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Aptera is doing well in the race to become the winner of the XPIRZE
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Written on: 27 July 2010 [22:23]
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ecoadmin
Administrator
Topic creator
registered since: 20.07.2007
Posts: 585
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Aptera Motors has come a step closer to its goal to enter the final stage of the XPRIZE. Well done! While the team members are celebrating one milestone after the other, I just wonder why it took so long to bring this vehicle to production. I have to admit that I am not an Aptera insider but I do follow the development relatively closely. Is money the main delay driver, or are legal issues to be blamed? While everyone is focused on who will win the XPRIZE trophy, far more important is whether the winner will be able launch production. Is Aptera in that position? Twike 890
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Written on: 27 July 2010 [23:24]
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iamian
 
registered since: 23.02.2009
Posts: 110
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From what I can tell Aptera has been delayed due to management change of direction. Initially they were going to be building and putting out just over 100 cars a year... low volume production... everything was sourced ... suppliers contracts were worked out ... factory equipment was bought, installed, setup ... and the first vehicle got produced and started getting tested... Than management made a massive change ... and decided to upscale everything ... and builds thousands a year ... so they needed to find a new facility ... get new equipment ... redo supplier contracts ... etc... essentially all the time and money spent on the first low volume start up was 90% wasted. During this time management / marketing had the car's design tweaked ... lots of little things here and there... which costs further delays and additional money in redesigning things over and over again. Than Aptera wanted the X-Prize feather ... so they seem to have intentionally slowed themselves down in order to do X-Prize first ... I assume they intend to use it in their marketing. I like the original design concept ... and over all the Aptera is still better than most ... but to go from an impressive 386 kg Mk0 initial design ... to the current not so impressive 820 kg design ... It is not allot lighter than allot of 2 seat cars on the road ... My 2000 Model Year Honda Insight with Aluminum instead of Carbon Fiber is ~838 kg ... they are now only ~18 kg lighter... for being made of carbon fiber 10+ years later ... that really is not impressive to me ... a little more weight from concept to production I expected ... but not 117% increase. The Aerodynamics of the Aptera are still very good ... the current model I read was like a Cd of 0.15 ... but the original concept was 0.11 ... so while it is still good ... They went in the wrong direction in my book... and with a back yard mechanic modifying his civic to get it down to a Cd of ~0.17 ... I expected better from Aptera. I look forward to it eventually actually getting delivered to some customers to drive around for a year or two and get from real world feed back. RE & Efficiency enthusiast
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Written on: 29 July 2010 [21:01]
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ecoadmin
Administrator
Topic creator
registered since: 20.07.2007
Posts: 585
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I see. Hmm, not sure if this is the right approach. I do not see a problem by starting the project in a small scale..And if the demand increases it would still be possible to ramp up the production. After the Twike was launched and few hundred vehicle were sold, a company also wanted to go big. They failed. The Twike was then rescued by another comapy which is still producing it today...in a small scale. I think such exotic cars or vehicles are not a mass product. It's not the time for it yet. People want 4 wheels. People don't want to attract attention, at least not with an exotic looking electric car. Boring if you ask me (...I drive a TWIKE) but reality! I was so surprised to hear that the Aptera weighs now more than 800kg! That's a lot for such a vehicle, but I guess its what you say, the little accessories add up. Well, I wish them success anyway, the world of electric cars is small and congrats to everyone who is able to make a business out of it  Cheers Twike 890
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Written on: 30 July 2010 [00:24]
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iamian
registered since: 23.02.2009
Posts: 110
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I 100% agree and wish them the best of luck ... It is still a very aerodynamic vehicle , and it is not significantly heavier than other 2 person vehicles... of course it being EV is a +1 in my book as well. I also 100% agree that I think they would have been better off to have stayed on the original focus , original already paid for and setup small scale factory ... I agree it is a niche vehicle and production volume should be realistic ... I doubt they would sell thousands a year no matter what the specs are ... If they had stayed focused on smaller scale production , we would be seeing real world customer feedback from several months if not a years worth of ownership at this point. But I do understand that there are economies of scale , and the higher your production volume is the cheaper it is per vehicle to produce ... so you can lower the cost you sell them for and still make the same money ... at a lower price you will have greater market penetration and are more likely to sell more units , etc... so I get the idea. I just think it is un-necessarily risky to bet it all on the current level of production volume they are aiming at ... they have set their needed sales level so high ... I just think it is too risky. We will see soon enough ... in less than ~5 years judgment will be passed on Aptera on way or the other ... all there money is put down on this one bet ... if it fails they're done ... if it pays off they will be a huge success story. RE & Efficiency enthusiast
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