Aptera Motors - the Californian automaker which has been telling us for five years that it would revolutionize the world of electric vehicles - might be refunding each and every person who had put down a reservation for its 2e electric car, but it is not dead, Aptera CEO Paul Wilbur has said.
It’s just moving. Once it’s actually found somewhere to move to, that is.
In a short and strangely amnesic email which doesn’t even mention refunds, banks or waiting lists, Aptera details its continuing search to find a state which understands how tough it is to make an electric car.
A state which is kinder to it than mean ol’ California.
From a list of 49 other states to explore, Aptera now has four left: Michigan, Indiana, Ohio and Wisconsin.
“There’s still a lot of work to be done, but we’ve made tremendous strides towards narrowing our field of options,” CEO Paul Wilbur acknowledged in the email. “The next step is to finalize negotiations on specific facilities and partner with local officials who share our vision of a more sustainable future for transportation.”
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Sadly for Aptera, its fans are less than convinced.
“They can’t even make a single finished product and they have moved 3 times..,”joked one Aptera Forum member in response to the newsletter, while another wrote “How can I trust that this time they’ll actually do something. What was stopping them before?”
From the time its founders left the company went on extended leave in 2009 through to its less-than successful participation in the Progressive Insurance Automotive X-Prize, Aptera has continued to promise its fans the moon on a stick, but deliver little more than a prototype or two.
Without a reservation list and a place to make its futuristic ride, Aptera’s credibility has sunk to an all-time low.
Aptera may still have a pulse, but we think the prognosis isn't good.
[Aptera]
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