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Aptera Closes Its Doors

Viknesh Vijayenthiran

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Vik is an Editor at High Gear Media and contributor for a number of sites within the High Gear Media network. He was a co-founder of... More

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Aptera 2e

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Californian green car startup Aptera promised a lot over the years but delivered nothing more than a handful of prototypes and a lot of broken dreams.

Late last week the company announced that it was closing its doors for good, citing a lack of resources as the reason behind its decision.

Aptera was hoping for a Department of Energy loan valued at some $150 million under the Advanced Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program, similar to what rival green car startups Tesla and Fisker Automotive received, though all it got was a Conditional Commitment Letter.

The plan was to use the funding to help launch a mid-sized sedan that would cost roughly $30,000 and return a fuel economy of up to 190 mile per gallon equivalent (mpge). The company was also planning to launch a production version of its uniquely styled 2e, which would have been available with several different powertrain options ranging from all-electric to purely gasoline.

Aptera also claimed to have developed a patent-pending composite manufacturing system that enables energy efficient vehicle production by drastically reducing vehicle weight (by as much as 30 percent) while tripling its strength, and there’s a chance this technology could be transferred on to other firms.

For a more detailed look at the end of Aptera, head over to our sister site Green Car Reports for its extensive report.