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The Aptera Saga Continues, Inside Source Reveals New Info Page 2

 
1,843 views Nov 23, 2009

Aptera 2e development prototype at company offices in Vista, California

Now the remaining question is, what will become of Aptera?  The company is losing reservations for the 2e at an alarming rate.  They are withdrawing reservations faster than the company is getting new ones.  The DOE loans could be up to a year away, if they even receive them.  Design changes, lack of funding, and enraged employees as well as a shrunken staff could hamper the company in countless ways.

The future looks dim for Aptera right now.  As Karen Pease said, "The deeper you dig into what has transpired at Aptera in the past year while the company put on its best happy face, the uglier it gets. Over the coming months, even worse details will continue to leak out. Will the world ever see an Aptera vehicle hit the streets? The future looks increasingly hazy."

Source:  Gas 2.0






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Comments (15)

  1. fb_100000477069969 avatar Hugo Becker Posted: 11/23/2009 4:49am PST

    Eric, good info - I wasn't aware that Wilbur had been at Saleen but that explains a couple of things if this turns out to be on the money. Pretty sad.
     
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  2. By Jason M. Hendler Posted: 11/23/2009 6:02am PST

    Eric, I am surprised that you would feed the hysteria surrounding Aptera. We've all seen this type of thing before at Tesla Motors, and Elon Musk has been vindicated, so why repeat second hand libelous statements from disgruntled employees?
     
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  3. By KarenRei Posted: 11/23/2009 8:58am PST

    Jason: The SEC documents are linked in the original article and are plain for everyone to see. Being charged by the SEC is radioactive to investors; she's wearing a scarlet letter. Likewise, Paul's history is also a matter of public record. The only parts that are not a matter of public record are what went on inside the company after he took over.
     
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  4. By Eric Loveday Posted: 11/23/2009 9:09am PST

    To Jason, If Karen Pease is accurate in her reporting from inside sources, then Aptera fed the general public a misleading press release about their two co-founders. Working in a deceitful manner is illegitimate and they need to be called out for it. My previous report went off of the Aptera release, which means they may have also deceived me and our readers. If Pease's sources are true,and there's no reason to believe they aren't, the public needs to know about the situation. Aptera has more to gain by lying than Pease does. I guess we will still have to wait and see what the truth is, but I'm assuming that Pease will be proven correct.
     
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  5. By Jason M. Hendler Posted: 11/23/2009 5:38pm PST

    Eric, Aptera and all their execs can speak for themselves. If the outgoing execs don't refute the press release, then it is no one else's business what the remaining BOD and executives choose to do.
    Regardless of what there is to gain, the BOD and remaining execs certainly have more to risk than any disgruntled employee. The motives of a disgruntled employee are numerous, so there is no need to speculate, just accept that they exist.
    Yes, the CFO has a blemished record, but that isn't EVIDENCE of current wrongdoing, so until there is, you are just repeating libelous statements from an individual who admits not being in the room. We've been through this with Tesla Motors and they are doing very well now.
     
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  6. By omnimoeish Posted: 11/23/2009 7:17pm PST

    I don't think this company ever really had a chance once Nissan decided to build EVs in the hundreds of thousands a year range. Good luck Aptera.
     
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  7. By creativforce Posted: 11/24/2009 7:46am PST

    Obviously there is more money to be made by sabotaging this company than by growing it. Who would be paying to sabotage a car that gets over 200 mpg and has been a darling of everyone who has seen it?
     
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  8. By ApteraDepositor Posted: 11/24/2009 9:12am PST

    Karen Pease is writing a speculative opinion piece and holding it out as fact. 'Facts' based upon 'inside' information from unidentified informants is ridiculous on the face. She posted the same article on Daily Kos as she did on Gas2.org. It is character assassination, pure and simple. 'True Facts' from public records tell you nothing at all about what is going on within Aptera. Her piece is laughable - and belongs on Kos.
     
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  9. By formersaleenemp Posted: 11/25/2009 2:29am PST

    As a former Saleen employee I can say that I am not surprised at all. This sounds eeriely similar to what just occured at Saleen a year ago. I feel bad for the Aptera employees having to go through this.
     
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  10. By Jason M. Hendler Posted: 11/25/2009 7:22am PST

    formerrsaleenemp, so Saleen ran out of financing and cut staff hoping to raise more financing through private / public sources? Wow, who's ever heard of that in the high tech industry?
     
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  11. By Noel Park Posted: 11/25/2009 12:23pm PST

    #6 omnimoeish:
    Alas, I have to agree with you there. Plus, the handwriting was on the wall when they brought in the guy from Saleen, IMHO. The track record of Saleen is an ongoing joke in the car enthusiast community.
    Not to belabor the point by repeating my comment from other threads today, but Happy Thanksgiving to all!!! I wonder what will have happened one year from today?
     
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  12. By Jason M. Hendler Posted: 11/25/2009 3:20pm PST

    Omni / Noel,
    I believe the Aptera will be cheaper in both up front costs and operating costs, when compared to the Nissan LEAF. If they had shipped on time, the first to market advantage would have given Aptera a great lead.
     
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  13. By Noel Park Posted: 11/25/2009 3:49pm PST

    #13 Jason:
    Don't get me wrong, I love the look of the Aptera. It would turn heads on the freeway like nothing else in the world.
    I'm just afraid that it is too far ahead of its time for most consumers. I think that the larger market is going to feel a lot more comfortable with the stability of a large, established corporation like Nissan, and a more conventional car. Are there enough front line early adopters to make Aptera a viable business proposition? I dunno. My real concern is that the current "management" will run the thing into the ground before it ever gets to the market.
     
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  14. By Jason M. Hendler Posted: 11/25/2009 8:17pm PST

    Noel, run it into the ground? Based on what? An employee who was not in the room and is making up stories to fill in the gaps? This is no different from Tesla Motors or most other startups. As for their viability, Nissan will have to get much more efficient to compete with Aptera.
     
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  15. By formersaleenemployee Posted: 12/8/2009 6:14pm PST

    Handler: I was agreeing with the comments about Wilbur struting around like a peacock, and the excessive spending.
     
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