The 190 MPG Aptera Electric Car That Never Was
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Aspiring electric car company Aptera Motors has announced that it is going out of business.
In a letter to supporters, Aptera CEO Paul Wilbur said that the company had obtained conditional approval for a $150 million loan from the Department of Energy, but was unable to raise the matching private investment required to tap into the loan. As a result, it had run out of resources and was forced to shut down.
For several years Aptera had been working to produce an ultra-aerodynamic three-wheel electric car called the 2e, which had a certified energy efficiency rating equivalent to a 206 mpg gasoline-powered car.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}But that’s not the car it was planning to build with the loan.
In October, Aptera replaced its website with a teaser page announcing that “2.0 is coming…” than included an image of what looked like a four-wheel car in a wind tunnel hidden under a cloak.
Read: Electric Car Company Aptera Preparing for a Reboot?
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In today’s letter, Wilbur confirmed that the company had switched its focus, at the behest of investors, to the development of a five-passenger, four-door sedan similar in size to a Toyota Camry. Using the same innovative, lightweight composite construction as the 2e, Wilbur said this new car was expected to deliver 190 mpge and be sold for less than $30,000.
FoxNews.com has obtained a rendering of that car, which depicts a streamlined sedan with covered wheels and a tapering rear end, along with a second shot of Aptera chief engineer Tom Reichenbach laying next to a full-size mockup of the vehicle.
Aptera now says that it was in talks to build the vehicle at a former General Motors facility in Moraine, Ohio, that used to produce SUVs, and would’ve created 1,400 jobs at the plant.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Wilbur’s letter ends on an optimistic note, saying that he believes the technology developed by his team has contributed to a more efficient future and remains out there for someone else to grab, adding that “we still believe it will happen.”