Solar EV Maker Aptera Targets End of 2024 For First Customer Deliveries - New Funding Helps

Torque News has been eagerly awaiting the release of Aptera Motor’s first production solar-electric automobile. In fact, a contributor to Torque News, Dean McMannis, was one of the first to place a reservation some time ago. This week, the company announced some new funding and the news that the end of 2024 is the target for first deliveries.

We’ve been covering Aptera for many years now, hoping to see a production vehicle. This week, Torque News communicated directly with a representative for Aptera, who says that the company is planning to deliver its first vehicle to a private owner this year and scale up production during 2025. 

The company has recently secured $33 million to fund the initial phases of production for the first-of-its-kind solar electric vehicle. The source of the funds was the Accelerator Program, a community-led effort that allowed anyone to garner one of Aptera’s first 2,000 vehicle reservation slots by investing $10,000 or more into the company's crowdfunding campaign.

Aptera says that the program, which was launched in January 2023, continued to raise significant funds throughout the year and gained momentum since the new year, raising over $2 million in the last few days. Each Accelerator slot was ranked by investment amount, with the first spot garnering close to $4 million in total.

Aptera says that the new money will fund its initial phases of production, marking a pivotal moment for the company. Funds raised through this program have and will continue to contribute to the procurement of low-volume tooling and the buildout of the company’s first production vehicles. Aptera has set up a leaderboard so that fans can track the funding leaders online.

Aptera’s electric vehicle is expected to be a two-seat sporty battery-powered car that can be primarily self-charged using its built-in solar panels. Ranges have not yet been announced, but are expected to be around 300 on top trims.

Watch Torque News for more Aptera updates as they develop. 
 

Image of solar electric vehicle courtesy of Aptera.

John Goreham is an experienced New England Motor Press Association member and expert vehicle tester. John completed an engineering program with a focus on electric vehicles, followed by two decades of work in high-tech, biopharma, and the automotive supply chain before becoming a news contributor. In addition to his eleven years of work at Torque News, John has published thousands of articles and reviews at American news outlets. He is known for offering unfiltered opinions on vehicle topics. You can follow John on Twitter, and connect with him at Linkedin.