Details about funding and production plans... Do not be alarmed that the co-CEO mistakenly identifies the month of June as "January"!
Here are the highlights for those too busy to view the 1:17-long video (@Kerbe, please correct anything I got wrong): 58 seconds of dead air Steve Fambro was off at a trade show, leaving Chris Anthony by himself to make this presentation Aptera believes every journey should be fully powered by the sun and your vehicle should provide great utility Over 47,000 reservations = $1.7 billion of potential revenue Aptera has raised more than $120 million so far They have 30-patents pending and 4 awarded = valuable intellectual property portfolio Need to raise $65 million for 2024 to get production-intent vehicle built and achieve positive cash-flow They're doing all the electrical work in-house, which is expensive, but gives them needed control Current simulation tools are so good that Chris is confident of future crash-test results Trying to build 10,000 Apteras per year, but 6,000 per year will achieve a positive cash-flow Aptera has unlocked matching grant funds from the California Energy Commission They're planning to seek DOE grants They'll need $200 million to expand to multiple factories after production begins Their goal is to build 140,000 to 150,000 Aptera vehicles per year Europeans and especially Italians have been very supportive regarding the production of components Aptera has licensed parts from Chinese vehicle platforms Roush is designing the doors for the Aptera The Italian body-molding tooling is finished and ready-to-go [they've shown the first body shell produced] Carbon-fiber sheet-molding compound used for rear hatch doesn't require metal sandwiched inside Chris talks about CPC making the body, Maxeon making solar cells, CTNS making the battery Munro (yes, YouTube star Sandy Munro), is consulting to streamline the manufacturing process They have suppliers for 97% of the needed parts They will, of course, switch to suppliers who can quote less-expensive parts of higher quality Interiors are lagging (eg. center console) "Thermal components" are also lagging [I assume those are parts of the HVAC system] Electro-mechanical components for the wiring harness are still being developed Validation and testing is getting started Seeing Apteras being tested on the road causes other drivers to veer off the road Aptera's solar cells are designed for 10-15 year service life--including bonding materials Ride and handling are being tested to see if they match simulations--especially braking Noise-vibration-harshness testing will take place when the production bodies are on the road Suspension design and tuning must be complete before braking can be tested Durability testing is proceeding as components are finalized Crash-testing comes last because the vehicle must be in its final form for that to happen They still don't have their "PI" (production-intent) vehicle ready to put on the road The battery module just finished shaker-table testing Big die-cast parts for suspension and frame are expected next month The 80,000 sq-ft CA facility will produce 10,000 Apteras/year for each shift--2 shifts could make 20,000 per year When production begins, the initial ramp-up will take 3-6 months--hope to deliver 5,000 Apteras in 2025 Plan is to deliver 20,000 Apteras in 2026--if US Capital comes through with the needed $65 million Most customers are in US, most in southern states, most are older males (although 18-24 year-olds like the concept) Accelerator program will deliver first 2,000 vehicles in California [those enthusiasts won't mind traveling to the factory] After Accelerator customers, other reservation holders will start receiving their Apteras Michigan, in particular, is difficult to sell into because of that state allows car sales only through dealers [Michigan Tesla customers must travel to Ohio or another state to buy their vehicles] Aptera has a strong viewer base on YouTube Slide of exploded view of Aptera's solar technology was lost, will be online later Polydrops, maker of lightweight, solar-powered, travel trailers wants to use Aptera's durable solar cells Chris says airlines will want solar-powered vehicles to move cargo around airport tarmac Aptera will have a big opportunity in fleet-sales due to the fuel savings and reduced need for charging stations Aptera may eventually be selling more fleet vehicles than consumer vehicles VP of Finance, Blake, joins Chris to discuss financials Aptera is "positioned well to become a regular reporting company with the SEC" NASDAQ has given Aptera the moniker SUNA (the "A" is hard, pronounced like the "A" as in "able") Aptera has more than 17,000 investors You have until June 30th to invest up to $5 million (min $1,000) before crowd-funding closes Thank you for your support, we're ready to tackle the future Chris and Blake's answers to questions from online viewers: Coatings on solar panels are more durable than most solar cells Aptera's solar cells are up to 24% efficient [Google: The average efficiency of commercially available solar panels is between 15% and 20%, but some can reach up to 23%.] Initial distribution plan: come to factory, take test drive, drive home Aptera doesn't want to open dealerships in restricted states [like Michigan] US Capitol money will be both equity debt and loan debt--details not yet finalized They're holding open the option to conduct crowd-funding in the future The 2,000 Accelerator investors will hopefully work with Aptera to help shake out teething problems [The Big Question:] They can't yet predict when production will begin The funding and supply-chain limit the early production Self-directed IRA investments also end June 30th; then US Capitol starts raising money After validation begins, Aptera will get serious about negotiating with Tesla for Supercharger access None of the chargers they have in-house offer bidirectional charging--it will be easy to add It will take years before all the components are sourced from US manufacturers The battery will be the first component to be re-sourced from the US Investors who have all types of investments (CF, D, A) will eventually get perks based on total investment However, the "invest $2K now, get $1K coupon plan" (started last year) isn't retroactive Reservation-holders will get estimated delivery dates after production begins [I calculate: 5,000 in 2025, 20,000 in 2026, 20,000 in 2027, so some of the 47,000 ordered deliver in 2028] Purchasers of launch vehicles may not be able to upgrade to some later-offered features (such as 100 kWh battery) Aptera doesn't want to get to a point of non-growth stability--they want to keep growing Aptera prices stated 3 years ago will necessarily increase due to the cost of inflation since then Painting is too expensive, so wraps will be the way to customize the car's exterior appearance Initial Apteras will come with the same-color wrap, applied in a 300-sq ft area in the factory Customers can specify no-wrap [I assume leaving black body components black, not white-wrapped] Aptera will provide DXF files for 3rd-party wrap companies to use (even for Hello Kitty, Cinnamon Roll, Paw Patrol wraps) Accelerator customers will get the first deliveries, not California customers [but they have to travel to California] Aptera has a lobbyist, but getting the government to do what Aptera wants them to do is difficult Aptera will support vehicle owners who want to join together as local communities of owners Chris hopes people will get into solar charging competitions, bragging about how many kW hours they've accumulated The 10,000/year production shift will require 30 assemblers and 50 support people--hiring begins in next 6 months Larger vehicles carrying more people and more cargo will happen after Aptera fills the 47,000 orders they have now
The Morning Brew website dissed Aptera, citing the Wall Street Journal's information about the company's crowd-funding activity. However, if writer Lucy Brewster believes the Aptera vehicle's primary feature is "self-driving," it doesn't appear she took even a cursory glance at what Aptera is building, or what Aptera has done with the crowd-funded money. For example, carmaker Aptera has raised more than $120 million from 17,000 individual investors since 2021, and still has nothing to show for its self-driving cars, according to the WSJ.
Haters gotta hate... What I didn't understand about the WSJ piece was its suspicious attitude about crowdsourcing, in general - as if it was, somehow, unclean. It's also funny that not one of these posts ever mentions that what Aptera has achieved with $120M of crowdsourced funding took Rivian and Lucid over $1B each of venture capital - which, in truth, is just "corporate crowdsourcing".
