Automotive establish company Aptera Motors, supporter of the weirdly styled, three-wheeled 2e electric car shut down on Friday, saying it was out of money.
The company said it was unable to raise funds from personal investors that would have kept it going until it received a $150 million loan from the Department of Energy's Advance Technology Vehicle Manufacturing curriculum.
This is a difficult time for everyone associated with our company because we have never been closer to realizing our vision, CEO Paul Wilbur said in an announcement.
In August, Aptera returned cash deposits it had taken from potential buyers of the 2e. At that time it said the refunds were compulsory because a six-month window with its credit card processor to launch construction had passed.
Aptera garnered attention by entering the 2e in the 2008 Automotive X Prize contest. At that time, the company claimed the 2e would get the comparable of 300 mpg and cost less than $30,000.
Wilbur said Aptera has spent the last year emergent a hybrid-powered sedan, about the same size as a Toyota Camry, which would return the comparable of 190 mpg and have a base price less than $30,000. Aptera had been negotiating to use a blocked auto plant in Moraine, Ohio, to build the car.
Aptera has also been distillation technology that let it produce body panels from compound materials with a Class A surface finish that would not need to be painted--which would severely cut labor and manufacture costs.
We remain confident, even as this chapter closes, that Aptera has contributed new technologies to build an opportunity for more efficient driving. Through the enthusiastic staff at Aptera, our board and suppliers we have touched this outlook. All that remainder is for an important person to grab it.
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