Electric vehicle manufacturer Aptera Motors shuts its doors
Unable to secure private investment to match a U.S. Department of Energy Loan, Aptera Motors is forced to cease efforts to develop and manufacture its composites-intensive all-electric car.
Aptera Motors (Vista, Calif., USA), a startup firm that had planned to manufacture a composites-intensive electric vehicle (EV), announced on Dec. 2 that it was closing its doors, effective immediately, because it could not secure financing or investment to remain open.
In a letter announcing the closure, Paul Wilbur, president and CEO, said, "Aptera executives had been engaged in exhaustive due diligence with the [U.S.] Department of Energy (DOE) pertaining to an ATVM (Advance Technology Vehicle Manufacturing) loan. Our business plan was examined from top to bottom by internal agency representatives, independent consultants and experts in academia. They did an amazing job of vetting us and they tested every possible weakness in our plan. And after nearly two years of discussions, we had recently received a Conditional Commitment Letter for a $150 million loan. The ATVM loan would have provided funding for the development and commercialization of a five-passenger, midsized sedan (similar to a Toyota Camry) that would be base priced at less than $30,000 and deliver more than a 190 mile per gallon equivalent."
He added: "The last remaining hurdle was finding new funds to match the DOE loan. We were so optimistic that the company would move forward that we were in discussions to reactivate a mothballed automotive plant in Moraine, Ohio." Aptera, however, was unable to find matching funds for the DOE loan.
The Aptera car was originally designed as a three-wheeled vehicle that was to make extensive use of composites via a patent-pending composites manufacturing process that would have allowed surface finishing without manual finishing and without the capital cost of a typical automotive paint shop. The Aptera design — light weight plus aerodynamics — delivered 206 EPA (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) mpg in tests at Argonne National Labs. Wilbur notes that when the three-wheeled version failed to attract investors, Aptera reprioritized to four-door sedans.
In closing, Wilbur said, "We remain confident, even as this chapter closes, that Aptera has contributed new technologies to build a future for more efficient driving. Through the dedicated staff at Aptera, our board and suppliers we have touched this future. All that remains is for someone to grab it. We still believe it will happen."
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