[vampyregirl]

https://aptera.com/reserve.php

The all electric version has an MSRP of $27k. Currently available only in California. A hybrid version is planned for 2010.

[mos6507]

Yep. If they actually made a 4-wheel version with a fullsize rear seat and sold it outside of CA I'd want one.

[Delphis]

Another idea...

Miles Electric Car Company

The little black sedan goes 80+ and is reasonable dollar for dollar.

I particulary like the utility truck for all the needed duties post peak...1000lb. payload!

[mos6507]

I had high hopes for these guys, but a combination of last-minute tweaks and cheap gas may have just doomed these guys to irrelevance.

Aptera in trouble

[yesplease]

What? Not meeting deadlines means they're "on their knees"/"in trouble"? If that's the case, isn't just about every business in America "on it's knees"/"in trouble" at some point?

Semantics aside, why would they bother releasing their ultra-efficient two seater when gas prices are low? They're IMO probably going to stall in order to see what OPEC's production cuts can do to price as well as how much demand for their product has changed. I doubt they're gonna pull a GM and build as many Apteras as possible w/ gas prices low. No point paying extra to rush a bunch of vehicles to market when their market share has dropped significantly. Providing the option to commit in some way to a purchase should allow them to accurately judge how many vehicles they can build.

[mos6507]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('yesplease', 'W')hat? Not meeting deadlines means they're "on their knees"/"in trouble"?

[yesplease]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('mos6507', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('yesplease', 'W')hat? Not meeting deadlines means they're "on their knees"/"in trouble"?

[mos6507]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('yesplease', ' ')Only time will tell as to whether or not they're successful, but to say they're in trouble when they could very well be stalling in a smart business move seems premature IMO.

[yesplease]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('mos6507', 'I')t's not a smart business move. It's a PR nightmare. They are destroying all the hype and the goodwill they created by making last-minute tweaks to the design and delaying the thing by a year after originally promising to release it right around now, and playing a bait-and-switch with the terms of the preorders.

[Mesuge]

The Aptera is by definition the most *efficient car like road contraption physics on this planet allows for. The company grew to several dozens employees as of lately, but still the capital needed to run it is pennies for people like the Google founders should there be some change of ownership.

So unless there is some hidden serious technical problem in the concept, which there is most likely not or earth is being struck by asteroid soon, the Aptera CAN'T fail in the long run, period.

The full EV version could be charged from small renewables even in the colder climates, this will be a global hit, give it some time..

PS the change for FWD is because of better traction, higher regen, longevity of components, .. , etc. Not a major problem in this updated version.

*it is based on almost century old aerodynamic studies, similar car could be here for decades if the GM/Ford/VW weren't TOTAL morons..

[mos6507]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('yesplease', 'W')ho the hell cares what kinda impression they make?

[mos6507]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Mesuge', 'P')S the change for FWD is because of better traction, higher regen, longevity of components, etc. Not a major problem in this updated version.

[yesplease]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('mos6507', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('yesplease', 'W')ho the hell cares what kinda impression they make?

[mos6507]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('yesplease', 'A')nd the fastest way for them to go bankrupt is for them to put out way more (lower quality, more expensive) vehicles than people are willing to buy.

[mos6507]

A few goodies from Aptera forums:
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'W')hen is this car coming out? I mean Jesus now you're changing the drive train to the front wheels which I'm sure is going to mean building more spec units, crash testing and who knows what else before you start actually selling the damn thing. When all of that is finished you're "new" engineers will have decided that the exterior needs to be "improved".

[Mesuge]

As mentioned numerous times before, the project complexity of finishing classic 4wheel car (EV) is on completely different order in comparison to a 3wheeler. As many others I'm not interested in PHEV Aptera, only in the full EV one, i.e. the first version..

Also, the major factor will be how soon they plan to seek licensing deals or setup their own factories in other regions, the shipment from Calif. to Europe for such a package is quite costly, plus tax and customs, grrr..

In the same vein, some analysis how the current US model is not compatible with the EU transportation rules would be welcomed, if time allows I might look into (I'm also interested in the e-drivetrain components used for the final production version as this will largely determine whether is it even worth the risk of loosing the warranty).

Most likely there will be issues with lights and their position, I'm more worried about the overall dimensions though. But in any case "grey imports" in the form of 3wheeler should require much less red tape than for importing 4wheel car..

Right, you can have a decent e-conversion even based on a new car for similar budget, but for me is the uber efficiency paramount, and that comes only in projects like Aptera, Loremo, VW 1liter etc.

[yesplease]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('mos6507', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('yesplease', '
')And the fastest way for them to go bankrupt is for them to put out way more (lower quality, more expensive) vehicles than people are willing to buy.

[mos6507]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('yesplease', 'E')xactly, and the fact that you think it's a good idea for them to repeat the mistakes of the last "mass EV extinction" indicates you care more about Aptera failing than anything else.

[yesplease]

So mos, you're using whiney posts on a message board as an indication of who canned their reservations? According to that logic the world should be in flames and the zombie hordes roving the streets because people on this forum consistently posted about TEOTWAWKI.

Do you have any actual figures for the number of dropped reservations? According to the forum there seem to be ~4,000 reservations so far, eight who have locked in and posted about it, and two who have canceled and posted about it. According to the poll nearly 20% are going to "lock in" their Aptera. I'm not sure how well acquainted you are w/ business forecasting, but "confidence intervals" are worth their weight in gold, especially when we're talking about a completely new product. A tire kicker will probably take their $500 and walk if gas prices aren't high enough when they release, leaving Aptera holding a nearly $30k EV. Odds are someone who puts a non-refundable $500 deposit on the vehicle will purchase it when the time comes, and believe you me, sales are where Aptera is going to make it or break it, not deposits.
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'I')t's all about confidence intervals. If there was no deposit, you'd get perhaps a 5% purchase rate. If there was a $1 refundable deposit, perhaps 10%. $500 refundable, perhaps 50%. But $500 nonrefundable, you'll probably get a ~85-90% purchase rate.

One has to keep in mind: in the scheme of things, our deposit money is pretty much irrelevant to Aptera's operating costs. All of the deposits combined would sustain them for probably 1-2 months or so. So talking about what they could and couldn't do with our money is kind of silly. What matters to them is not $500 per person, but $30,000 per person. *That* is relevant money to them.