Aptera’s Solar EV Is Finally Ready For Production. Watch The Livestream Here

• Aptera finally has a production-ready version of its solar EV.
• The car, which will be almost identical to the final product, will be revealed next week.
• Initial production is scheduled to start later this year.

Aptera has long promised a solar-powered electric vehicle capable of driving the daily commute without ever having to plug in to recharge. That promise is now closer than ever, as the California startup is ready to unveil the production-intent version of the three-wheeled EV.

The event will be livestreamed on the company’s YouTube channel (video embedded below) on June 27 at 3:00 PM Pacific Time (7:00 PM Eastern Time). It’s exciting news, and it means the startup is closer than ever to finally starting customer deliveries later this year.

The two-seater EV was initially supposed to go into production in 2021, with Aptera projecting sales of over 10,000 units by 2023. That never happened, though. The timeline was adjusted multiple times, primarily due to a lack of money, and the original design was also slightly tweaked.

The slippery EV should have been delivered with in-wheel motors from Elaphe, but that idea was dropped in favor of a more conventional in-board motor supplied by Vitesco. The EMR3 drive unit combines a permanent-magnet synchronous motor, an inverter, and a reducer in one unit. In theory, this won’t affect Aptera’s range claims, seeing how the Launch edition of the solar EV is still advertised on the company’s website as offering 400 miles on a full charge.

The California startup says this latest production-intent prototype will feature every system a future owner would expect, from climate control and infotainment to the vision system and full solar integration. The first fully complete solar electric validation vehicle comes after another production-intent prototype that was revealed at the beginning of the year. That one was nearly ready for production, with the carbon-fiber and fiberglass panels of the vehicle being made with production tooling. The die-cast metal suspension arms and the injection-molded interior components, however, were not production-spec.

“This is the moment we’ve been building toward,” said Chris Anthony, Co-CEO of Aptera. “This vehicle is built to the design we plan to produce at scale and deliver to our eager reservation holders.” 

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Source: Aptera

All Aptera solar EVs will come with LG batteries that can be recharged via a Tesla-designed NACS port and the solar array on the body. The launch edition, which is priced at $40,000, comes with a solar array that covers the entire upper part of the EV, providing up to 40 miles of range per day in ideal conditions, according to the company. More versions are on the way, with even more range, are planned, but we don’t know when those will go on sale.

“With few exceptions, virtually every circuit, every bit of software and firmware is designed entirely in-house,” said Steve Fambro, Co-CEO of Aptera. “From the vehicle computers and battery management system to the solar panels and charge controller, it’s all part of Aptera’s own tightly integrated hardware and software stack. Every element works in concert to achieve unparalleled energy efficiency. It’s a system that’s not only robust and elegant, but purpose-built to support our radically efficient architecture.” 

After the production-intent validation vehicle is revealed, it will embark on a cross-country road trip later this summer. After the trip, the company promised it would reveal the real-world efficiency of its solar EV.

Pre-orders are open on the company’s website, where wannabe customers can place a $100 deposit to reserve a launch edition solar EV. That said, if patience isn’t your thing, Aptera has a fast-track system in place that enables customers to take priority delivery if they invest $5,000 or more. These orders will be delivered after the first 2,000 EVs get to customers who invested from the very beginning.

There’s also a discount program–invest between $1,000 and $10,000, and you’ll get a vehicle discount coupon equal to the investment.