Fisker is filing for bankruptcy. Lessons for Aptera?
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- Опубликовано: 10 фев 2025
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Bro, you’re so humble and nice. A little more than 20 minutes is no issue for your videos. Thanks for the hard work and support for solar mobility. 🙏
On the whole, you have struck a great balance between being a fan and being a skeptic. You obviously have a bias, and you call that out clearly and loudly free differently. On the other hand there have been some times when I personally thought your skepticism went way too far. Maybe not too far, but certainly further than my own skepticism went. It's good to have all these voices out there. Thanks for doing what you do
Your profile name makes me think you’re Canadian, eh!? Are we getting that cup back today? 🇨🇦
You can learn from his skepticism.
@@Okurkaarrgghh I have plenty of my own. Unlike you I ground mine in facts
Steve, you are definitely not a Shill for Aptera. A fan, yes. But you’ve had some episodes where you said some challenging things where I was like, “Oh man, I don’t think Aptera is going to like that he said that. Bridges burned!” But that didn’t happen. It shows that both you and Aptera are mature and realistic about this moonshot. And if Aptera does fail, we all know you’ll stick around for the post mortem analysis. Keep doing what you’re doing, man!
One of the strengths of your channel is your objectivity. If Aptera goes down, I don't think people will be too harsh on you. The positive things you say about Aptera are either backed up with facts or you make it clear it is your opinion. You point out potential pitfalls and during interviews you are willing to ask uncomfortable questions. Keep up the good work!
Aptera already learned Fisker's lesson. They didn't make the mistakes that plagued Fisker and other EV makers from the start.
Slow and steady. Build that strong yet flexible foundation!
I have followed many of these companies mentioned and to be honest, Aptera has worked very hard to not make the mistakes of so many of these companies.
I feel you've always been objective Steve, even while being a fan. You go out of your way to point out where you stand, in nearly every video. Thanks for the hard work!
The reason I have an aptera reservation is because it can do things no other car on the market can. So long as this is true, they will have customers.
IMO Aptera needs to get the $7.5K federal EV tax credit that so many of the EV alternatives have. A $7.5K credit on a $30K vehicle is a very significant 25% discount.
It was be amazing. But it's possible it does well without it.
I think it’s Aptera which will be the lesson for other vehicle manufacturers. Startups and legacy.
Their current plan shows that billions aren’t required.
If Aptera makes it to production I'm sure other automakers will realize that Aptera's body shell approach is a lot better and maybe cheaper in the end than using welded aluminum bodies.
I believe that with Aptera, there's a big advantage in the fact that they've already failed once. I believe they've learned their lessons and they continue to learn from other companies mistakes. I think that they could do a lot more on social media if they'd really wanted to get this car really hyped. I'm personally at the point that I feel that some big progress will have to be announced soon (PI builds) to keep momentum going and I hope that they are going to use some of those PI build to get more media attention/ real life reviews and that those PI builds will be able to prove their calculations and estimates regarding safety and range. I know that there's people like that Aussie guy trying to bash everything Aptera as well as you but I believe you're doing a great job. I know that you're just a passionate guy, trying to keep the community up to date and that's great. Of course there might be some technical misunderstandings here another but I do not believe that that's an issue here. Thanks for the Update Steve
Aptera long ago made its fatal mistake so that it had to rely on "crowd funding" investors - it did not thoroughly and realistically test out prototypes in Real World situations.
And so it had to rely on Little Dreamers to dream its Wonderful Dream of Car Manufacturing.
I've been watching your content for some time now and while I don't always agree with your views on things I could not imagine you ever 'abandoning' your 'followers' for any reason !
Call me another huge Aptera fan as well but only invested to the same level as yourself .
Thanks Steve :)
I am a little surprised no one mentioned Canoo here. They are also trying a different path. Lucid may make it but it will be difficult for them. Aptera is the most innovative so far.
Canoo has to decide what they are.
Is it a minivan? A cargo van? A pickup truck? A military vehicle? Targeting fleet sales? Government sales? Consumer sales? Focus on the US? Focus on the UK? Geez, it depends on the week!
Given the existing contracts, I can't imagine why they wouldn't focus on their fleet sales to start getting some revenue going, then start figuring out the variants.
@@northernsouler I assume that is the plan.
@@robinpettit7827 - It's a hell of an assumption. They haven't been able to stick to a cohesive plan for their entire existence, but NASA has one, Walmart has one, USPS has one, they recently displayed a couple different models in England... they need to pick a damn lane and go.
@@northernsouler Yeah I agree, it's a pretty terrible idea to spread your market so wide. Each fleet company is gonna ultimately want something different. You're not going to be able to satisfy all of the in a good amount of time. I honestly don't see consumer sales coming any time soon for Canoo. It's a brand I expect to still with the fleet sales that are more consistent and less volatile.
A couple of positive points for Aptera, they enlisted Monroe & Associates to help with the manufacturing process, which hopefully won’t be Model 3 manufacturing hell :-) Also, Aptera is very open about their progress.
Monroe has turned into a Musk fanboy. His advice to Aptera seemed ok but I can’t trust his advice as it seems he lacks any objectivity. He also makes some bold statements regarding areas where he lacks expertise. Furthermore Aptera rarely mentions him anymore.
@@greghelton4668 Yeah I'd mostly agree. I mean he did actively praise the "engineering" of running water cooling lines through the battery pack. Something Tesla ultimately gave up on as it cost more, made battery fixes harder, and reduced the general pack energy density.
I do still somewhat question how great an idea it is to start big in production. I really struggle to believe Aptera will be as big as most of the major brands. The car is ultimately pretty niche in design and while it has 40K reservation, that's after 7 years of marketing and people talking about it.
Sandy Munro is an excellent production consultant. But too many investors consider him to be a suspension/propulsion/aerodynamic design expert as well.
Hi Steve - Honesty is the best policy, especially when it comes to journalism. At the end of the day, the consumer appreciates being told the truth, regardless of their expectations. This builds trust, which is the foundation of trade. I hope APTERA succeeds, and my expectation is that they will, but again, my expectation is not a fact.
Thank you
I too would like to see Aptera make it.... and you sharing your opinion is a good thing and at least gets a conversation going about the plus and minuses of Aptera. You have been very up front about your enthusiasm about their product but at the same time, have shed light on things that concern you about the vehicle as well as the company.
keep up the good work!
stephen
I am skeptical of Aptera. For no other reason than starting a car company is tough. Very tough. Nonetheless, I have an LE reservation and a small investment. The Aptera product is different, niche even, but reportedly doable with less than 10,000 per year due to very novel production. Fisker, Rivian, etc. all need annual sales of hundreds of thousands. Big difference.
As for your reporting Steve, you have always been straightforward, a fan but not a fanatic. Keep it up, no matter what happens.
10K a year is still extremely high. Toyota only sells around 30-40K Prius in a year and they sell only around 10K Avalon.
Slick, no one could blame you if Aptera is not a success. My take on it is the company has utilized the time to have a more robust less complicated, vehicle, with an assembly line capable of breaking even at an attainable number of only 6000.
You may not be the most skeptical person, however I believe you are balanced in your logical approach to telling the Aptera story. The company has benefited from your questions, shedding light on the journey to production. Slick, Aptera, and their fans, have benefited from this channel. Thanks for doing this, and I am an investor, and feel like the information I get here on this RUclips channel is top-notch. Thanks Slick!
You're doing a great job, Steve. Keep it up.
Aptera seems way better at communication than all of the companies that failed. I also don’t think they are rushing to production like Fisker did. Cars are very software based now and Fisker didn’t seem to realize that. Out of Spec said there is a world of difference between Rivian’s chief software engineer and Fisker’s. Tesla and Rivian are the gold standard
I never had a good feeling about Fisker. They lasted longer than I expected actually.
I'm one of the few people that drove an original Fisher Karma back in 2012 or so (I didn't drive it far, I was a valet at a fancy hotel). Lucid is another one that I don't think will make it. I never had any doubts about Tesla or Rivian (I hope they don't prove me wrong).
I'm very interested in Aptera and have been since the early models over ten years ago. I'm curious to see what happens but I don't have a reservation or a penny invested in Aptera.
In my opinion, I think you’re doing a great job. Please continue because it’s very valuable and helpful to the community.
Absolutely.
The car itself is actually pretty good, a neighbor down the street owns one. The unfinished software is what killed it...
A lot of EVs suffer from software issues (hence the need for so many updates) and to be honest EVs require more comprehensive software than ICE vehicles. Remember how close Tesla was to going bankrupt when they came out with there first sport model. Startups are hard and especially in the vehicle domain.
3-4y ago I was tempted to buy a used Fiskar ($31k with only 12k miles). Wonder still how many problems could be fixed, including software, with a talented mechanic and aftermarket products. The design (aesthetics) and interior seemed top-notch.
I really struggle to believe that. Software is poor on 90% of cars on the road, yet people buy them anyways. The only EV I know of that people actively praise other than Tesla for it is the Mercedes EQS and yet that thing is also ridiculously unpopular. I just don't buy the claim software is the main contributor when there was so much more stacked against them.
Ultimately it was a vehicle that cost more than most electric crossovers on the market right now, the power and performance was very average at best, the build quality was only average, and there's little trust in such an early brand. That last part is now fully justified with them going bust.
I mean Toyota is one of the top car companies period and their software is either worthless or horrendous. I got the 23 Prius and it doesn't even let you make radio station preset buttons, instead it has "likes" where they shuffle around every time you click on them. It's so bad I basically only use my phone for music.
@@Skylancer727 Even Tesla has had to update their software many times. Remember the Cybertruck recent software issues shows even Tesla has s/w issues. Aptera has one of the OpenPilot developers in their software wheelhouse and they will be seeking input from people for their UI (they've already made some changes from potential customers input) and hopefully before actual production they will have beta software release for people to try and critique. One nice thing Aptera is doing which is unique from Tesla is not using an ethernet ring to their subsystems and instead using an encrypted SMS messaging system which means their software activity vampire power draw is way less than Tesla. Yeah I concur that the major automakers are pretty pathetic when it comes to software (Ford Lightening is a good example).
@@Skylancer727the difference is that most companies are around to fix the software and Fisker won’t be. My VW software has improved quite a bit in the 15 months I’ve owned it. It’s possible that some third party might come along and write fixes for Fisker owners and sell it to them. Since less than 10,000 were built and less than 5,000 were sold, it might be worth buying one and sticking it in a barn for 30 years to see if it becomes a collectible
Steve, you've always been forthright about your thoughts on Aptera, both the pros and cons. You're not passing out Kool-Aid. Much appreciated
Good analysis.
I own a Fisker Ocean Extreme. It is a discounted model, approx $39k. It came with OS 2.0 installed. It is a remarkably well built vehicle mechanically, the quality is excellent (fit/finish, etc). I suspect the original OS 1.0 cars had some pretty bad software bugs, but on 2.0 the only issues so far are minor annoyances (random 'charge port open' alerts). Have already taken long overnight trips, the 360mi range is class leading. Buying this was a total gamble, even a broken window is probably going to be unfixable. But getting the cheapest EV on market with longest range in class and a Range Rover experience was hard to pass on. We'll see what I think in a year or two. So far so good.
The Brownlee review is quite controversial, he intentionally reviewed a car he got from a third party on OS 1.0 while he could have gotten one from Fisker with 2.0 loaded. Nearly all his complaints would have been resolved had he done that. The REAL problem with the car is it was released unfinished as far as software goes. Aptera cannot afford to do this. I completely concur with the point you made that Fisker should have allowed slippage and fixed some of the software issues rather than meeting timeline. I think most of the Aptera crowd would be happier with further release delays rather than buggy software. The other lesson is the internet can really damage things, even if it is not entirely accurate.
Fisker actually made it to production with about 10k vehicles built, but failed. Aptera needs to pay very close attention to this and avoid these mistakes.
//The REAL problem with the car is it was released unfinished... Fisker should have allowed slippage and fixed some of the software issues rather than meeting timeline.//
Apart from Aptera's financial constraints, that is the greatest problem they are facing presently - pressure from a small but loud group of investors and reservation holders clamoring for fast track release of an unfinished product. I hope Aptera never gives in.
Removing skin cooling was a really good change. From my aeronautical engineering experience, it was not really an advantage over well engineered P-51 style radiator and just an added expense which will kill demand. Cost is already high with no rebates available, profitability with low demand will be critical. Factories in low labor cost countries may be critical to scaling up production.
I have always somewhat questioned how much an energy advantage it could have running water channels through the entire under body requiring a bigger water pump and the added risks of leaks. Though going away means it will need more active air intake than originally intended.
Agree 100%. As an engineer I found belly cooling an interesting, but probably unworkable idea - especially in a situation where the vehicle is in stop and go traffic for miles on a 95°F day when the asphalt surface is 120°F +. The conventional radiator type solution just makes sense all around.
The Aptera didn't have to anticipate being hit by bullets. :-)
@@Skylancer727 Lots of engineering experience and damage repair experience went into the design of the P51 Mustang: Smaller critical targets are better.
Nice overview of Fisker. Thanks
10:38 you have to deliver and when you deliver you have to cash the checks people paid you. Not surprised they had issues when I heard about that.
Aptera need to address the claims they made of systems in the vehicle that got changed and why they did it , to fix the issues , like the skin cooling, that was a pretty big change
What’s up with Elaphe? They report first motors 2029 or 2030. This would be worse than Fisker.
I thought there was going to be an announcement last week from Aptera regarding Elaphe. The lack of mention in the investor's meeting and now the week gone by without mention of Elaphe or even that the announcement will be delayed do get all the paperwork in order, is getting concerning. If there is an issue with the availability of the powertrain (more than just the hub motors) and I really hope there is NOT an issue; this could spell some serious delays. Aptera needs to learn and hopefully not the hard way that speculation can kill a company. Perception can be much more of an influence than reality. There are huge examples of this going on today in our world.
@@ddessert6 Aptera has been far more transparent than most companies. I'm assuming they're likely swapping suppliers right now with Elaphe being dumped. Elaphe has been a going concern ever since Lordstown hit the bucket, we've always been questioning their status. I think it's highly likely Aptera has already been looking for a substitute this whole time.
Elaphe isn't the only ones making hub motors. Hell if Aptera really tries they may even find someone making axial flux hub motors for further efficiency. Will be sad to lose the cool green motors though.
Those outboard motors are a BIG design choice. There can be no "transparency" without word on what's with those motors!
For all we know, they’ve taken it in-house like Lucid or Rivian (I know, maybe not best examples but their in-house motors are better allegedly) or Magna Steyr made them an offer they couldn’t refuse. We don’t know until we do know.
@@ddessert6
Hey mentioned an announcement not a timeline, also revealed that the powertrain is 100% locked down. The word is Elaphe needs five years to ramp up, which doesn't work for Aptera.
Magna Steyr, the third-party manufacturer of the Fiskar Ocean, is also a manufacturer of 34 different models for 11 different OEMs (e.g. Mercedes, Jaguar, BMW, Toyota) which goes to show you that manufacturing is one aspect of a success formula, the other one is a good design.
Pausing at 3:00 to comment on the point made. Have been huge fan of your reporting and they have been very objective. Other bit we must not sign off a company without doing at least some minimum query on them. Its difficult to design a product and extremely difficult to produce it in production. For Fisker are we sure they are not arranging for support once production closes. Remember its not difficult to service parts and arrange for repairs. Requesting inputs from all here if you could find what the arrangement will be. I have posted a query to them, will reply back here what I hear.
Interested to hear what you hear. I expect a fire sale on used Fiskars…. tho these days it could literally be a fire (or water) damaged vehicle.
Thx
Didn’t they have “one” Fisker Ocean on the floor diagonally across from Aptera… at the past San Diego Fully Charged LiVE?
Odd I just received an email today from Fisker, with a typical Ad and requedt to update our preferences ( We had been on their list for information over the years )
Frisker's design was great. They had terrible corporate culture. Lots of stories about nepetism. Frisker hired his wife as CFO and she had no experience running an automotive company. They also hired relatives and you can't speak out against the family. Then they used the same factory as the Jaguar i-Pace, the worst quality EV ever made. At least Frisker sold his mansion to cover some things. Keep work and family separate. This ain't Korea.
The Aptera co-CEOs seem to be well grounded compared many of the other BEV CEOs, including Musk. Musk in my opinion is making many strategic mistakes at this point for example and Fisker was in love with himself. There are no guarantees that Aptera will succeed but the odds improve when led by dedicated calm people.
Plus they learned from their first attempt 14 years ago.
This makes no real difference, but Fisker the name always made me think of cat food. Maybe Henrik should go into that business. Lol
I have several Fiscars! They are very handy.
I think of scissors.
Fisker, isn't that supposed to refer to a cat's mustache? Or, are are those rather "whiskers"?
As a regular user of Tesla’s FSD, I believe its paramount Aptera licenses FSD from Tesla. I won’t buy a car without it.
Booked an Aptera, ideal for a 100 km trip to work, but the issue is finance : sell the model 3- buy the Aptera = car cost. Running cost is driven by motorway toll rather than electricity (at least in France) and finally how much can I deduct from gvt taxes. Model 3 is 0.4 cts / km, hope Aptera as a 3 wheeler will not be too low otherwise the model 3 will in total cost less 😮
You are right, customer’s forgiveness is relative to what else is available, and I think that you have done really well being objective. 🎉
Steve, you perfectly stated the situation. I agree that Aptera is unique in it's position and product. I am buying into the super-efficiency aspect of this car.
I'm looking forward to this one.
I'm actually not surprised
Aptera has been on the runway since 2019. It arguably has competition, but no other EV comes close to the efficiency it claims. The Sion claims 3.5 miles/kwh. Lightyear One claims 4.4. My Bolt EV has gotten 4.2 over the last 8k miles, so it's more efficient than the Sion and comparable to LY1.
Aptera claims 9 miles per kwh (400 miles from 44kwh). If this claim pans out, the efficiency is far more significant than the solar panels, and Aptera is in a class by itself. 40 miles/day from integrated solar panels (in ideal conditions) is a nice feature, but at 9 miles/kwh, power from the grid is close to free anyway, maybe ten percent of the cost of gasoline per mile.
AND - I will be able to charge Aptera at home for approximately 4¢/KWh so compare that to current gasoline prices.
The biggest problem for Fisker was not the car, despite its problems, it was fiscal mismanagement. The lesson for Aptera is to manage the books.
Thanks Steve. (We're still excited and hopeful for Aptera as well.)
Also fwiw, I'm *interested* in driving an Aptera as my daily--I'm not interested in any of the other EVs today. If Aptera can't deliver, perhaps we'll re-evaluate when our current economy ICE vehicle can no longer "freeze water" (not an endless runway), or maybe we'll go truck (+RV) or prius/corolla/fit/volt/elr (-RV) ...but none of those satiate our interest in the radical efficiency-first value proposition of Luna/Launch.
Debt is not the preferred funding method for an emerging growth company.
Also, Fisker went public with a SPAC which has proved to be a less than stellar strategy.
Quality, quality, quality!
You get ONE SHOT at being a great new entrant.
One shot.
Charge on!
Debt if properly managed is fine for some things. For example, new assembly plant in the European market, and the southeast of this country. Like a mortgage to make it happen is a good deal for Aptera. Asking for a tax abatement for creating jobs, and building infrastructure is common sense and done all the time.
I see Oceans about monthly in Seattle. Technically, I've seen YOU in the same room as a Fisker Ocean (fully charged live San Diego 2022)
How many people have asked for their deposit back? we are in for the long haul loyalty runs deep win or lose
Hi Steve, not sure if you also covered the demise of the following three wheeled EVs (Electra Meccanica Solo and Archimoto FUV) and what Aptera is doing different to avoid their fate.
You ask hard questions, not just easy ones. Many times you have pointed out the risks of investing as well as potential pitfalls in their plans. Of course, you mention potential upsides too.
That is why they should allow Aptera to produce the vehicle whenever they consider themselves ready to deliver a quality product. The agitators for a quick and harp hazard market debut should go chill out somewhere!
All EV start-ups underestimate the true amount of capital needed to bring a vehicle into volume production. Whatever you think it might be, double it, triple it. And that still might not be enough. Aptera, despite their best intentions will realize this soon enough.
Uber took 15 years to become profitable, but its product was better then competition so it stuck around
Fisker rushed to Market and had awful management. If you look at the horror stories of employees from Fisker it's pretty damning. Even close to when the vehicle was going into production they had something like 15 different suppliers and they were constantly switching them around thing must have been a nightmare to program and Cobble together Magnus tear tried to give them everything that they needed or as much as they could but the management just didn't want to listen so they ended up with like mismatched parts.
"Magnus Tear" is either a voice-to-text error or some very subtle trolling.
@@robertkirchner7981read all that and that's all you managed to say 😅
In my opinion, people who gamble and invest all their nest egg in anything, are bitten by the "Greed Bug", then lose it should not complain if that's what they did. Hello, all of us would love to be very rich, but to gamble with your IRA or 401K or retirement savings, which is your protection for retirement, is really dumb and shows a careless act of entitlement behavior!
100% Agree with you. I invested a relatively small amount into Aptera and never even considered touching my retirement fund. The thought didn't even occur to me. Way too risky.
Similar to people that buy lottery tickets.
Any investments in Aptera should come from your living/spending budget, not your investing budget. If you are not prosperous enough to have both, you probably shouldn't be investing in Aptera.
Misread the title, thought it said aptera going bankrupt 😂. Was about to be very disappointed.
@@shrimptopian3392 maybe, maybe not only time will tell. If not aptera, someone will make a vehicle based on the same principles, it's inevitable. I'd just like to wait the least amount of time possible.
@@shrimptopian3392 What is your problem with the company that you wish them to fail?
I would love to see a rigorous market study for Aptera by a reputable firm? I am not a marketing person but I would imagine there maybe a way for a study to be done on what the market is, define it, analyze it, and decide if Aptera price and product is sufficient to bring the company to sustained growth. The market analysis that Aptera put out is at a level of high-school intro into marketing. It lacks any credibility. No sampling of the market and what it is looking for. The preorder people are a subset of the market. It’s a base but not sufficient to understand the entire market. I am a fan, accelerator and a sceptic all at the same time. For me reliability at the advertised price is crucial in order to become a buying customer.
The early tesla did have problems, the roadster.. only a few thousand made.. by model s they had / still have a great product. Consumer reports gave their first and only 100/100 to 2014 tesla model s performance..
Yeah, that is when they (Tesla) got my attention. CR could NOT believe such a car could be built. I cannot remember details, but I do remember the review made me think “wow.” It’s still the prettiest car they make but I cannot afford it. Period…but I could buy it.
If you watched the last installment of, “Autoline After Hours” they discussed Fisker briefly. Fisker, according to them, was, business wise, a total mess. Checks that were submitted took months to clear was one example of how the company was being run. As was mentioned by someone here, Fisker himself was full of himself. He was a good stylist but miserable when it came to actually running business.
From the outside, that doesn’t fit Aptera.
I'll be honest, the Fisker isn't even a bad product, the issue is the the field is filled already and now the new guys have to compete with the incumbents. Honestly the Fisker Ocean was a way nicer car than the early Teslas, it just wasn't a car for enthusiasts today. I mean people were actually saying it was DOA because it didn't have a hold brake function. There's still many cars that don't have it. Honestly I didn't even think it was that serious a problem.
I really just think the issue is that the Fisker was too expensive compared to the competition, especially from a name you can't trust. Even Lucid with theoretically better features vs the competition is basically mocked by people for some reason.
People will 100% flame you if aptera goes down. Not your fault really but its the reality.
Glitchy software can ruin a vehicle. I hope aptera keeps theirs to an absolute minimum. Speed controls, motors, chargers have all been around for decades and are very mature. Off the shelf components have an extremely low failure rate. Build the Aptera reliable and efficient and people will buy it. It does not have to be a computer on wheels.
Shill for Aptera... nope. Objective... yup. Fan... yup. Optimistic... usually. That's why I continue to watch and support your channel.
Lucid is more pissed for bankruptcy in my opinion. Yes they have the technology and they've made a good product but if it wasn't for the Saudi investment fund they'd have been out long ago. They're gonna bankrupt that fund single handedly 😂 and they're paying Rawlinson way too much money
I'm surprised that you would mention Marques' comments on Fisker given his willingness to criticize Aptera when he clearly hadn't bothered to learn anything about it.
I'm on a fixed income so I had to make a choice about investing in Aptera. I want to buy one but if I invest in them, I won't be able to afford to buy. IF in the very extremely slim chance they do end going belly up, all I'll have lost is $100, not $10,000.
I'll lose $2100 if they go belly up. An amount I could afford. If they don't go belly up I own 200 shares and already have a $1000 down payment.
Huge win if the gamble pays off. If not, my life goes on the same as it is now.
For me the downside was minimal while the upside was huge.
Having said all that if I was on a limited fixed income I wouldn't have invested either. $100 place holder would have been my choice.
Only invest what you can afford to lose. Don’t feel like you are making a poor choice by not investing.
All stock investments prior to IPO are a crap shoot. However, unlike most companies Aptera has been pretty upfront and informative of the progress and delays.
U shouldn't even lose that-your reservation is fully refundable-it would have to be BAD for us to not get it back. (i.e. I was able to get my Elio deposit back)
Steve, what you are is a pragmatist, not a skeptic.
Don't go Public 😊
Some crowd funding is good. It depends on the company and the validity of the information they share. Aptera is proven to be honest. I don't think Fisker was very honest. So public companies are not a guarantee of honesty.
Two years ago I looked Chris Anthony in the eyes and asked him about beta testing his vehicle. This year I visited the factory twenty-six miles from my house, and sat in Gamma as Chris M spun around the parking lot. I can telI you firsthand how Aptera is dealing in good faith, but that doesn't serve your purpose here, eh. I will just say that I have money on the table that says you don't know jack.
@@barnabasseadog7660Oh, now we’re convinced. Not giving you a hard time but you have to understand your opinion is meaningless to people who don’t know you or your reputation personally.
Sorry, but I still feel something is not right with the Aptera business model. Pre-production versions should be out with customers, with all the feed-back that that would generate, and give existing or potential customers the opportunity to see these out in the wild. I decided not to order, nor to invest, and I hope for all those involved, that I'm wrong and that Aptera wins out in the end. But as someone once said, 'hope is not a strategy'...
Company know you and I disagree on a few things here and there, but you are slightly biased at most.
You pronounce Marques the same way my dad does "Mar-kees" instead of "Mar-kez"
Fiskers failure could bring down Aptera. Its not fair because they are polar opposites in terms of what they are trying to do. Aptera is an engineering driven company thats trying to push the boundaries of energy efficiency in a way that nobody else is. Fisker was a styling driven company that produced an off the shelf SUV that was just like every other SUV only worse. Aptera has also been financially responsible. They have a very lean staff and they've been focused on getting a single product out the door. Fisker was a cash fire with no discipline at all. They had multiple vehicles in the works, changed directions and at the end tried to launch in multiple markets at the same time which is something that even the giants would never do.
That said Aptera needs money, not nearly as much as everyone else burned but still a lot. Crowd funding has kept them alive but its not enough to get them into production. The problem for them is that EV startups have vaporized billions of dollars with nothing to show for it. Lordstown and Nikola were out and out scams. Fisker was badly managed. Lucid has done some brilliant engineering but they built the wrong car. They built an S class competitor and its turns out that even Mercedes has a hard time selling an S class EV. Even Rivian which has a great product and have been shipping for a couple of years is still losing money. Getting anyone to invest in yet another EV startup is going to be incredibly difficult. Anyone making the investment purely on ROI is going to walk away. They will need someone who has an additional agenda, specifically an environmental one.
Well stated. If Aptera had been where they are today three years ago investments would have been a thousand times easier. Aptera will; however, be a whole new and exciting EV coming to the market.
Too bad Aptera doesn’t have four wheels. Then it would qualify for the federal and state tax break
There is no lesson here for aptera. Fisker's approach from start has been very different and seemingly ever changing
Comparing Aptera and Fisker is comparing apples and oranges. There are two huge differences: (1) Fisker designed a competitively-priced product with very broad appeal (an SUV/crossover), and (2) Fisker actually entered production and delivered some vehicles before going bankrupt. By contrast, Aptera has designed a niche product that will only be desirable to an extremely small demographic (seniors, empty nesters, other childless adults, and/or families who can afford a second or third car), it's comparatively overpriced, and Aptera will never, ever enter production or deliver a single vehicle to a paying customer before declaring bankruptcy. Steve, I enjoy your dedication, but at this point you are just being diplomatic to keep the lines of communication with Aptera open in order to gain interview access. You know that Aptera is doomed.
I got mpney on the table that says you don't know jack.
Aptera will not earn back their Research and Development costs with 6000 vehicle sales. Aptera can break even with annual sales of 6000 vehicles with current business cost projections. R&D has been and will be paid for by loans and investment.
Aptera's transparency and openness is a big investor risk reduction.
Watch my video titled Will Aptera Fail. I am hopeful but I think they are beginning to chase the wrong market.
Care to expand?
No competition for Aptera? Hmmm I would not bet on that by the time they may... get into production. BYD have proven to be very innovative & fast.
If someone comes out with a 4 wheel solar recharge vehicle that has very low drag & looks great....then Aptera's very niche looking shape may lose the entire market.
Very niche contours can sometimes go out of style fast! The cyber Truck for example is already losing interest for this reason because it's actually a pretty boring & ridiculous looking vehicle.
They wher to pricey and they had lots of debt so put the vehicles out to soon.
Aptera will never get to production. . Will go broke soon. Spending lots of money in Italy, wasting lots of money doing dumb things. Trying to copy Elio. May just get there.
Same Story RUN FROM APTERA😢
Aptera claims. How to sum Aptera is two words. Look, even Aptera will not stand behind their six thousand unit claim because they cannot make that statement and then declare they do not know what price they will sell the vehicles for. You cannot have one without the other. Yet you never seem to make that connection nor would you challenge Chris or Steve if you did.
Fisker did not have sufficient reservations prior to launch to support themselves as an automobile manufacturer. They even did not have the large outlay of setting up their own factory and still did not have sufficient funds. I doubt Aptera has sufficient reservations nor will they convert a sizable percentage. However we can guarantee Chris, Steve, and Jason, will have theirs
You are not a shill but damn you are gullible and an apologist. You are not a skeptic by far. You never really press them on anything substantial and its obvious they know they own you. A bit of half hearted praise from Chris or Steve and you are simping for them again.
You went through the whole WSJ article and completely glossed over the fact the wind tunnel tests were only a photo op nor did you point out Chris's statement they could have produced a vehicle last October as a lie which it was. Heck we are still waiting for Chris to come clean on the Elaphe motors issue and now we have word they took out a sixty million dollar loan
Please cite the $60 million loan! Not sure what you are saying as I am unaware of said liability.
29 employees. Empty factory. No production funding and no product to sell.
I too love the concept, but it's time to fact facts.
Where have you been recently? Two out of three of your "facts" are wrong.
@@JoeBManco empty factory… this is not evident in literally any video. No funding… funding is being secured currently. I can’t speak to head count, but there’s opportunity for all 3 facts to be incorrect.
@@lsh3rd
Head count is in the last SEC filing.
Empty factory. Testing stations yes. Offices yes. Production line no.
Production funding unsuccessful so far. They had to hire US Capital to look for a 65 million dollar investor. They don't have the money. We don't know if US Capital will find an investor.
@@montanaerdoc US Capital has partnered with Aptera to secure funding for production, this is what they do. Aptera has levelled up and is pretty confident about funding and remains on track. PI builds and validation are the focus with updates almost weekly.