Technology

I ordered one of these in 2021. Delivery expected end of 2022. It was like November 2022 and they were still promising to deliver. End of 2022 we got another prototype. There was no explanation or acknowledgement.

Since then it's been delayed another 4 times but also the entire design has been fundamentally changed, including the entire chassis and powertrain. There's also been like 6 more prototypes. And the price has gone up like 30%. And now it's still expected "next year".

So yeah, as much as I want it to be true, I don't think they'll ever deliver this car. It's an investment grift.

One interesting tidbit is that due to the aerodynamic design, bugs are swept over the windshield and don’t splatter. This effect was theorized in simulations but they were able to demonstrate it during the roadtrip.

I got taken in by their promo 5 years ago, wanted it so much to be real, but the "factory" as of one year ago doesn't have any actual machines despite raising millions of dollars. The influencers literally just do the factory tour which is like 5 places where there are presentations, and follow the yellow markings where the "factory machines" will be. But its all made up. They can literally fold up shop in a day or two and be gone. Pretty long standing grift though, you have to give them that. The influencers all who are incentivized are the only thing keeping it going.

Aptera has a 15 year history now of only producing prototypes and being restructured/resold. Granted there were some problems not caused by the current founders but the marketing is misleading as to exactly where they are and when they will actually be able to build these damn cars. I am no longer a believer. There is a reason why there are no major VCs behind this, even though they were enthusiastic over a decade ago. During the same time Tesla became a household word, and Nio and Rivian came into being and actually produced more than prototypes. Why are they so uninvestible? Why did all these other companies get the big investor dollars and not them? Why all these years, and no product? Each question seems to lead to other things that just don't make sense.

High hopes for this vehicle. Reaching peak of 545w solar charging is good. Lighweight EVs have big advantage, as does aero. It's taken much too long so far though.

They did it!! Another round of funding! Next update in 10 years.

It makes so much sense to have EVs be solar-powered, and would also ease my worry about running low on electricity and not finding anywhere to charge. I hope they're a reality sometime while I'm still driving.

This might be a dumb question, but I think it's worth asking anyway. How do they deal with the interior of the car getting as hot as a fucking blast furnace? Because if you leave a regular car out in the sun, it becomes like a fucking blast furnace when you open the door. Heat like that can actually cause interior damage, like cracking dashes and stuff. So if you have to leave this car out in the direct sun to charge, how do they avoid this problem? Like, I'm imagining you go to work, and your car is sitting in the work parking lot directly in the sun for hours a day. And it's collecting power to drive you home, but it's also massively heating up.

I'll start respecting it the moment they add the fourth wheel.