Aptera Motors

Aptera USA (2012)

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.

Aptera Motors Corp. (2019)

The company was relaunched in 2019 as Aptera Motors Corp. by the original Aptera founders, Chris Anthony and Steve Fambro. The company planned on using a crowdfunding campaign to restart development of the vehicle. On December 8, 2020, the company presented a driveable prototype and started accepting reservations. By December 14 the company had over 3000 refundable preorders for $100 each.

Multiple solar panel, motor, and battery configurations were planned, with estimated ranges from 250 to 1,000 miles (400 to 1,610 km), and initial estimated prices from $25,900 to over $47,000. The 400-mile (640 km) model, initially priced at $29,800, was priced by Aptera in 2025 at $40,000 for the front-wheel drive option which the company planned as of 2023 to be the only available model on release.

Aptera planned delivering production units of the Aptera vehicle in 2021, and projected sales of the first 314 vehicles at a loss with a cost of goods of about $6 million and operating expenses of about $15 million. Aptera projected sales of 4,287 vehicles at a profit of $38 million the following year, with a cost of goods of about $92 million and about $16 million in operating expenses. By October 2021 Aptera had raised $28 million. By February 2022, most planned deliveries were pushed from 2022 to 2023 and 2024.

Aptera released its 2021 annual report in May 2022, stating they had 103 employees and over 18,000 reservations for their solar electric vehicle. By mid 2022, the company raised a total of $40 million, planning to get to production by the end of the year. They acquired three buildings in Carlsbad, California, with a combined space of over 100,000 sq ft (9,300 m2). In November 2022 Aptera announced they have redesigned the structural components of the vehicle, and it requires more funding before they can get to production.

In January 2023 the company announced a fund drive to raise $50 million, saying they needed at least that amount to start production. The company announced in February that the funds would allow for the "initial phases of production", and the following month said it requires additional funds to produce and deliver vehicles to customers. Aptera Motors' stated in their 2022 annual report released in May 2023 that the company then had 55 full-time employees. They reported $39.9 million in total assets and an operating loss of $61.5 million.

Zaptera, which purchased the intellectual property of Aptera Motors Inc. in 2012, sued Aptera Motors Corp. in 2024 over various alleged intellectual property infringements. Some of the allegations relating to trade secrets were dismissed with prejudice in 2025. The lawsuit was mutually dismissed with prejudice in April 2026 as Aptera agreed to issue Zaptera 105,000 shares and 210,000 share warrants.

Aptera stated in June 2024 that they have finalized the design of the vehicle in late 2023. Aptera announced in July 2024 that they have replaced the hub motor design of the drivetrain with a Vitesco Technologies axle drive motor design. The company demonstrated its production-intent PI2 model in October 2024. Electric vehicle startup Telo Trucks partnered with Aptera in January 2025 to offer solar panels as an option for its compact MT1 pickup truck.

Aptera announced in April 2025 the company raised a total of $130 million through crowdfunding and $10 million from other investors, and the company requires an additional $60 million before it can start low-volume production, with deliveries planned for late 2025. The company planned as of April 2025 for initial sales in 2026 and full-scale production in 2028. The company announced in October 2025 it had secured a $75 million equity line of credit and had transitioned to a Public Benefit Corporation trading on Nasdaq under the symbol SEV.

Aptera stated in its March 2026 financial filings that it has raised a further $17M, and plans starting low-scale production no earlier than March 2027 pending raising a further $50 million. A company representative mentioned in June 2026 the company is targeting vehicle deliveries to customers by the end of 2026.

Aptera solar electric vehicle

Aptera Motors Corp. announced four planned generations of prototypes for its Aptera solar vehicle, with the third stage of prototypes nearing the final production design, and the fourth representing a prototype that's identical to production vehicles.

The 2019 planned production Aptera vehicles are two-seat, three-wheeled passenger battery electric vehicle (BEVs). The company planned 4 models with different battery sizes and predicted EPA test-cycle ranging from 250 miles (400 km) up to 1,000 miles (1,600 km). The initial "Launch Edition" model is planned to have a 42 kWh (usable) battery pack and a predicted range of 400 miles (640 km). This would make it the most efficient motor vehicle designed for mass production, with the longest battery range announced at that time. Embedded solar panels were designed to add up to an estimated 40 miles (65 km) per day from sunlight under optimal conditions.

The 2019 design included two or three 50 KW wheel hub motors. Aptera announced in June 2022 a detailed plan to scale in-wheel motor production in Slovenia by Elaphe. Due to issues with getting the Aptera in-wheel motor design to production, the in-wheel motors were replaced in 2024 with the existing production front wheel drive electric motor.

Another prototype of the Aptera vehicle was shown in January 2025 at the Consumer Electronics Show. The prototype shown at CES 2025 was "nearly" ready for production. The carbon-fiber and fiberglass panels of the vehicle were made with production tooling, however the diecast metal suspension arms and the injection-molded interior components were not.