As Energetx, Slikkers' company has earned contracts with wind and solar power providers, commercial transportation and U.S. government contractors. All of these new technology clients, along with the company's proven quality production systems helped to develop Energetx quality and system controls to levels that were unmatched in many of the other companies that the Aptera team had reviewed (and we review a lot of companies). The end result was an engagement, between Aptera and Energetx Composites. As an entreprenial, high tech, composite manufacturer with proprietary manufacturing and process technologies, we thing Energetx is ideal to work with Aptera.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Energetx was an interesting find. As a family owned business (presently with about 300 employees),
[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] Energetx makes use of more than 50 years of manufacturing experience and technology, and reapplies it to a wide variety of other high tech, business sectors. The company has a strong dedication to quality and continuous product and process development. Consequently, Energetx has committed millions of dollars to outfitting their nearly 1 million square foot facility with most of the systems and equipment necessary to manufacture products, like the Aptera body, in high quality, high volume, and at low cost. These were the very same systems that we would have had to purchase and develop from scratch. Instead, we will make use of the talent and experience of their team, as well as the tremendous capital investments they have already made. That is, with a little bit of our secret sauce sprinkled in for good measure, of course.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Interestingly, the team at Energetx has never supplied to an automotive company before, but what we like is that it hasn't intimidated them one bit. In fact, it seems to inspire them. That, in turn, shows us that they have an entrepreneurial vision that is not unlike the one that founded Aptera. They believe they can do it. And, at this point, it is pretty safe to say that we agree with them. So, you guessed it, Energetx Composites is supplying the production bodies, beginning with the 2e. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]As a part of the agreement, we share our proprietary composite construction system with Energetx and they return to us completed Aptera bodies. Their first test is underway now as Energetx works to deliver our first production intent body in just a few short weeks. This new body will feature all of the structural and dimensional changes that we have told you about, and will marking the official beginning of our process development cycle. [/FONT]
XPrize - The Race for Humanity
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]As many of you may know, Aptera is among the nearly 50 teams now in contention for the Progressive Automotive Xprize. The Prize is a competition put on by the Xprize Foundation to inspire innovation in the automotive sector. In particular, the prize looks to grant a monetary award to the team that can deliver a commercially viable vehicle (which means that it must be able to be produced in high volume, meet government requirements and demonstrate market demand) that is capable of delivering at least 100 miles per gallon equivalent. [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]From our perspective, the Xprize offers our team and our company the opportunity to demonstrate to the world that our claims of radical efficiency and dynamic range are indeed real, and to do so with a third party endorsement. The judging team for the Progressive Automotive Xprize is comprised of [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]subject matter experts from the automotive industry, America's leading national labs, and the Department of Energy, to name a few. This group of accomplished professionals is charged with providing documented evidence of (or refuting) every claim from every team included in the competition. In other words, they will tell you if we are "full of it" or not. At Aptera, we think this is a perfect way of proving the values of lightweight and extreme aerodynamics to the whole of the auto industry.[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The competition officially started back in November (2009) just prior to the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Show in Las Vegas. So far, the competition has been a technical evaluation where the judges test the validity of our designs. The real competition starts in April, and we are planning to go for it. Now I know what you are thinking...'Sounds like a distraction'....right? Well to be honest, initially we thought the same thing. That is, until we saw the details of the competition. [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The team at the Xprize has crafted the competition to emulate the test and development schedule of a typical production vehicle build. Tests for key elements like high speed maneuvering, safety system integrity, braking, cornering, and much more, have all been included in the competition outline. For Aptera, these are all test that we conduct on our own vehicles. So when the team looked at it objectively, we found that we could test our vehicles, get a fresh eye's view of our technology, and compete in the competition all in one fell swoop. It is a win-win-win. So like I said, we are going for it. And there may even be a way for you to get involved....Stay tuned![/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif][FONT=Century Gothic,ITC Avant Garde,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]Aptera News [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]A line into the present and future at Aptera Motors, Inc. Dec, 2009 - Vol 1, Issue 2[/FONT]
Aptera IS composite
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]From the feedback we received from the last newsletter, we realized we needed to clarify that the developments in the Aptera body system have not moved us from our founding strategy of composite bodies, and we have no intention to do so. The body is still composite, but the composition of those composites has changed, along with the construction of the basic body structure. This work was the result of the efforts of Mr. David Oakley and his team. Mr. Oakley is a degreed Chemical Engineer and a subject matter expert in manufacturing operations with more than 20 years of experience in his field (including being the head of research and development for composites at Calloway Golf). The commentary offered on composites work in the prior newsletter was based on the test results and expert observations of the composites team, which was composed of automotive body engineering, fabrication, an experienced systems engineering, including a six sigma black belt (certified process quality expert). Sorry if we unclear.[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]-Marques McCammon[/FONT]
You heard it here first[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]t[/FONT] [FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
Don't be surprised if you open up a paper to find that Aptera is looking for, or even closing on, a new facility. No, we haven't fallen and bumped our head. Not recently anyway. [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]As you all know, we applied for support from the Department of Energy's Advanced Vehicle Technology Manufacturing loan program back in December of 2008. At that time, our application was rejected due to the fact that our 2-series vehicles only have 3 wheels. Since then, the President has signed into law a bill (in October of 2009) that modifies the language and allows vehicles, like the 2e, to compete for funding. Within the month of January, our new application will be filed and we will be in the queue for consideration. [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]As a part of this loan process, we were asked to detail our facilities plans for the next 10 years. As you can imagine, this forced the team to start thinking in much greater detail about how our short term plans translated to our long term needs. We had to think through what Aptera needs tomorrow as a start up, and in the future, as a sustaining automobile manufacturer with annual production volumes numbering in the 10s of thousands of units per year. (Now that's an exciting thought!!!) . At those levels of production, one thing is clearly apparent; our current facilities are woefully inadequate. Now this is not exactly what you would call a revelation. Our current facility has only 4 dock doors and parking for less than 100 people. Considering that our plan calls for more than 10,000 units in the first 3 years and more than 300 employees, this is clearly a temporary solution and we knew that from the start, but the planning required for the loan application makes this fact more glaringly obvious. So the bottom line is Aptera is looking for a new production facility. [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]This new facility will be the replacement for our Southern California facility. Before you ask, yes the replacement facility will still be in Southern California, and yes it will still be in San Diego County. There are a lot of good reasons for San Diego, but our personal favorite is because we really, really (really, really, really) like it here. So San Diego County is and will continue to be home to our corporate headquarters. At some point in time we will have another facility that is dedicated to manufacturing, but that is fodder for another day. For now you have a sense for where we are going.[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]We have a partner in composites
[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]When Aptera first set off in the development of our manufacturing plan, we were under the impression that we would do all of the body manufacturing in-house. In fact, when we moved out of our old Loker[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] Avenue facility in Carlsbad and into our Vista plant, we re-purposed Loker into a composite body facility. It was a good interim plan. The challenge was that in order to capitalize the facility to a capacity where we could even satisfy the pre-ordered vehicles it would have cost the company several millon dollars in invested capital. Additionally, there were the expenses associated with recruiting and training a manufacturing employee base to understand the nuances of building a composite body with quality. Then there were the space constraints in the facility that would limit our capacity to such a level that it would take several years just to build out the depositor list (for example - Loker only has one loading/unloading dock). The bottom line is we all new something had to change.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]A stroke of good fortune came in March of 2009 during our first visit to Washington DC. On that trip Aptera executives were introduced to entrepreneur and businessman David Slikkers, president an CEO of Energetx composites. The introduction came by way of one of the many members of Congress that we met during the visit. [/FONT]
Energetx is the surname given to the company that was formerly known as Tiara Boats (a small to midsized premium yacht manufacturer). I say formerly because as yachting is a leisure activity, much of Tiara's core business had been adversely impacted by the recent economic changes. Seeing those changes on the horizon, the leadership at Tiara had repurposed parts of their business to focus on other technology sectors that could benefit from their nearly 50 years of manufacturing and composites experience. In particular they have focused their business on various sectors of clean tech. This new focus is what created Energetx Composites.
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]As Energetx, Slikkers' company has earned contracts with wind and solar power providers, commercial transportation and U.S. government contractors. All of these new technology clients, along with the company's proven quality production systems helped to develop Energetx quality and system controls to levels that were unmatched in many of the other companies that the Aptera team had reviewed (and we review a lot of companies). The end result was an engagement, between Aptera and Energetx Composites. As an entreprenial, high tech, composite manufacturer with proprietary manufacturing and process technologies, we thing Energetx is ideal to work with Aptera.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Energetx was an interesting find. As a family owned business (presently with about 300 employees),
[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] Energetx makes use of more than 50 years of manufacturing experience and technology, and reapplies it to a wide variety of other high tech, business sectors. The company has a strong dedication to quality and continuous product and process development. Consequently, Energetx has committed millions of dollars to outfitting their nearly 1 million square foot facility with most of the systems and equipment necessary to manufacture products, like the Aptera body, in high quality, high volume, and at low cost. These were the very same systems that we would have had to purchase and develop from scratch. Instead, we will make use of the talent and experience of their team, as well as the tremendous capital investments they have already made. That is, with a little bit of our secret sauce sprinkled in for good measure, of course.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Interestingly, the team at Energetx has never supplied to an automotive company before, but what we like is that it hasn't intimidated them one bit. In fact, it seems to inspire them. That, in turn, shows us that they have an entrepreneurial vision that is not unlike the one that founded Aptera. They believe they can do it. And, at this point, it is pretty safe to say that we agree with them. So, you guessed it, Energetx Composites is supplying the production bodies, beginning with the 2e. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]As a part of the agreement, we share our proprietary composite construction system with Energetx and they return to us completed Aptera bodies. Their first test is underway now as Energetx works to deliver our first production intent body in just a few short weeks. This new body will feature all of the structural and dimensional changes that we have told you about, and will marking the official beginning of our process development cycle. [/FONT]
XPrize - The Race for Humanity
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]As many of you may know, Aptera is among the nearly 50 teams now in contention for the Progressive Automotive Xprize. The Prize is a competition put on by the Xprize Foundation to inspire innovation in the automotive sector. In particular, the prize looks to grant a monetary award to the team that can deliver a commercially viable vehicle (which means that it must be able to be produced in high volume, meet government requirements and demonstrate market demand) that is capable of delivering at least 100 miles per gallon equivalent. [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]From our perspective, the Xprize offers our team and our company the opportunity to demonstrate to the world that our claims of radical efficiency and dynamic range are indeed real, and to do so with a third party endorsement. The judging team for the Progressive Automotive Xprize is comprised of [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]subject matter experts from the automotive industry, America's leading national labs, and the Department of Energy, to name a few. This group of accomplished professionals is charged with providing documented evidence of (or refuting) every claim from every team included in the competition. In other words, they will tell you if we are "full of it" or not. At Aptera, we think this is a perfect way of proving the values of lightweight and extreme aerodynamics to the whole of the auto industry.[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The competition officially started back in November (2009) just prior to the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Show in Las Vegas. So far, the competition has been a technical evaluation where the judges test the validity of our designs. The real competition starts in April, and we are planning to go for it. Now I know what you are thinking...'Sounds like a distraction'....right? Well to be honest, initially we thought the same thing. That is, until we saw the details of the competition. [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The team at the Xprize has crafted the competition to emulate the test and development schedule of a typical production vehicle build. Tests for key elements like high speed maneuvering, safety system integrity, braking, cornering, and much more, have all been included in the competition outline. For Aptera, these are all test that we conduct on our own vehicles. So when the team looked at it objectively, we found that we could test our vehicles, get a fresh eye's view of our technology, and compete in the competition all in one fell swoop. It is a win-win-win. So like I said, we are going for it. And there may even be a way for you to get involved....Stay tuned![/FONT][/FONT]
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But wait! Aptera raises $9.8 million:
Aptera Raises $9.8M | socalTECH.com
Maybe the toast isn't quite done.
Still going to reserve a Leaf though...
Jay
Aptera Raises $9.8M | socalTECH.com
Maybe the toast isn't quite done.
Still going to reserve a Leaf though...Jay
Aptera clarifies production plans, will not export Chinese-built vehicles to U.S. - Autoblog Green
Sadly, with the Nissan Leaf pricing, I still think they're toast.
It is a shame, really. As opposed to Coda (which I never felt brought anything new to the table), Aptera has an interesting design and I was really looking forward to seeing some variety on the road. I think they should have shipped the design they had (for which they had paying customers), faced reality, and planned to stay relatively small. They were always going to be a niche player.
Now they have a pissed-off fan base that has a more functional alternative for the same or less money that will be available earlier. The market window for the small players trying to go big is all but closed.
Sadly, with the Nissan Leaf pricing, I still think they're toast.
It is a shame, really. As opposed to Coda (which I never felt brought anything new to the table), Aptera has an interesting design and I was really looking forward to seeing some variety on the road. I think they should have shipped the design they had (for which they had paying customers), faced reality, and planned to stay relatively small. They were always going to be a niche player.
Now they have a pissed-off fan base that has a more functional alternative for the same or less money that will be available earlier. The market window for the small players trying to go big is all but closed.
Aptera had a press conference today where they said they're still waiting for news on DOE loans (no surprise there), but also showed their "pre-production" vehicle.
April 14 Press Release - ApteraForum.com - Unofficial Aptera Car Forum
http://xprize.aptera.com/_res/Aptera2e_Brochure.pdf
April 14 Press Release - ApteraForum.com - Unofficial Aptera Car Forum
http://xprize.aptera.com/_res/Aptera2e_Brochure.pdf
