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Aptera Motors
Aptera Motors Corp. is an American solar electric vehicle manufacturer based in Carlsbad, California which intends to manufacture an electric two-seat three-wheeler. Founded as Aptera Motors Inc. in 2006, the company was liquidated in 2011 with no vehicles mass-produced. A second company named Aptera USA owned by Zhejiang Jonway Group was launched in 2012 but appeared to cease operations by 2014 and produced no vehicles by 2019. A third company, Aptera Motors Corp, was relaunched by the original founders in 2019. The company started being publicly traded on the NASDAQ in 2025.
The 2019 company had planned to start deliveries of its vehicles since 2021. It had raised $140 million from 2019 to April 2025 and another $17M by March 2026. Aptera ended 2025 with $10M in cash, an annual net loss of $44M, and as of March 2026 it plans starting low-scale production no earlier than March 2027 pending raising a further $50 million.
Aptera was founded as Accelerated Composites in 2006 by Steve Fambro, who formerly worked at Illumina. Fambro hired Chris Anthony as COO shortly after founding the company. The company name was later changed to Aptera Motors, referencing the Greek word "aptera" (άπτερα) which the company interprets as "wingless flight." In 2006, the company announced it had a three-wheeled car design, classified as a motorcycle, that would get an estimated 330 miles per US gallon (0.71 L/100 km) at 65 mph (105 km/h). Aptera Motors hired several industry veterans in 2008 to oversee engineering and production as well as marketing. The company raised $24 million from Google and Idealab, and announced plans to bring its car to market by the end of 2008.
Near the end of 2008, the company hired Paul Wilbur as CEO and announced that the launch of the vehicle, called "typ-1" or "2e", would be delayed until 2009. The company's new leadership purported potential customers regarded the existing design as impractical, indicating fixed door windows as example; implementing roll-down windows would require redesigning the car's structural shell. Approximately 4,000 people signed up as potential customers for a planned California-only launch. Aptera founders Fambro and Anthony contributed less to the operations of the company, though they remained on the board of directors. Fambro was assigned to Aptera's advanced concepts group, while Anthony spent less time at Aptera, acting as CEO for another company developing battery management systems.
Aptera applied for a loan from the Department of Energy under the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program. The application was rejected in December 2008, because three-wheelers such as the one made by Aptera were not defined as "cars" which were required to be four-wheeled. Aptera successfully lobbied to change the regulations, and reapplied for a $184 million loan in January 2010. The department's sales projections for the Aptera 2e showed it would not enable Aptera to repay its loan. Aptera shifted all its development efforts in January 2011 to a mid-sized four-wheeled four-door sedan, dubbed the 4e. Aptera Motors started to return deposits from customers on August 12, 2011. At the time, the company reported 60,000 people had expressed interest in buying the 2e vehicle, and 2,000 of them had paid a $500 deposit.
The Department of Energy issued a conditional commitment letter for $150 million of loans for Aptera, pending the company raising of $80 million privately. When the DoE declined a loan application for a similarly plastic-bodied car by a different company in November 2011, Aptera investors refused to grant it further funds. In December 2011, the company announced that it could not raise the funds required to continue operating. The company was sold and liquidated in December 2011, after starting to return customer deposits in August. By December the majority of the deposits had been returned according to Aptera, though some depositors reported difficulty contacting Aptera or its liquidators.
In April 2012, the Chinese automaker Zhejiang Jonway Group purchased the intellectual property of Aptera Motors from creditors, and in May, it announced that it would start manufacturing the 2e at its factory in Shanghai and intended to ship chassis to a small assembly plant, initially employing 15-20 people, that it would set up in Santa Rosa, with sales commencing in early 2013. Jonway was a major investor in Zap Jonway, which had been working on electric cars in Santa Rosa since the mid-1990s. The company planned to name the US company "Zaptera USA" and it displayed a prototype 2e next to a Zap Jonway car at the Beijing Motor Show. However, the close association with Zap was met with protest by electric-car enthusiasts and by May, the company said it would call the company Aptera USA and keep it independent of Zap Jonway. The company stated it would manufacture 5000 vehicles by the end of 2012.
In June 2013, Zaptera USA said it would split into two companies: the existing Jonway-owned Zaptera USA, and an independent Aptera USA; Zaptera would make the all-electric 2e and Aptera would make a gasoline-powered version called the 2g. The companies as of June 2013 were still planning on releasing vehicles in early 2014, but provided no further updates by May 2014 and did not manufacture any vehicles by 2019.
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Aptera Motors
Aptera Motors Corp. is an American solar electric vehicle manufacturer based in Carlsbad, California which intends to manufacture an electric two-seat three-wheeler. Founded as Aptera Motors Inc. in 2006, the company was liquidated in 2011 with no vehicles mass-produced. A second company named Aptera USA owned by Zhejiang Jonway Group was launched in 2012 but appeared to cease operations by 2014 and produced no vehicles by 2019. A third company, Aptera Motors Corp, was relaunched by the original founders in 2019. The company started being publicly traded on the NASDAQ in 2025.
The 2019 company had planned to start deliveries of its vehicles since 2021. It had raised $140 million from 2019 to April 2025 and another $17M by March 2026. Aptera ended 2025 with $10M in cash, an annual net loss of $44M, and as of March 2026 it plans starting low-scale production no earlier than March 2027 pending raising a further $50 million.
Aptera was founded as Accelerated Composites in 2006 by Steve Fambro, who formerly worked at Illumina. Fambro hired Chris Anthony as COO shortly after founding the company. The company name was later changed to Aptera Motors, referencing the Greek word "aptera" (άπτερα) which the company interprets as "wingless flight." In 2006, the company announced it had a three-wheeled car design, classified as a motorcycle, that would get an estimated 330 miles per US gallon (0.71 L/100 km) at 65 mph (105 km/h). Aptera Motors hired several industry veterans in 2008 to oversee engineering and production as well as marketing. The company raised $24 million from Google and Idealab, and announced plans to bring its car to market by the end of 2008.
Near the end of 2008, the company hired Paul Wilbur as CEO and announced that the launch of the vehicle, called "typ-1" or "2e", would be delayed until 2009. The company's new leadership purported potential customers regarded the existing design as impractical, indicating fixed door windows as example; implementing roll-down windows would require redesigning the car's structural shell. Approximately 4,000 people signed up as potential customers for a planned California-only launch. Aptera founders Fambro and Anthony contributed less to the operations of the company, though they remained on the board of directors. Fambro was assigned to Aptera's advanced concepts group, while Anthony spent less time at Aptera, acting as CEO for another company developing battery management systems.
Aptera applied for a loan from the Department of Energy under the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program. The application was rejected in December 2008, because three-wheelers such as the one made by Aptera were not defined as "cars" which were required to be four-wheeled. Aptera successfully lobbied to change the regulations, and reapplied for a $184 million loan in January 2010. The department's sales projections for the Aptera 2e showed it would not enable Aptera to repay its loan. Aptera shifted all its development efforts in January 2011 to a mid-sized four-wheeled four-door sedan, dubbed the 4e. Aptera Motors started to return deposits from customers on August 12, 2011. At the time, the company reported 60,000 people had expressed interest in buying the 2e vehicle, and 2,000 of them had paid a $500 deposit.
The Department of Energy issued a conditional commitment letter for $150 million of loans for Aptera, pending the company raising of $80 million privately. When the DoE declined a loan application for a similarly plastic-bodied car by a different company in November 2011, Aptera investors refused to grant it further funds. In December 2011, the company announced that it could not raise the funds required to continue operating. The company was sold and liquidated in December 2011, after starting to return customer deposits in August. By December the majority of the deposits had been returned according to Aptera, though some depositors reported difficulty contacting Aptera or its liquidators.
In April 2012, the Chinese automaker Zhejiang Jonway Group purchased the intellectual property of Aptera Motors from creditors, and in May, it announced that it would start manufacturing the 2e at its factory in Shanghai and intended to ship chassis to a small assembly plant, initially employing 15-20 people, that it would set up in Santa Rosa, with sales commencing in early 2013. Jonway was a major investor in Zap Jonway, which had been working on electric cars in Santa Rosa since the mid-1990s. The company planned to name the US company "Zaptera USA" and it displayed a prototype 2e next to a Zap Jonway car at the Beijing Motor Show. However, the close association with Zap was met with protest by electric-car enthusiasts and by May, the company said it would call the company Aptera USA and keep it independent of Zap Jonway. The company stated it would manufacture 5000 vehicles by the end of 2012.
In June 2013, Zaptera USA said it would split into two companies: the existing Jonway-owned Zaptera USA, and an independent Aptera USA; Zaptera would make the all-electric 2e and Aptera would make a gasoline-powered version called the 2g. The companies as of June 2013 were still planning on releasing vehicles in early 2014, but provided no further updates by May 2014 and did not manufacture any vehicles by 2019.