Aptera Motors

That's a great idea. Jay does a great show and he was very kind to have us on his show in the past. He knows ALL when it comes to automotive history and he covers a lot of future tech. We will reach out to him when we have driveable pre-production vehicles to show him. Thanks for the support!

(I'll answer below each question): First off, I wish to echo G. Andris Vaskis and some of the others and thank you for your extensive time and energy it must take for you to personally respond to investors and even fans on this page! I’m an investor and I have been a fan of the design for over a decade! Like some others, I wanted to make a deposit on the first go around, but could not since I didn’t live in California. I’ve attempted to read through these posts to ask intelligent questions, but I apologize if there is still a repeat. I’ve also tried to highlight the main topic of each question. – Thanks for the long-term support! It has helped us accomplish some great engineering over the years. And now you WILL be able to pre-order an Aptera right from the start :) 1. I want to strongly encourage the 3RD SEAT, as soon as possible. This greatly improves the practicality of the vehicle, and I think that is the ultimate goal here: to have an ultra efficient vehicle that you can incorporate into your everyday life. The vast majority of the population has children in their home for much of their adult lives. I know I’m not alone with a four member household. The Sondors three wheel vehicle has a roomy third seat. With three seats, I can easily drop off two kids at school, but with two seats, I’ll have to take a different, far less efficient vehicle. Perhaps a folding design like many SUV or hatchback rear rows could provide the best passenger/cargo flexibility. – We had a third seat in our original design but it didn’t seem very popular so we dropped the idea from current thinking. We can certainly add it back in. 2. You have most recently mentioned CCS as the plug format, but I saw an older post that mentioned using CHAdeMO. I think it’s pretty clear that CCS is the format winner. I hope that is the final answer. Also, have you considered partnerships with charging companies like Lucid did with Electrify America? – We are talking to people in the charging world now and it does seem like CCS will be our path. But we haven’t committed to anything as of now. 3. I’m sure you are familiar with both the Rivian and Lucid YOUTUBE channels. I hope you can do something similar when you get your pre-production prototypes out and testing. I’d particularly like to see the Aptera tested in extreme conditions. I live in a high desert climate, so I often see wild swings in temperature and weather. It would also be fun to see Aptera running Laguna Seca, not necessarily to beat other times, but to show off some of the performance and cornering capability. (Most of the world still doesn’t believe a three wheeled vehicle can do something like that without tipping over.) – We WILL show our progress and as much of the Aptera “in action” as we can. We think people will be surprised by our size and utility. 4. I wonder if you could tell more about the CENTER of GRAVITY for Aptera. One of the big advantages of BEVs like Tesla is the very low CG. This is of course because battery packs are heavy, and putting them low to the ground is how the Tesla Model X was ‘unrollable’ in crash testing. But the ground clearance on the Teslas is generally 5-6 inches, while Aptera is much higher at 9 inches. Have you calculated the CG on both the 100kWh and 40kWh versions? It stands to reason that the lighter battery pack will have a higher overall CG, particularly with a full passenger/cargo load. – We have some CG challenges with our aero shape and need to be off the ground. But we overcome that with strategic placement of weight and an overall lightweight structure. It also helps that we have motor weight all the way out on the wheels. In our previous iteration stability was excellent and we did very well on the skid pad and other stability related tests. We expect to do better with our new version. 5. I understand you have done extensive CFD simulations and driven the original prototypes quite a bit. I read that the crosswind tolerance is in the 120 mph range. That’s a great number, but what about an UPLIFT WIND? Since Aptera is lightweight by design, and also fairly high off the ground (9 inches for the belly), have you tested the vehicle stability with an upward wind vector? I’m thinking about places like high ridgeline roads, bridges, and coastal roads such as CA-1 (think Big Sur) that can have strong gusts with upward trajectory up a slope. – Hmmm. That’s a complex question. But in general, the crosswind simulations we’ve done have accounted for any lift that the vehicle would experience from varying angles of wind direction. The Aptera does create a bit of downforce but the main reason it does well in crosswinds is there is very little flat area for the wind to push on. The rear wheel cover is really the only area to accumulate pressure. 6. As a professional pilot, I’ve been to every corner of the US and many places in Canada. I’ve driven many different cars and trucks in all seasons, roads and weather. While it’s great to drive in warm, sunny weather, often we can find ourselves in INCLEMENT WEATHER, even when least expected. I know that traction control and torque vectoring have come a long way, but certainly it has its limits as well. Low weight can be a disadvantage on wintery roads or thundershower-flooded roadways (both of which can often be accompanied by high winds). Please reassure me that your prototype tests will include as much of these challenging conditions as possible. – For those who will see inclement weather we will offer all-wheel-drive with stability control and torque vectoring. This will keep your wheels well locked to any road condition. We have to do a lot of testing yet, but we feel confident we can have a solid offering for even the coldest climates like in Norway and Sweden. 7. I believe you mentioned earlier that the WHEEL PANTS will be removable for winter weather (snow/slush buildup is generally undesirable), like airplane wheel pants. Can you confirm this? What about the rear wheel fairing? What are the risks to the hub motors, sensors and wiring harness? Aerodynamic drag (read: range) penalty? I’m guessing most northern folks would remove the fairings for the entire winter season, much like studded/winter tires. – The hub motors were designed in Slovenia and have been winter tested thoroughly. They can forge water, snow, ice, mud… Whatever ;) And the wheel pants can be removed but this would only be in an extreme situation like your caught in a rut. For any driving we’d recommend keeping the covers on. We will offer an “off-road” option that gives you lower wheel covers that give you more ground clearance. This may be useful in snow situations where you want to add studs or chains to your tires. 8. I love the efficient aerodynamic design! However as a pilot, I’m aware that extremely low drag designs like from Lancair can have dramatic performance penalties due to PARASITE DRAG from benign things like rain droplets and bug guts. Have you looked at how this will affect Aptera’s range? – In lower speed situation things like rain aren’t a huge impact. But, I don’t personally remember us doing any simulations on this. Though we have done a fair bit of driving in the rain and I don’t recall it being noticeable. We’ll keep it on our list for review as we begin road testing again. 9. Some have asked about insurance prices in the past. You have mentioned that insurance companies will likely treat it much like a motorcycle. Some owners of Polaris Slingshot have found that to be untrue, as some underwriters won’t even consider three wheeled vehicles. Much of that is out of your control, but other things depend largely on the manufacturer. One thing Tesla has struggled with in the past was COST and TIME TO REPAIR following a collision. I’ve seen the renderings of the modular body, but this could be good or bad depending upon replacement module availability, and cost, particularly if the impact damages more than one module. What about the cost to replace damaged solar panels? Front wheel assemblies on Apterea are particularly vulnerable in a collision. Since that would mean likely replacing the wheel, hub motor, brake, linkages and fairings, will that total the vehicle? – Insurance always seems to be difficult. But we had a partnership with Progressive in the past and will seek to partner with some preferred providers that know our vehicles well. Our advanced safety focus will hopefully help us in that pursuit. The repair cost will vary depending on what is damages. But we are building the Aptera in a very modular fashion so in the event of an accident you can order an easily replaced module instead of trying to rebuild things. We will also open up service and build docs so there is info for anyone in the world to do the work for us. This way people in remote locations can still enjoy Aptera knowing they can get parts shipped in 24hrs if needed. The solar panel are all separate and easily replaceable. 10. Along those lines, will the WINDOWS and WINDSHIELD be made of automotive tempered glass (glass is heavy, and as a motorcycle you may not be bound by the same windshield standards)? What will be the estimated cost to replace a windshield after rock damage? I know this is extreme, but the large Tesla Model X windshield costs nearly four times the average sedan or SUV windshield. – The glass will be standard automotive and cost roughly the same to replace as other auto glass. Though we’d prefer repair in most cases to save the production material and energy cost. 11. Almost a side note, (as you have no control over this) I noticed that there are currently NO FEDERAL TAX INCENTIVES for three wheeled vehicles. Two-wheel and four or more wheels, but nothing for three wheeled vehicles, according to IRS Tax Form 8936. This is not helpful for sales, and many backward-thinking states like my own, do not offer any incentives at all. In fact my state charges extra highway usage taxes to EV owners, since they don’t pay gasoline taxes. Care to comment on how you plan to market Aptera without federal incentives that other EV manufacturers often use in advertising (at least until they are used up)? – We’re working on a federal “Ultra Efficient Vehicle Tax Credit” program now. But things seem grid locked in congress for now. Hopefully soon after election we’ll see some movement. 12. As a fairly competent shadetree mechanic, I love your ‘RIGHT to REPAIR’ concept, as I would definitely like to continue doing things like brake jobs, etc. on my Aptera. Have you given any thought as to how you would advise such owners (I think you mentioned providing repair manuals, but what about a tech hotline, or Zoom classes?) and/or would you produce specialty tools needed for repairs? What type of lift or jack would be required to raise the wheels off the shop floor? – There will be lift points at each wheel and four under the belly pan(once removed) and you can use regular floor jacks for any regular service needed. Though we expect regular service intervals to be counted in years and not months. Wow, that was a lot. I’m really a huge fan of what you guys are doing. Aptera definitely has awesome potential. I truly believe answering the tough questions is the path to making a better product. Thanks again for your tireless efforts in making this a reality! – It was ;) But we are grateful for your support and interesting questions! Thanks!

Thanks, Terry! We're excited about our collaboration with Munro to help us scale up quickly and get Aptera on the road in 2021.

Sachita, in the case of any public listing your SAFEs would convert into those publicly traded shares. Thanks for the support!

Gunter, in this campaign you would invest in a Simple Agreement for Future Equity at $1 per share. That converts into equity in the future at either a 40m pre-money valuation or lower in the future. Basically, you take the value of what you invest and divide it by our valuation in the future, which is set to a max of $40m right now, and that is the percentage of the company, in shares, that you will receive. Click on the "Learn more about SAFEs" link on the right-hand side of this page to learn more. Thanks for the question!

Andris, thank you for the support! This crowdfunding platform offers a very compelling proposition to investors. You can invest in and question the early plans of great innovations. This simply was not available 5 years ago. Imagine being able to invest in Tesla in its second year and talk to Elon about his ambitions to electrify the world. I think a lot of people would have supported his early efforts and today would be HUGE Tesla fans because of it. We hope to do the same and not only give people the opportunity to grow their investment portfolio with us but also to change the world for the better with us! On your questions: I'll answer below - APTERA GENERATIONS - A SUGGESTION You have indicated in the past confusion sometimes occurs about which generation of Aptera one is talking about. I would suggest, hereinafter, referring to the older model as the Apterix, an extinct flightless bird which is only found in the fossil record, and to the current model as the Aptera, very definitely not a fossil. - This is a great suggestion. But I'm sure people will only focus on our current vehicles once we have them rolling. The past vehicles are great but very different. That will be obvious once people can experience the Aptera of today ;) COLORS Virtually all videos and renderings of the Aptera that I have seen show them in white. I, and many others, live in the Inland North West which has a lot of snow and ice in the colder months. If I were driving in a white Aptera on a curve in the winter and ran out of light, ideas, and traction all at the same time, they wouldn’t find me till the spring thaw. - HA! That is a good observation. And in the early days of Aptera we wanted to keep it white to be immediately recognizable and to make manufacturing easier. Today we are using a lighter weight and easier to apply Vinyl coating to "color" the Aptera. Soooo, you can get whatever color you'd like and change it every couple of years if you wish, though that standard wrap will last 7+ years depending on exposure and care. Question 1: What, if any, other colors are likely to be offered and if so would they be considered as a standard item or an extra cost option? - We haven't fully worked this out but are likely to launch with 5 colors and give people the option for custom colors for $1k-ish. RANGE vs. PRICE CHART In your Range vs. Price chart you show the Aptera as having a 1,000 mile range and a cost of $40,000 compared to several other EVs with no mention of those Aptera numbers being estimates. Question 2: Is that pair of Aptera numbers guaranteed? - That may not be an initial option. As we sort out our supply chain we will refine our options and pricing and announce them this summer. ENERGY PER MILE VARIATION In various places on your web site you show the Aptera having a more or less constant 100 Watt-Hour/Mile rating - which is really, really great compared to other EVs. However, many people, especially pilots, know real performance of all vehicles varies considerably with density altitude and speed. Question 3: Could you please post two different charts each showing, at gross vehicle weight, the Aptera’s Energy/Mile vs. Road Speed in MPH, parametric in Density Altitude in two thousand feet increments from Sea Level to, oh let’s say, 10,000 feet? Note that Leadville, Colorado, is at that altitude and one can both drive to and fly to Leadville. - This would be a Steve question as he is the MATLAB modeling guy. But I can say that our current analysis is at sea level with a 2,200lbs vehicle. The altitude implications would be interesting and I can't remember ever seeing a specific number around our efficiency at altitude. We might need to look at setting some range records in the high desert ;) We folk in the Inland North West, of necessity, do a lot of high altitude driving compared to you low altitude San Diego folk. The first chart would be Engineering’s best current calculated estimate and the second chart, made and released after actual road testing, would be what customers really want and need to make accurate energy calculations and would also be a check to Marketing’s propensity for over exuberance. Please, these two charts are vitally important to customer trip planning and would serve as an evidence of Aptera’s engineering excellence. They also would really make Aptera stand out in the market for EVs. To my knowledge, not a single other EV maker in the world does this. BATTERY TOPOLOGY Question 4: Do you plan on using a battery made up of cylinder, prismatic, or pouch cells; how will they be heated and cooled; and how will excess heat be rejected? - We are still vetting cell suppliers but we are leaning towards cylindrical cells. Question 5: What is the expected kW and amp rating of the onboard J-1772 powered AC-to-DC converter? - This is another area we are still working our but a 3kW home connection can get you 400 miles of charge overnight so most will not need any more than that. But 6 or 7kW will probably be an option for us. Question 6: What is the battery’s nominal DC Voltage? - I can say sub 450v, but this is still a bit fluid as we finalize our systems. Question 7: What is the expected max power a DCFC could charge your expected 400 mile, 40 kWHr, battery? - 80kW is probably where this number will be. But it is the battery cell that dictates this max. INDEPENDENT STANDBY BATTERY HEATING Many communities in rural areas, especially in high altitude areas of the Inland North West, cannot afford full time, around-the-clock, on-the-job doctors, police, firemen, and other professionals so they have to resort to On-Call professionals who may be at home but must be on site a specified number of minutes after receiving an emergency call. However, many of these areas could also have batteries cold soaked to -30 C to -40 C in the winter rendering an EV undriveable. Question 8: Will a grid connected Aptera have a battery heater that could be programed, for an indefinite duration, to heat and maintain only the battery at an appropriate fully drivable temperature, perhaps +5 C? - You would only need to do this for maybe 10mins before you start driving. These batteries(all we are considering) can get very cold, you just shouldn't operate them in that cold condition for long. And once you start using them, they heat up fast. Heating the seats, cabin, and steering wheel could all come later. What is vitally needed is immediate full drivability around-the-clock in an emergency. The cost of battery heating electricity is irrelevant when On-Call. DELIVERY SEQUENCE & COST OF DELIVERY In the past the company first accepted orders only from Californians. Question 9: Will that continue this go around or will deliveries be accepted from all over the country for delivery in sequence of orders received but after investor’s being given priority? - We haven't fully set this in stone, but we intend to take orders from everywhere in the world and let people chose if they want early delivery even if service is not set up in their area. Question 10: How will the Aptera be delivered and will delivery cost be included in the selling price? - We hope to deliver every vehicle with a trained person to show you around the vehicle and train you on its operation. That cost will be included in the sales price. Question 11: Can a customer get a discount if he takes delivery at the San Diego factory? YES! And we'd LOVE for everyone to come to see the factory and meet the people building their Aptera! This will also give you a chance to get accustomed to your new Aptera as you drive it home. This will also be a great way for early adopters to get us feedback quickly from a road trip right off the bat. MARKETING Note the attached screenshot of a recent Plugshare map of high power DCFCs in part of the Inland North West. Note that there is not a single DCFC in all of Wyoming, all of North Dakota, all of South Dakota, the northern half of Nebraska, and the eastern two thirds of Montana. This is a HUGE contiguous geographical area. However, although the population density is low, there would be a very high demand for a very long range EV like the Aptera just to get to the next DCFC while on an away from home trip. Question 12: Is Marketing aware of this potentially large market? - We are, and we'd love to see more fast chargers out there. But one of the GREAT attributes of the Aptera is that it uses such little energy it can charge pretty quickly at even level 2 charging. Most cordially, Andris Vaskis P.S.: Please give my special greetings and thanks to Eng. Uldis Stīpnieks, who, judging from his name like my own name, has a Latvian heritage. There are very few of us around. - I WILL P.P.S.: I have a financial interest in Aptera - Thank you for the support! Every investment is a vote for the kind of vehicle efficiency we are trying to bring to the world!

Yes, the calculus is a bit tricky but it works out to $.44 for the first WeFunder round and $.80 for the second round. Thanks for the support!

Lester, I'll answer bellow: 1.) Which iteration of the vehicle do you think may end up on the Jay Leno show? Beta, Charlie, Delta? How many wayfinding vehicles do you think there will be between now and then? I think the Delta version will be driveable by press later this year. -- I imagine we will build a dozen + vehicles to get there. 2.) Could you please elaborate on how 3D printing will be utilized in the manufacturing/tool making process? -- 3D Printing helps us prototype different elements for fit and function quickly. We also aspire to 3D print some plugs for composite mold making which will speed parts to production and allow us to make changes quickly and cheaply. 3.) Could you share to what degree Sandy Munro is involved in advising your team? Is he involved mainly to help with manufacturing or with design as well? Any specific examples of things that Sandy has contributed to the design that will be in the production versions? -- Sandy is an investor and he and his company will help us get things in shape for production. They will help us analyzing parts for their manufacturability and assembly efficiency, and by helping us design our assembly lines and our factory for optimal output. 4.) What are the disaster scenarios that could completely derail the company if they occurred? -- GLOBAL THERMAL NUCLEAR ANIALATION! And other supply chain disruptions that could delay things. Covid has not been helpful but we've been working well through it. We'd love to see some tariffs lifted to smooth worldwide supply chains, too. 5.) What are you looking for in Brand Ambassadors? Do you feel YouTubers are a good fit? -- Anyone with a passion for Aptera and our goals to make the world a more efficient place is probably a good fit. 6.) If someone were to invest $100 into Aptera right now, will their $100 investment appreciate before the IPO/SPAC occurs, or will it just be converted directly into $100 worth of stock? -- I can't comment specifically on our possible stock appreciation but we are working to continually build shareholder value. Though, you can look at numerous companies who have had a growth path through to SPAC or IPO with explosive stock value appreciation. We feel our company has a compelling business model and interesting advantages over any other transportation player. We hope that this translates to impressive returns for our investors. Thanks for your support and good luck with your YouTube efforts!

Eric, all the answers should be date stamped in the upper right corner of each question and answer ;) But I'll bring up with WeFunder about adding in a year. Thanks.

Jordan, I'll answer your questions in order: 1)Will the Aptera have active thermal management of the battery pack? - Yes, our battery modules will have active cooling. 2)Also, what are you thinking of using a spare tire with a special jack in case of a flat tire or fix a flat? - The Aptera will come with a fill kit for tire emergencies but likely no jack or spare tire as they simply weight too much to lug around regularly. 3)Will the car have a proximity key and/ or a Bluetooth connection via smartphone to unlock the doors? - We have not made a final selection on this but the Aptera will have proximity detection. 4)Will the car need a push-button start once inside the car or automatically when the brake is applied? - The Aptera will automatically be "on" when you enter the vehicle. But you will need to depress the brake pedal to switch into any gear. -- Thanks for the questions!