Aptera

On the Electrek Podcast, we discuss the most popular news in the world of sustainable transport and energy. In this week’s episode, we discuss new details about Tesla Supercharger v4, VW’s ID2 $25,000 EV, Aptera getting a big grant, and more. Sponsored by SAE International: Join the global mobility community in Detroit from April 18-20 for WCX, the largest technical mobility event in North America. Register now. The show is live every Friday at 4 p.m. ET on Electrek’s YouTube channel. As…

Credit: Aptera Motors One day after announcing the official award of a $21 million grant in California, Aptera Motors looks to garner additional funds from its Accelerator investment program in exchange for access to the first 2,000 commemorative builds of its Launch Edition solar EVs. There is still plenty of room to invest and snag one of the first 2,000 Apteras built. Aptera’s Accelerator program was announced in late January, one week after the startup officially debuted the…

Solar electric vehicle startup Aptera Motors shared encouraging news today as it has been awarded a grant from the California Energy Commission (CEC) to the tune of $21 million. The grant comes as welcomed news for Aptera as it looks to reach scaled production of its namesake solar EV as one of the few startups left trying to successfully scale the sustainable technology for the masses. While we’ve seen other solar electric vehicle startups shutter or pivot their businesses away from EV…

Aptera’s new community funding program is just two weeks in, but it has raised $3 million of it’s $20-50 million goal. To incentivize further investment, the company is now offering new pieces of Aptera-branded swag to lead investors. Aptera announced the funding milestone today, though it wasn’t really a secret, as it has had a constantly-updated investment leaderboard ever since its January 27 crowdfunding announcement. In that announcement, Aptera indicated that it wanted to raise $20 to…

It’s been a real tough month for the few but extremely innovative solar EV companies out here. Having just announced a shifting of its business strategy and a request to suspend all payments to its operating company, Lightyear has officially declared bankruptcy. Sono Motors’ flagship solar EV, the Sion, is staring down a similar barrel, as the startup fights to raise more funds to keep it alive. Meanwhile, Aptera has a production-intent design, but still needs millions of dollars to get it to production.…

Just a few days after sharing specifications of its Launch Edition solar EV, Aptera Motors has backtracked on a previous comment stating that its upcoming vehicles will not come with DC fast charging capabilities. Aptera has now let its community of loyal fans know it hears them, vowing to equip all its solar EVs, including the aforementioned Launch Edition with the capability to charge on Tesla’s supercharger network. During a livestream webinar Friday, the Aptera team including cofounders…

Aptera Motors has inched closer than ever to customer deliveries of its flagship solar EV donning the company name. During a webinar presentation earlier today, the California-based startup unveiled new details its Launch Edition solar EV – a unified configuration that includes all-wheel drive and 400 miles of range, but Aptera still has a few financial and infrastructural hurdles to overcome before it can start delivering these solar EVs to the masses. More below. Since first unveiling its…

Solar EV startup Aptera Motors has just announced another major milestone in bringing its long-promised flagship model into production. Solar cell production is now underway with the help of Maxeon Solar Technologies – the newly announced cell supplier to Aptera as part of a “cross-company collaboration.” Since initially unveiling its flagship solar EV donning the company name, Aptera has been endlessly working to deliver it to its customers. We know this because the startup has been quite transparent in its…

We've been following an automotive startup's journey to get its three-wheeled solar-electric vehicle on the road for more than 15 years, and now the latest teardrop-shaped Aptera prototype has made its public debut in San Diego.The eye-catching Gamma prototype comes from the latest incarnation of Aptera Motors, which began as Accelerated Composites in the early noughties before running out of funds in 2011 and relaunching a few years back.The aim is to deliver a two-seat three-wheeled solar-electric vehicle that can roll…

Following the teasing of interior images of the gamma version of its upcoming solar electric vehicle (SEV) last month, Aptera officially debuted the full prototype in front of a crowd in San Diego at Fully Charged Live. gamma now marks Aptera’s biggest milestone as it approaches SEV production in 2023. Aptera has had quite the journey in bringing solar electric vehicles to reality in the US. As the second iteration of the company, it unveiled its flagship Aptera SEV in late 2020, which was soon followed by three…