Aptera's funding plan and timeline
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- Опубликовано: 10 фев 2025
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I do want to get one of these!
I don't think the intent is to actually produce 6,000 vehicles in 2025, but get to a production rate of 6,000 vehicles per year by the end of the year.
Correct. According to the slides, approximately 5,000 units would be produced/sold in 2025. But production target is 500 within any given month by year’s end. That’s equivalent to the rate of 6k/year.
Either way it's a fairy tale. This company is already as good as insolvent
@@bluetoad2668 Troll
@@Leonardokite Fanboi
@@Leonardokite I would urge you to do your own research and keep an open mind, have a look at Warren Redlich's video from about a month ago. He breaks it down quite nicely.
I hope it is true that crash test simulations are as good as the real test, and that Aptera will pass the 'real' tests and starts to deliver to customers next year. If the initial customer satisfaction is high (no unexpected problems like a failing cooling system) I think Aptera can easily become a huge company, just like Tesla. Everything depends on the build quality, so I hope Aptera gets it right with its first Aptera edition already. We can all understand the benefits, but the car has to perform according to the specs as well.
💯
They have a much better chance at better build quality on those initial vehicles. This is due to the BINC. So things like gaps should be perfect fit. There might be some electrical and auxiliary things to iron out due to the solar panel setup, but if I recall correctly, the solar was one of the first things ready for production intent. So while we won't know until we know, I think the chances are quite high the build quality is fantastic on the early builds. Going with wraps over paint was also a very smart choice.
I'm not doubting that it will work but we have yet to see a full solar package on any of their prototypes.
@MrStrife62
I do agree and I see that the Aptera team is proceeding with this in mind. They do not over promise Ala that Tesla guy lol
@@garywozniak7742 I'm fairly certain gamma had it, just not hooked up. Not that that is a full test but it's better than nothing.
This is the part of the webinar most of us needed to hear about the path to break even. When we were discussing the target for the $65MM level of funding, I did think it could be enough to get to a full single day shift of production at 40/day. It’s an important clarification for investors.
I’m still most excited for the target times to finish the first PI in July/August, and the first Accelerator deliveries as early as 25Q1. Go Aptera! Keep it SUN-A!
So would you publicly eat your hat if the first PI is assembled in 1-1/2 to 2 months?
@@shrimptopian3392
That's a clever insight. Thanks.
As I posted to a previous video, I'm losing my enthusiasm quickly lately. If I told two people about how exciting and great this car was going to be, I told 200 people about this car, trying to generate their interest.
Now, it seems like there's always an excuse for why things are not being done by the last timeline they gave us.
I was disappointed to see they are still waiting for parts from suppliers. That's a real problem. As I stated on another video discussion, there are many nefarious ways Aptera could get destroyed.
One is by the federal government playing around with them. I think US Customs deliberately held up the gamma that was to be at the UAE event. It showed up late, and it missed the event. That invent was enroll to rich Arab investors. It probably looked pretty lame that the car didn't show up for the event. That would spook off a lot of investors right there.
You have to wonder why Aptera didn't get the vehicle there sooner to accommodate such delays. We'll probably never know.
You could also have patent squatters suing the company over their solar patents.
You could have a supplier that holds some of their tooling or other parts hostage in an effort to renegotiate terms or because they've been paid by concerned interests such as oil companies, legacy automakers or other EV makers looking to destroy Aptera. It only takes one supplier to clobber the company.
My dad was an inventor in the machine tool industry and it happened to him. He was wiped out.
My friend invented Hemplights, and he had his plastic molds held hostage by a plastics company he contracted to make the pieces. They flat out we're trying to steal them from him so they could launch their own company making his product without owning the patent. He had to sue to get them back.
Later on, he had to fight off a patent squatter, even though his patent was awarded five years before that other company even existed. It doesn't matter in the eyes of the law. If someone sues over his patent, he has to answer the suit and defend the patent, Even though the patent was awarded. A patent is almost worthless these days because of it. The US patent system is very crooked and geared towards extremely wealthy people/interests suing inventors out of business and stealing their patents through the patent court system. Or the wealthy people / interest just copy the product and ignore the patents and go into biz and make as much money as they can before they get sued and have to defend their patent violations. By that time, it might be too late for the company that was violated.
Jeff Bezos does this with Amazon. Anytime he sees a product is selling really well, he has it copied and sold on Amazon to compete against his own customers. Super sleazy.
I am worried that some or all of these things are happening to Aptera, and they're not telling us. When's the last time we heard about the wheel motors supplier? It's been a lonnnnnng time.
Aptera gave us the impression that they had secured $60m funding through US Capitol, and now it seems like they didn't get the $60m from US Capitol? Is that right?
I ordered my car three years ago this month. I expected it to take a couple of years. Now it looks like it's going to take six years. Six years to wait for a car when I was the 7,000th to order one. That means other people will wait even longer.
I downright ran my car into the ground, and it coded last week. I never should have been driving that car that long. It was killing my business-to-business sales to drive up to a biz' in an old car. It was embarrassing. But I was going to get my new Aptera within the next year, so I'd be stupid to buy a new car when I already have a new car being delivered within a year, right? Telling B2B prospects that I was buying this solar car and that the car I had was just a placeholder didn't seem to impress those people too much.
If Aptera doesn't have production deliveries by this time next year , it means I'll be waiting for a seventh year or an eighth year, based on their past performance of stated timelines. I'm 60. I could die before this car ever arrives. No joke.
If they don't have a production card delivered by this time next year I'm canceling my order. I will sell my stock anyway I can. There is a way to do it with schedule A investors. It's just a hassle.
I just bought a newer used car, a 2012 plug-in Prius. Looks a lot better than the previous car I was driving. But I'm not going to drive this for 5 more years. I'm going to drive and own a an EV that is not an Aptera by July next year if Aptera has not delivered a production vehicle by June of next year.
Here's the kicker, I'm a very good sales person. I worked on small scale sales and I've worked on multimillion dollar projects. 3 months ago I was very excited to be coming ambassador and sell this car to my clients and prospects that I meet in the field while I'm doing my sales work. I work in solar sales, so it is a perfect dovetail. I'm confident I could have sold over a hundred vehicles for Aptera by now if I had been driving my Aptera. But I will never sell something that I don't know can be delivered, so I'm not trying to sell cars for right right now. If they don't deliver their first production vehicles by this time next year, I'll never sell any units for Aptera. I'll be talking up the EV I have, not the EV that was supposed to be built but never is.
Uh, you also need to put up $1MM to make the bet, which by your own admission-you do not have. I would bet you one hat eating.
Thanks for posting.
I agree in 2025 will likely be constrained by a number of factors; production learning curve, warranty support, internal overhead, and inventory costs to name a few.
Production will proceed and progress to higher rates, but may consume more $ than anticipated.
For these reasons, I anticipate several investment banking rounds before the IPO.
But from a big picture perspective, it’s all proceeding as anticipated.
Charge on!
Appreciate the breakdown Steve, thank you!
Where is Elaphe on the suppliers list? Nothing is mentioned about Elaphe for a while, so are they still the supplier?
We are all wondering the same.
I asked that question in response to yesterday's email.
I heard a rumor that they are no longer using those motors. Somebody said Sandy Monroe had mentioned it several months back.
And you see that there's still a need to secure "electro mechanical" devices. That could be the motors.
However, the May filing by Aptera to the SEC shows that they still have a relationship with Elaphe, but that is a non-binding agreement that is conditional upon Aptera ordering 30,000 motors. They don't mention if those motors have to be bought all at once. But if they have to buy them all at once, they're going to need to come up with a lot of cash, I would think. And that could be a problem.
@chriseidam7319 This is a fine detail many have overlooked. Smart of you to have noticed it. That question mark on the electrochemical parts needed an explanation given that there was supposed to be a standing agreement between Elahpe and the Aptera.
I have to mention however that in the recent European meet up of aptera.solar EU forum on May 4th, in Fulda, Germany, Elahpe was present at this meeting and presented yo the attendees a mock version of the finalized in wheel motor that will be used in the PI build. I was in attendance in this meeting and even touched the thing and photographed it! It was an amazing experience.
So, what is going on here? Why was Elahpe absent from their most important update to date just one and half months after this meeting?
@@adimchionyenadum2962
Somebody on one of Steve's videos posted that Sandy Munroe said months ago that Elaphe is out.
I posted that rumor, but I have not yet been able to verify it - Munroe's videos are long.
If they were at an event a month back, that encourages me.
However, I started looking at the SEC filing for May and the agreement they have with Elaphe is only activated and binding after they purchase 20,000 motors.
Does anybody know how much the motors should cost approximately? If they are $500 each, that would be a $10,000,000 bill for just one supplier. I wonder how they can pull it off if other suppliers make the same condition. None of the major suppliers have binding agreements with Aptera. It is in the filing on page 6.
I've been saying for a while that with the belly pan cooling not included in the release of Aptera, they probably won't need all PI builds. The can probably use one PI unit on building and validating a standard cooling system and just move on. So I can see them making only 10 PI units. PI 11-16 could be built after production begins, as test beds for future options like the tent or the off road kit.
I'll also note that Chris mentions something I never thought of, which is that they need multiple PI models to validate multiple systems at the same time. I assumed the PI models would be built to develop the systems (you don't modify your current "stock" model while you are testing out new ideas) but multiple PIs are needed for testing as well. And not just destructive testing.
Having the assets able to be resold doesn't just benefit Aptera if they go under, it also helps them get loans so they don't have to go under. Plus, lenders will be more willing to lend to them once they go into production. So even though it may be easier to get loans than investments in order to get to production, they can also look to those loans getting easier and less of a compromise once production begins. I expect they are waiting to request loans from US Capital Global until they have had more time to see how investment funding works out. No one has actually said that, but it seems reasonable based on what we know about how US Capital operates. And they can probably get better terms as the validation and crash testing results come out.
If Aptera manages to meet the schedule Chris has put out, I don't see any issue with meeting the goal of 6000 units by the end of 2025. Remember, Aptera has a huge incentive to sell 6000 units in 2025. If they don't sell 6000 units, they take a loss for 2025, but if they make more, they will break even. So it'll be a lot easier to make 6000 units even it they have to fire up that second shift early.
I don't see progress on the PI builds causing a delay. Even if crash testing doesn't get started until 2025, and note that no one has said that, they still have three months to get the vehicles registered for sale in the US. The bigger issue, I think, is production tooling taking longer than none months. As you said, that is a possibility. They don't know what they don't know and there is the possibility that start of production could be delayed until second quarter or even third quarter of 2025. Third quarter would be a disaster for the timeline, but second quarter is I think recoverable.
Aptera isn't planning on producing 6000 units a year, they're planning on producing 10,000 units a year, and over nine months that comes out to around 6000 units. Chris said there would be a ramping up period, but that's with nine months to work with, and if production begins next year at this time, I can see him trying to push for full production from day one, or at least within a couple of weeks. So I think the schedule is manageable. Anything could happen, of course, but I'm optimistic.
I think Aptera will continue to exceed expectations even especially when so many start-up EV and SEV makers have been unsuccessful and disappointing. Their focus on efficiency will also be a benefit in financing[World record crowd funding] getting further with less money than any other. With the Red Viking robots and having Sandy Monroe as a vested partner to design the manufacturing process for maximum efficiency. Amazingly all in a small 80000 sq. ft. building. Extremely duplicatable in similar existing available industrial parks. In addition the vehicle is the only solar EV with greatest range, one of the quickest, possibly the safest, and most affordable! Wow!
so much positivity and it still feels like its a long way out, at least for me. I only reserved in the past half year, so I'm guessing when they've said "we have 46k reservations!" I'm towards the end of that.
6k cars a year to break even, but 10k cars per year manufacturing capability... Means even if they do get to 6k in 2025 I'm still looking at several years before my number comes up. phew.
Just to clarify, the 10,000 cars per year production is with one shift per day, which is what they will start with. There will be a learning curve and ramp up. They plan to add a second shift once it’s practical to do so. This will mean production capacity of 20,000 vehicles per year in this first factory.
They also have plans to build additional factories, pending the availability of funding for expansion.
@@kevinscott8642 Always adopt the pessimistic side of the utterings of startups.
@@kevinscott8642 soooo... 3 years before my number comes up. 2 and a half being optimistic.
2027 assuming they start production now, but even the first pi build isnt ready...
One thing I've learned over the years is that the difference between innovators/early adopters and mainstream/laggards is that innovators and early adopters have the mental flexibility to look at the limitations of the present state, look at current processes, and imagine the future positive outcome of these processes. They also have the risk tolerance to bet on the future positive outcome. I like to think of this as "risking the possibility of success".
The mainstream and laggards lack this flexibility. They can't imagine a future positive outcome based on changes that are currently in progress. Nothing is real to them until it physically exists. They won't bet on anything until it's already proven. I think of them as "avoiding the risk of failure".
There is no progress without the innovators and early adopters. Kudos to Aptera for risking the possibility of success.
This is exciting I ordered one I'm glad i'm on the waiting list
I paid my reserve fee yesterday...I was, a few years ago looking at Elio, I was aware of the Aptera, but I was skeptical about the "Solar Powered" claim. Now I'm onboard.
Had no idea you worked on research! Currently working overseas on my thesis as well in Mathematics, could I read up on your work, Steve?
He is not a Mathematician. He is a Biologist. No relationship.
@@adimchionyenadum2962 And apparently not a very good one, because he runs a RUclips channel
Have located a Few Small and Fun Decals, and am installing a Level 2 Outlet at My Home.
Do you use an electric dryer? Simply add additional wire to a charge port - done.
I live in a condo. I just plan to use a good ole fashion extension cord. 20 ft is all I will need. For 6 months of the year I probably won't even need it.
If I can get an average of 25 miles of solar driving per day from April through September I won't have to charge it unless I take an unexpected long road trip.
In the winter months I expect it to be a lot more like a traditional ev. Using the solar power generation for my heat.
@@bgeery There are load sharing devices that are code compliant. If, for example, you have your EV charger and your electric clothes dryer on the same circuit the load sharing device will cut power to the EV charger when the dryer is drawing a current and restore power to the charger when the dryer turns off. This prevents the breaker from tripping even though you have the dryer and EV charger on the same circuit and eliminates the need for an electrical panel upgrade when installing an EV charger.
Does any of this plan include the ATVM in the future? I know Aptera submitted the application, but we never heard anything about it since then.
Isn't that the same as the DOE loan mentioned?
I think it may be. I missed him mentioning it. I’ll have to look at the webinar again
In India, there is a saying "If you miss the mark...its still good. But if you plan low...you are anyways screwed!"
Always plan for best results possible with steps to achieve.
A little different than my experience in the U.S. which says identify, plan, and prepare for the worst case then always be pleasantly surprised.
I disagree with that Indian axiom viciously. I see nothing but trouble come from that kind of attitude.
Under-promise. Over-deliver. Anticipate setbacks. Give the customer more in value than he or she expects. Set your timelines reasonably.
You can never go wrong following those rules.
If memory serves me correctly, at one point Chris promised production vehicles to be delivered by December of 2020.
I definitely remember that I was supposed to get my car in 2022. Then it was 2023. Then it was 2024. Now it's 2025 for the very first accelerators, and anybody who doesn't settle for the accelerator version will wait until .. 2027? 2028? 2029? 2030... (Stop me anytime, Chris, if you are reading this.)
I've heard: "shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll be among the stars"
@@benjaminkindle1841
That's all swell for personal improvement, but that's no way to run a corporation, right?
What difference does it make if it takes until 2025, or 2026, or 2029 @@chriseidam7319 ?
Being more conservative with the timeline can't make the timeline _faster_.
But it can make the timeline slower, and/or fail to attract enough capital, in-which case your delivery date would be _never_.
Hence the saying; Shoot for your Aptera in 2022. Even if you miss, you'll get it some time between 2025 and 2029.
Question: Does the crash simulation software show any concerns in the current design of the Aptera?
Thanks as usual for your analysis and comments. The Aptera community always waits for your interpretation and assessment. Plans are good but, from my Scottish ancestral background, "The best laid plans of mice and men gang aft agley" (Robert Burns - the best laid plans often go astray) Be cautious about drinking the kool aid at this point. The Aptera record for accomplishing aggressive schedules is not sterling. ALL relies on the single external dependency of U.S. Capital coming through ON TIME with $65M. No small feat in the current capital environment. The rabbit is still in the hat with maybe the ears poking out.
Being number 4xx, I hope to see mine delivered by June. I sweep the spot where it will be parked every week.
They need a live ticker of what US Capital has raised similar to the Accelerator Program.
I love this idea even though I don't think we will get it.
This is a perfect car for hundreds of niche markets... if they can produce the cars they could sell 300 to 500 thousand per year
Regarding 6,000 vehicles/year, I think Aptera will easily reach a production *rate* of 6,000/yr and very possibly even 10,000/yr, by the end of 2025. If this were any other company, I would agree that reaching this milestone in the first year of production is unlikely. However, given how much forethought Aptera has put into mass production, I would be disappointed if they DIDN'T produce a TOTAL of 6,000 by the end of 2025.
As far as the factors that are within Aptera's control, including design for manufacturing, they have all of their ducks lined up. I expect Aptera to execute nearly flawlessly, on the factors within their control.
I'm more concerned about external risks, that are not directly under Aptera's control. Things like climate change driven extreme weather disruptions to the supply chain, or the various conflicts (Russia vs. Ukraine, Israel vs. Hamas, potentially North Korea) expanding to the point of disrupting Aptera's supply chain. However, like Covid-19, these external risks will affect ALL auto manufacturers, to some degree or another. So, relative to the startup EV industry, these factors do not necessarily put Aptera at a disadvantage.
I think they will be able to ramp to a 6K per year run rate by the end of 2025 no problem. Will they be able to actually produce 6K in 2025? Less likely
If they manage to deliver their first vehicle by Q3 of 2025, then they may be able to deliver a couple hundred vehicles by the end of the year. Nothing more. This is a highly optimistic take.
@@adimchionyenadum2962 a couple hundred? You think they'll only be able to build thirty or forty a month?? This is a highly pessimistic take.
As an Accelerator, I'm only concerned about the first two thousand seventy-five vehicles delivered by next year.
I hope you get it and love it.
I just think it will be 2026 before that happens.
I've never wanted to be more wrong. My hope is that we continue to get good news going forward. Raising my confidence in a 2025 delivery for accelerators.
@@Fairburne69,
I didn't see good news in that investor video. I saw a lot of excuses. I saw a lot of open-ended problems. I saw that they don't have deliveries from their vendors. I saw they don't even have the design finished. I saw that they don't even have all of their suppliers nailed down. It was a gut punch to hear all of that stuff. I'm an investor and I was about to plunk down another $7500.
I think I've lost faith. I'm sticking it out one more year and if they haven't delivered anything to anybody I give up. I'm not going to live forever. I'm 60 years old. And I'm not going to drive an ICEV the rest of my life because Aptera can't get its act together. It can only make so many excuses before it runs out of runway.
If they are able to do it at all, they should hit the numbers. Sandy munro has it setup to produce high volume not lucid style hand making cars in tiny volumes (less then ferrari!)
How many presses will have to be machined to produce 150k vehicles a year?
@@shrimptopian3392 The whole idea of shipping pre-assembled vehicles always seemed ridiculous to me. I imagine they could fit a couple days worth of chassis parts in one container rather than needing 10 containers a day to ship assembled chassis. I choose to believe there is some plan quietly being developed to receive pressed parts from CPC and assemble them in California.
@@shrimptopian3392 I don't think you have access to the Aptera plans/data to make that claim. Perhaps you may want to reconsider that statement.
@@johnmalcom9159
It's not a reckless assumption.
Right now, we just keep getting excuses and timelines that get pushed back.
I'm concerned. I'm concerned that they don't have all of their suppliers nailed down. I thought that was finished a long time ago.
I'm concerned that they don't have any more investment money. I initially understood that US Capitol gave them $60 million. Now people are saying they didn't get anything.
I'm also concerned that no professional investors want to invest in Aptera. You would think that an angel investor would show up by now. But angel investors are sophisticated, rich people that know everything about how companies are started, how companies succeed, and how companies fail. That they are not showing up for Aptera and that Aptera is relying on grants and retail investors has become a concern for me recently.
I'm in sales. I can't stand when people lie about timelines. I can't stand when timelines get pushed back. I'm dealing with that on a multimillion-dollar project right now. I was supposed to have my answers two weeks ago. IfI don't get answers by the end of this week, it could blow a deal that pays my entire year's income.
Customers hate blown timelines. Each blown timeline feels like a little betrayal. When you get enough blown timelines, you lose the customer.
I think Aptera is approaching that point right now. You can see it in the comments. I've never seen so many negative and disciuraged comments as I've seen in the last couple of videos by Steve. It means people are losing confidence in Aptera.
At some point, Aptera is going to start losing a lot of reservations because of blown timelines as people give up on Aptera and buy other EVs. There are so many excellent EVs to buy this year. I could have bought an Ioniq 6 SEL for only $35,000 last month. My wife told me, "No, wait for that solar car." If not for my tough, little wife, Aptera would have lost this customer by now
If Aptera starts losing reservations in volume, they will never secure the funding they need to launch this car. It's that simple. If 47,000 reservations becomes 46,000, and then becomes 45,000, and then 44, 000... well, it's toes-up. The fact that the reservation count has not increased in months is foreboding.
I agree with you Steve I don't think the timeline will be met.
Things that are a year away will probably be 18 months away. Things that are 2 years away will be 3 years away etc.
I'm also ok with that. It goes back to the unknowns you don't know about. The problems you don't see coming that create inevitable delays.
I want to see production starting next year. Even if it's just a few hundred cars in the 4th qtr.
Hopefully in 2026 they can ramp up production to 5,000 vehicles per year.
I don't think the demand will grow much. Americans by and large want to sit up high. They want seating for 5 and good storage. They want SUV's. Aptera only offers one of those things.
They are also going to struggle with convincing people it's safe regardless of the data. When I show this car to people the reaction is that it looks cool but unsafe. Lots of people don't like change. EV's and especially Aptera are a lot for people to take in. Most of the people I know won't even consider buying a hybrid.
The last thing Aptera will need to do is overcome misinformation. This is a huge problem with society today. It's plaguing the EV market even now.
Anyway I hope I'm wrong. I want to see them make 5,000 cars next year. I really want to be wrong on this.
Sports cars still sell by the tens of thousands per model, as do Corollas, Civics, Priuses, etc. I think the market is bigger, but it definitely has limitations.
Very true, and well said.
Delivery will always be next year.
@@jamesengland7461 Corvettes are a niche car. About 53,000 were made in 2023. I think Aptera will have a similar demand.
I'm not sure how many cars need to be made each year to no longer be nice but I'm thinking 250,000 or more.
One caveat to what I said. I think Aptera will have a higher demand in the first few years due to the preorders and limited production capabilities.
I think they want to develop the capability to make 6000 vehicles/yr in 2025, meaning 2026 would be their first 6000 vehicle year.
Their production timeline graphic makes that clear. The 6,000 vehicle production ramp up spans the years, 2025/2026.
6000 vehicles in 2025 is plain insane. Just delivering one vehicle to the first reservation holder by Q3 of 2025 will be a feat of immense dimensions for a startup like Aptera. Fingers crossed! God willing, we'll still be here by then to take stock of the situation.
POLL: How much longer are you willing to wait to take delivery of your Aptera before you give up to get a different vehicle?
~ 2 years for me
As long as it takes.
I waited about 2 years, then I bought a Chevy bolt. So I don't need to wait on aptera. Whenever it gets here it gets here.
Guys, I had an epiphany today - that the Chinese are much more likely to produce a solar-charged car before Aptera delivers 100 production vehicles, and they will do it for so much less that Aptera announces it's closures.
Following that, Aptera will monetize the patents that it's early investors funded, and the early investors will get nothing. It's what Sono did. It's what Lightspeed did.
@@maj429
I love our Bolt. I only wish that it charged faster.
I found out recently that the only reason the Bolt does not charge faster is because Chevy decided not to use a heavy duty cable between the charging port and the charging hardware. That cable would have cost about $15 more. The Bolt only needs that and some software tweaks to charge at a comparable rate to other vehicles on the road today.
It's like GM never wanted the car to succeed. And yet it was the most reliable car that GM sold while GM was making the Bolt. SMH
Yeah, I agree, seems pretty ambitious, but… they kind of have to be.
You think setting false, overly-ambitious timelines is a good thing?
I'm dealing with that at work right now, and it's about to blow a multimillion dollar project that I started because someone gave a fault, overly ambitious timeline to my customer on my behalf. It wasn't Matt. Then the next one they gave me was also not met. Now I won't even give a timeline to my client.
Maybe what is happening at work is just making me more sensitive to what is happening at Aptera.
Blowing a timeline once in a while is expected.
Blowing timelines repeatedly and repeatedly issuing new timelines that are blown is not sustainable. Chris even used the supply chain issue excuse in the investor video which, is not going to work forever. Supply line issues ended two years ago. It should not have an impact on Aptera at this point.
@@chriseidam7319 I feel your pain! I have endured 50+ years of R&D management trying to mediate what sales people promise to get their bonus with what R&D can produce on a budget significantly less than estimated.
@@chriseidam7319 That is the norm with startups. That is why they warn you upfront before you get into a dance with them. In Greece we say that after leaving the counter, no complaints about mistakes are accepted. You are warned!😃
While they molded enough parts initially, I never believed they would produce 16 PI vehicles. I don't even think they will complete 10. I think the most they will need to destroy in testing will be 5. I don't see how they will ever get to a million miles unless they count some kind of simulated testing, like they are with the battery shaking and have done on many other components. As for funding goes, US Capital could provide direct loans as well as a line of credit (which could be better) and stock sales to bigger fish investors. Most of their offerings look like they have a $25,000 minimum investment so that pretty much limits the little guys. I would be happy if they could at least start LE deliveries early next year. Stop asking for more investment money from us and collect more vehicle money from us. We have believed in Aptera, advocated for them and will be their free sales reps. Please give us a high quality product to be proud of our support.
I know exactly how you feel.
I was as high as a kite these last 3 years until I saw this investor video.
Others seemed to be excited by promises, but I just kept looking at how many things are not finished that should have been finished a long time ago, and I am very concerned now.
Be careful, you sound like Donald Rumsfeld 😅
I have reserved an Aptera and I'm a big fan. I don't understand how Aptera has already raised $100,000,000 and hasn't built 1 car for a customer. 🤯
Could‘ve built (hand-built) dozens of ‘em by now but made the strategic decision to have builds beyond Delta done with factory tooling. This for production validation and higher volume, per Sandy Munro (as Tesla did).
If this company is all about efficiency and sustainability why are they not planning on offering a single rear motor version?
1. Cheaper
2. Most Efficient
3. Less Resources
4. Already previous proven rear wheel drive 3 wheelers on the market.
5. Easier to Manufacture
And why are they shipping assembled shells from Italy to California?
Aren't "unknown unknowns", just "unknowns"? :-)
Lol yes. But also no.
They are a specific type of unknown
Not unless there is a trail of unknowns off of an original unknown🙃
@@johnvoules7447 I suppose we could then have unknown unknown unknowns as well... where does it end?
Technically, you are correct, but in essence they are not the same thing. Unknowns are just things you don't know say at a given time. "Unknown unknowns" are things you don't know at a given time which when you get to know them, they reveal other unknowns you initially didn't anticipate. In other words, you have to get to, or solve, the first before you see the second.
Aight, so I probably won't get mine in Europe until 2028 then.
You won't be able to drive it on public roads anyway.
@@Okurkaarrgghh They are producing a European version a swell.
@@Creepy-Girl Since when? They aren't even producing the American version afaik.
@@Okurkaarrgghh The American version will of course be the first to be delivered to customers.
After that Europe is next. It has been mentioned several times by Aptera that they will make it so that it's legal in the rest of the world as well.
@@Creepy-Girl So they are planning to produce an European version; you first said they are already producing one.
HaHa, Told you so !
Just like last time
Hey Chris, I'll see you Hell !
65m will not get them to cash positive state. You still do not understand how that matching grant works. More than a few companies listed on the grant are no longer part of Aptera's vendor list which apparently we have learned on this very webinar that Elaphe is gone just like Sandy said last August. Go read the grant Steve, it is linked in comments on the Aptera forum more than once. It is specific amounts to specific vendors.
There is zero chance they are cash flow neutral at 6k vehicles. zero. Given they make that claim they can only do so truthfully if they already know their production cost and selling price. So why not step up for your viewers and press Chris on that conundrum? Just do the math in your head, it is not that hard. Given when producing nothing their costs were 50-60m a year you can imagine what a fully staffed Aptera will cost. Now take 6000 and find a profit per vehicle number that would pay for that. I am waiting.
I’ll get right on that. Just keep waiting, okay?
Aptera and Rivian are in different leagues, and should not be compared.
The financial picture presented does not look good here. They are badly underfunded and do not have a compelling path to delivery. They have proved they can make a few working prototypes but I see no evidence that they can get to any sort of volume production. Even if they do the price of the vehicle is too high. It's a 3 wheeled 2 seater. Go out and ask people at random and see how many would buy that. Reservations aren't sales.
Rivian and Lucid are irrelevant to this discussion. Both those brands produced fully fledged automobiles at a higher level of content, capability, and especially safety, than what Aptera is claiming they will deliver. They just are not comparable.
The factor that makes them not comparable is the target market segment. Truck people are not interested in two seat small cars.
I've recently ordered a Rivian R2 on the premise that my Aptera will never be built. I've been waiting three years for my Aptera and now it looks like they want me to wait another three years. I'm not waiting six years for my first EV. My wife has had her Bolt for three years. I want mine.
I'll be getting the Rivian if Aptera doesn't deliver a production vehicle by this time next year. Too many excuses. Too many blown timelines.
@@chriseidam7319 I would definitely wait until your R2 goes into production and base your judgement off of that. As I see it, it is a race to go into production for many who are still waiting for their APTERA. I unfortunately had to purchase 2 vehicles since I was expecting delivery of mine. But I still have a 3rd vehicle in my family that hopefully we can hold on to before that needs replacing…Good Luck
@@johnvoules7447 ,
I won't cancel my Aptera order until I buy a different EV first.
But if they blow this latest timeline, I give up on any hope that they'll ever build the vehicle.
I was about to give them another 7,500 investment in my Roth IRA until I saw the investor video. That money is going instead to Rivian and to Nvidia.
I don't see anything going on in the factories in the background when I watch their videos. They've laid off a lot of people. The person in charge of raising funds has left or was let go. They have no other funds except for the funds they're getting from retail investors, which have mostly dried up. We were given the impression that they got 60 million from US Capitol, and that they had another $40 million they could tap but preferred not the tap.
Now I'm reading all over these boards that they never got that $60 million. It's just another promise that they might get $60 million, it appears.
I'm tired of the promises. I'm in sales and I would not conduct myself in the way that they're conducting themselves, making videos that keep promising things that they don't deliver. They don't even have motors for the car yet. THEY DON'T EVEN HAVE MOTORS FOR THEIR CAR YET! How are they going to test the PI builds if they don't even have motors from any supplier? And why won't they tell us that they don't have a supplier of the motors if some of us are reservation holders, some of us are investors and some of us are both?
It's the same nonsense that was happening at Fisker, at Canoo, at Lordstown, at Nikola - countless broken promises, countless appeals for retail investment money. And yet some of those companies actually produced vehicles they delivered. Aptera is the only one that has not delivered a production vehicle to a customer, despite being the simplest vehicle to produce.. Let that sink in. - of all the EV startups that were born around the same time, Aptera is the only one that has not produced a production vehicle.
I know some of these EV companies were never started with the intent of being successful motor companies. Some of these companies were set up to just drain the wallets of retail investors while making promise after promise after promise after promise after promise. At what point do I start to consider Aptera one of these such companies?
@@chriseidam7319 I didn't know you could get a Rivian in lieu of an Aptera. I didn't know the two were comparable.
They should start a crypto coin
A crypto what?
Coin but of course