Remember when I posted the bit about Aptera getting approval to apply for a U.S. Department of Energy loan for advanced transportation technologies? Just today they mentioned it to their fans via a newsletter. (Either I was ahead of the game, they were behind, or both.)

Also in this newsletter was an exciting update on what the company could do with such a loan if it were granted to them. I’ll paste it below for your reading pleasure:
Aptera applied for a DOE loan in December, 2008 and was rejected in 3 days. The program was only open to 4 wheelers and we have 3 wheels.

Now, we have to re-file the application, this time, in full business plan detail. The loan program details are quite specific about what the loan money can be used for and when the loan will be paid back.

The process is a lot like a “government grant” program in its technical detail, but more like a commercial loan from the monetary side.

Okay Aptera…So now that you are eligible for the loan, what will you do if you get it?

1.)    For starters, we are going to go faster. Let’s be honest, Aptera is a start-up and doesn’t have the resources most other automotive companies have. To date, we have had a strategy of slow, organic growth. It is not that we didn’t want to go faster; we just didn’t have the balance sheet to pull it off. With the support of a DOE loan, we could take a more broad view of the market and institute a strategy that allows us to scale much faster than our previous plans. We will still start in the California market, but the movement to subsequent markets could come more rapidly than our prior plans…with more volume, more technical support staff, more sales and service support. The result is touching more of America, faster.

2.)    The other key acceleration would come in the form of the 2 series ‘big brother’. We have maintained from the beginning that the 2 series line of vehicles was only our entree into the market and a larger, more family-oriented sedan would soon follow. The potential of a DOE loan makes that vehicle become a reality much more quickly. That single action would take Aptera from a small iconic brand in the marketplace to a contender for as much as 1% of the overall market. In case you were wondering, that is the 100,000 units you have heard us speak of reaching in ~5 years.

3.)    Lastly, we would do our part to put more of our American neighbors back to work. Our plan is that Aptera will occupy at least 2 production facilities. These facilities will provide gainful employment for as many as 3,000 American workers. That is to say nothing for all of the suppliers and service providers that will be positively impacted. Construction, logistics, parts suppliers, sales people, and service professionals would all rise in the marketplace in support of the distribution of the world’s most efficient vehicles.

The bottom line is that Aptera is out to change the world and the Advanced Technology Vehicle program could help us accomplish just that…only FASTER!!! We have to show our worth, but we have confidence in the vision that is Aptera

- Paul Wilbur, President and CEO, Aptera

Today we met with Tim Miller of Green Lite Motors. As CEO and President Tim leads  a team planning on bringing to market a three wheeled, gas-electric hybrid vehicle with a freeway range of 250 miles at 100 MPG.

Tim comes to the project with a background that includes Intel, CitySearch.com and a long history of interest in automobiles. In addition to designing mechanical auto parts in his youth, he wrote is college thesis on the automotive industry.

The team of seven, which includes a mechanical engineer, industrial designer, mechanical designer, software and electronics, battery systems, and marketing and sales, came together in early 2006. They are currently working with a third generation prototype.

Green Lite Motors recently received some welcome attention by being selected finalists in the Clean Tech Open. In addition to receiving six months of mentoring, a cash prize and in-kind consultation the company was exposed to a high level of investors. They are currently raising $500,000 in seed capital. If that comes through in the next few months, followed by two larger rounds, the company hopes to be in the market selling vehicles in 2011. There have two models planned, a $19,900 regular hybrid and a $24,900 plug in hybrid.

The company expects to test market in the Portland area and quickly spread throughout the West Coast. They plan on partnering with existing auto dealerships for stand alone, urban centered showrooms. Production will be in Portland and will basically be an assembly operation while components are outsourced.

Green Lite expects to roll their vehicle out on the West Coast targeting the large urban markets. The target buyer described by Tim would be a Bay Area single commuter who spends 45 minutes a day in traffic and who doesn’t benefit from the HOV lanes. The three wheeled Green Lite vehicle is rated as a motorcycle and will be eligible to drive in HOV lanes.

Tim doesn’t see the lower priced Arcimoto (which we wrote about here) as competition. With a smaller range between charges the fully electric Arcimoto is a more around town, short commute vehicle. He is more concerned with competition from two Southern California companies, Aptera and Persu, each creating a three wheeled, hybrid electric vehicle. The Aptera is very aerodynamically designed and is priced at between $25,000 and $40,000 depending on the model. They are currently taking $500 reservations with delivery scheduled for late 2009 and 2010 (per their website). The Persu has not published a price or delivery date. Both companies plan an initial launch limited to California residents.

The Green Lite, the Aptera and Persu all drive like a cross between a car and a motorcycle.  They lean into curves creating a sporty experience. The lean is controlled by the driver in the Green Lite and Aptera while the Persu uses hydraulics to force the lean.

The race is on to create and then grab a new niche in commuter vehicles. Green Lite Motors is banking on being efficient, fun, attractive and sporty. They definitely have a number more hurtles to cross, but with continued hard work and some luck we hope to see them on the streets on Portland in 2011.

A Aptera Motors adiou mais uma vez o lançamento do pequeno 2e. O modelo de três rodas deveria ter sido lançado em 2008, mas foi atrasado para 2009 e, agora, só para o ano que vem. A data pode ser novamente atrasada, pelo que se especula, frustando os mais de quatro mil compradores do veículo – que já pagaram e ainda não receberam.

Em nota oficial, a fabricante californiana informou que não conseguiu os recursos necessários para continuar desenvolvendo o veículo no ritmo previsto. Assim, a empresa também poderá acabar por despedir alguns funcionários, para manter sua programação.

O 2e é um veículo movido a eletricidade e com espaço para duas pessoas. Ele tem baixos peso (680 kg) e coeficiente aerodinâmico (0,15 Cx). Além disso, vai de 0 a 100 km/h em menos de dez segundos e pode rodar até 190 km sem emitir poluentes.

GALERIA

“Aptera’s production and delivery will be tied directly to funding,” said Aptera Motors CEO Paul Wilbur in a release from the ultra high-efficiency vehicle startup late yesterday. That very mild assessment belies the reality that Aptera is peering across the Valley of Death, where many ventures die for lack of funding at the critical commercial development phase. According to the release, dwindling cash reserves are forcing the company to delay production of its inaugural vehicle, the three-wheeled electric 2e, until 2010 rather than the end of this year as previously announced.

Hitting the new 2010 target (or any future production goal for that matter), will require Aptera to bring in fresh capital, and it’s banking on either a federal loan or private investment to come through. At this point, the company is shifting its focus away from development, which “has been outpacing the rate of fundraising.” The company has laid off an undisclosed number of employees, co-founder Steve Fambro is taking an extended vacation (he’ll return in the new year), and Chris Anthony, the other co-founder, is “stepping aside from day-to-day activities” — all in an effort, Aptera says, to slow the burn rate and free up resources for top priorities: raising cash and starting volume production of the 2e.

After all, nearly 4,000 customers are waiting. That’s how many deposits (fully refundable) Aptera says it has received for the 2e. And then there are the heavyweight investors — including Google.org, Idealab, The Beall Family Trust and others — who Aptera says it hopes to provide with “strong returns.”

This week’s sober announcement from Aptera is in some ways reminiscent of the straits startup Tesla Motors found itself in late last year, when plans to set up manufacturing for the delayed Model S sedan were put on hold pending approval of a loan guarantee or low-interest loans from the Department of Energy. Tesla CEO Elon Musk described the loan guarantee back then as a “when, not an if,” adding, “We’ll do what we need to get approval.”

Tesla ended up winning $465 million in DOE loans this summer (though according to a report this week from former Tesla marketing chief Darryl Siry, the company hasn’t “seen a dime” of the award yet). If private investors fail to come through for Aptera this time — it has already raised more than $24 million — the company hopes to secure a loan under the same program that has approved loans for not only Tesla, but also another startup, Fisker Automotive.

Aptera’s odds in the program are better now than ever before, given that federal rules were recently revised (after a significant lobbying effort by Aptera’s backers) to allow high-efficiency, three-wheeled vehicles like the 2e to at least qualify for funds. But Aptera is smart to rein in spending, because having an open door at the DOE and a team of deep pocketed investors in your corner won’t necessarily deliver you across the Valley of Death.

The co-founders of Aptera Motors, Steve Fambro and Chris Anthony, did not leave the three-wheeled electric car startup by choice, according to a report this morning over at Wired’s Autopia. Rather, unnamed sources tell the blog that Fambro and Anthony were pushed out in “a boardroom confrontation between the original founders and the auto industry veterans” brought onto the Aptera executive team last year.

Darryl Siry, former marketing chief for electric car startup Tesla Motors, writes that “the first sign of a rift” at the company may have been the design shift Aptera announced shortly after hiring Paul Wilbur as president and CEO in September 2008: Instead of bringing the futuristic-looking 2e (then called the Typ-1) to market by the end of that year, as previously planned, the startup said it would revise the design — and delay production as a result — in the interest of “satisfying the needs of real-world consumers,” according to a company statement at the time.

Among cleantech startups, of course, and certainly among electric car developers, delays are not unusual. And satisfying consumer needs might seem like a rational business choice. But according to Siry, sources at Aptera say the decision, to outfit the car with windows that roll down, instead of the earlier fixed-window design, “compromised the structural rigidity of the car’s composite shell,” and required a slew of other changes to maintain side-impact safety.

Siry sees these changes as an illustration of the contrast between Silicon Valley’s iterative approach to software development — launch quickly, solicit user feedback and then refine the product or service accordingly (repeat) — and Detroit’s more risk-averse approach, ensuring a car is market-ready before launching into production. “A small dose of this perspective may prove valuable for EV startups,” according to Siry, “but too much can be problematic.”

Did Aptera take too big a dose? Autopia’s sources seem to think so, drawing a connection between the design changes, and increased capital requirements, continued delays, recent layoffs — and the sidelining of Fambro and Anthony (although Siry notes insiders at a startup can often recall things differently). According to this telling of events, however, Fambro (still listed as chief technology officer on Aptera’s site) and Anthony (a multi-tasking entrepreneur who’s still listed as chief of Composite Operations for Aptera and also heads up startups Epic Boats and Flux Power) had developed a plan for “reversing the new engineering direction and delivering cars to customers ASAP.”

The board of directors ultimately rejected that road map (which also “may have included returning executive control to the founders”) in favor of the new CEO Wilbur’s strategy.

How many potential buyers of the swoopy 2e would have been scared off by fixed windows and other elements in the original design? Hard to say. At this point, we can’t know what consequences would have followed the launch of a 2e a year ago with the original design — whether the company would have proceeded on schedule and found enough customers, revenue and valuable data for a second-gen model to make it worth the risk, or found itself in a big hole to dig itself out of. A bad design move can be a lot more devastating in the auto world: Siry recalls Tesla co-founder Martin Eberhard commenting, “it isn’t so easy to recover from a car crash” as from buggy software.

The competitive landscape for green cars has shifted considerably in the year or so since Aptera shifted gears, with the Department of Energy awarding hundreds of millions of dollars in grants, low-interest loans and loan guarantees for companies including Tesla Motors and Fisker Automotive to accelerate plug-in vehicle commercialization plans. Aptera marketing chief Marques McCammon tells Siry that Aptera now finds itself “at a strategic disadvantage to some of the other companies in this space that have received funds, like Tesla.” But a door to government funds has just opened for for high-efficiency three-wheeled vehicles like the 2e. (Until last month, only four-wheeled vehicles could qualify for funding under the program that has awarded loans to Tesla and Fisker.) In the long run, Aptera’s decision to pull back the reins and edge slightly closer to the mainstream may aid the startup in its quest for DOE dollars and compete in a market being shaped in part by government funds. For now, we’ll have to wait and see what happens when the 2e finally rolls out.

perfect for multiple kids or sayings you want to run together (ex: KICK / ASS  or PEACE / LOVE)

One thing is sure: The hybrid, tandem-seat 3-wheeler in the works at Oregon-based startup Green Lite Motors is no Prius. Less certain is whether there’s a market for the 4-feet-by-8-feet vehicle, which features “smart standup” technology that Green Lite President and CEO Tim Miller says will let the vehicle lean smoothly into turns and automatically right itself when it comes to a stop. But Green Lite just snagged one of the coveted regional finalist slots for the national Clean Tech Open business plan competition, and Miller sees a window of opportunity for this kind of vehicle.

The vehicle, now in third-generation prototype and able to get up to 100MPG, according to Miller, is the inaugural model from Green Lite. The design remains several steps away from commercial production, and faces high hurdles to win over consumers accustomed to having either four or two wheels on their rides.

A handful of large automakers have also experimented with long, lean (and leaning) vehicles — most recently Nissan (s NSANY), with its Land Glider concept at the Tokyo Motor Show. Miller described that concept as “validation that people are willing to explore these different forms for efficiency.”

Comparisons to Aptera, which is also developing highly efficient 3-wheelers (the electric 2e and hybrid 2h, both said to get the equivalent of 300MPG), are tempting. But Miller emphasized Green Lite is developing a different beast, notably because of the footprint of the two vehicles. Despite its unusual body shape, the 2e has a footprint closer in size to a typical hybrid sedan, said Miller. In fact, Aptera promotes its design as being “just like a linebacker poised for the blitz,” with a wide, agile and stable three-point stance. Green Lite’s model, on the other hand, can have a smaller footprint with the tandem seating because of the lean/standup technology, which Miller said provides “a dynamic riding experience for stability.”

Designs and features aside, the difference between the two startups when it comes to crossing the Valley of Death (where many ventures die for lack of funding at a key development phase), commercializing these vehicles and building sustainable businesses around them may be funding. Aptera is well-funded by high-profile and deep-pocketed backers, including Google.org, Idealab and David Gelbaum’s Quercus Trust, which have helped convince legislators on Capitol Hill to rewrite the rules on what qualifies as an “auto” for federal funding.

Both Aptera and Green Lite could benefit from that change, which allows “a fully closed compartment vehicle designed to carry at least two adult passengers” and get at least 75MPG (or equivalent, for plug-in models) — rather than just 4-wheeled autos — to qualify for loans under the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing program. “It’s a welcome change,” said Miller. “It applies mainly once we’re in manufacturing, but that will help our investors down the road.”

Green Lite is now trying to raise $500,000, and the startup remains at least two funding rounds away from commercialization, said Miller. It’s hoping to find angel investors to help it “further evolve” the hybrid drive system, and refine the smart standup tech and body design. That’s not easy in this economic environment. “A lot of the angels who would be looking at this have been slower,” said Miller, as a result of the downturn.

But the Clean Tech Open recognition has given the company “a new level of visibility.” If Green Light can raise money in the near term, Miller said, Green Lite will be showing off a product late next year, and delivering the models in the first half of 2011.

The game plan, said Miller, is to assemble the models in Oregon using many components from local suppliers, and some from overseas. Green Lite is in talks with startup ventures “in the controller area” and for battery systems, said Miller, but it’s more likely to integrate motors, batteries and other components from established, proven suppliers initially. “We don’t want to take a whole lot of risk on other people’s technology,” he said, “when we’re just coming off the blocks.”

Wired has reported that the Department of Energy has re-classified the company’s car as, in fact, a car, allowing the company to apply for special government loans. (Whereas before, the three-wheeled vehicle was classified as a motorcycle.) This could mean great things for Aptera, whose story I’ve followed for several years now.

(Two posts back there’s a picture of the car if you’re curious. Here’s their corporate website.)

I’ve followed Aptera because, by Wired’s admission, its cars will soon be the most energy-efficient in the world’s history. In fact, they may actually be more energy-efficient than passenger train travel.

Give this project 10 years and full support from the Obama administration, and it’ll revolutionize the transportation industry. How? Since you plug these things in overnight, you primarily use electricity as your fuel. And mile-for-mile, electricity is often about one-tenth the price of gasoline fuel.

Which means, for all intents and purposes, if you buy their model you never pay for fuel again. (If I were them I’d advertise this point.)

The 2009 Cadillac CTS-V on display at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit in 2008. (Flickr creative commons photo from joeross)

I sent out a Facebook update a few days ago about a cool marketing concept: Bob Lutz, a famous General Motors executive, challenged his competitors to a race.

“May the best car win,” the GM ads now proclaim, a genius marketing strategy for the situation if I ever saw one. Lutz’ race was the logical extension of it.

The premise was that Lutz would drive the Cadillac CTS-V, claiming there’s no other production, stock, sedan in the world that can win against the model.

(For those of you who don’t know, “production” means you can buy it and drive it on the road, “stock” means it’s not modified after you buy it, and “sedan” means 4-door.)

The race featured engineers, journalists, “normal” people and Lutz. Looks like Mercedes-Benz opted out of the race, but BMW, Audi and Jag sent their emissaries. And got slaughtered.

I’m happy to see GM doing so well with its new advertising campaign and money-back guarantee. They’re making great cars nowadays, even if they are among the most socially- and environmentally-irresponsible car companies. I probably wouldn’t buy from them because of that, but I love the CTS-V’s design, and I can’t help but feel some odd nationalistic pride for one of America’s car companies.

If only they’d buy Aptera and adapt other parts of their company to follow its standards of operation.

The Aptera Typ-1e. (Flickr Creative Commons photo from Ho0n)

(P.S. — Happy birthday to my little sister Christin, who turns 22 Sunday!)

I am not a car guy. I never have been. So I have come to the conclusion that there is something in the male DNA that attracts them to certain things. The human mind is indeed a weird thing. I have several things that absolutely makes me lust like a wild animal. Nerdy or geeky woman aside, it’s usually some sort of gadget, phone, tech, game, firearm, etc. The only other car I have ever lusted for is an Aptera. But let’s be honest here, that’s more because it’s a geek’s toy than an unaffordable automobile that is environmentally friendly. I would do anything or anyone to have an Aptera. Anything or anyone.

Much to my surprise one day, I finally came to admit that I have a crush on a regular car. Specifically a 1970 Dodge Barracuda Gran Coupe. It is a thing of beauty, far more than I care to admit, though the Aptera will always have a place in my heart and driveway. Here she is in all her glory.

Can you blame a guy for lusting over an inanimate object? I surmise that no, you can’t.

When we bought the car, all paperwork, including Michigan title shows the car as 1971. We towed the car from the previous owner to a mechanic who helped us out and an undercover cop shows up. He runs the VIN numbers, looks at our papers and calls Michigan Department of Law Enforcement. The car was stolen and recovered to the owner over 10 years ago but someone f*cked up the paperwork. Apparently this is a 1970 Cuda, not a ‘71. So now we are waiting for the new paperwork to come in to get issued a correct VIN to replace our apparently fake/wrong one. They checked the secret serial number/vin/whatever under the radiator and engine and matched it up with the originals in Michigan database. We can’t tag or insure it till it all gets sorted out.

Moving on, we replaced the battery, fuel pump, hoses, seals, gaskets, and carb. The carb is all new shiny and chrome. While working on the car one of the tires just exploded. Apparently these are the original factory tires from 1970. Four new tires later, and we turned her on. Absolutely gorgeous sound. Not loud enough to be obnoxious but a low toned rumble. She’s insanely fast too! I honestly don’t know which would win in a drag race. The 1970 Cuda or my dad’s 2006 Charger SRT8. Off the line, it lifts into the air as if this was a Vin Diesel movie. If I ever decide to take it to the track at Moroso or Homestead speedway, I’ll have to get some of those support wheels to prevent the car from flying up. We ordered a whole new air conditioner kit for the car. $800 to replace all the AC stuff that is missing.

Don’t worry. Soon enough you will tire of me talking about the ‘Cuda.

Flux Power, a startup led by the co-founder of vehicle manufacturer Aptera, is targeting the LSV and golf car markets with their lithium based power systems.  Flux Power’s products manage, monitor and charge lithium batteries.  Flux Power products are designed to work with batteries from a variety of manufacturers to create modular battery units.  A vehicle manufacturer or other customers could then combine units to create custom battery packs.  Smart charging technology can be integrated as well. By increasing the efficiency of lithium battery packs and thereby lowering costs, the company hopes to penetrate markets currently dominated by lead-acid batteries.  Products are expected to be available in November, 2009.  Learn more:  Earth2tech.com

A lot of people don’t know that the first cars were electric. I won’t spend too much time on where they went but you can see a time line of electric cars here.

I wonder how long the charade will last. The technology has been around since the 1800s yet we have all been told by the invisible man than electric cars are impractical.

The first really viable cars in 100 years were released in the 1990s then quickly pulled off the streets and crushed. We were told that we did not want them becuase of of 40 mile range limitation. Ok, fine. That’s only good enough for 90% of the population. How long will it be until electric cars are cheaper than gas, go farther than gas, and do it faster than Gas?

The time is coming, if not here already. The 1990’s brought the Lithium Ion batteries which, for a short time resurrected the electric car. It was, however, only good enough for about 40 miles. Now we have Lithium Polymer Batteries.  They hold about 10 times the charge as Lithium ion, which means the same weight of batteries will now take you 400 miles. Surely that will do? So the batteries are hear but we don’t want to get our hands dirty and build a car ourselves, we have TV to watch.

So who will make us an electric car? GM doesn’t get to be in the list since they will probably crush them all again. How about these guys, Tesla Motors (expensive but totally sweet), Aptera (why do they have to look like bugs), ZAP ( again with the crazy looks). Or maybe we should look at the 30 companies on this list.

I’ll pay for it, give me an electric car!

Hello people! Unfortunately this is going to be a sad post. As of today it is officially the end of the Forever Driven Blog. I had an amazing time sharing news, pictures, videos and information with all of you. I have always wanted to report on all the hottest cars out there for a living. I mean how much better could life get? Driving around in a new out of reach car every week, taking it to its limits, then sharing it all with you! Yeah that sounds like something I could get used to. So in the interest of getting closer to that dream, foreverdriven.wordpress.com is officially over. Today is the end of something but the start of something new! That’s right as of today you will be able to go to FOREVERDRIVEN.COM! You didn’t really think I’d bring something this fun to an end did you? As you’ll read on the Forever Driven site, I will be bringing the same thing you’re used to here with a few additions. My goal with foreverdriven.com is to make it grow as much as it can and reach as many people as possible so we can all have a big community to share all our thoughts of this world we all can get away from. I bet I know what all of you are asking yourselves right now. So what are these extra additions? What are we going to see next? Well I guess you’ve got just one more thing to do.

Welcome to Forever Driven

Any company hoping to launch a plug-in vehicle for mass market consumers has to be focused to some extent on battery cost — it’s the priciest part of the vehicle, making many models either prohibitively expensive for an average consumer at this point, or forcing the company to consider selling it without a profit for at least the first few generations.

But executives from three electric vehicle startups readying electric models — Coda Automotive, Tesla Motors and Aptera — have different ideas about how involved an electric vehicle maker really needs to be in order to lower battery costs for a viable mass market vehicle. Kevin Czinger, CEO of Coda Automotive, which is working on an electric sedan with several China-based partners, JB Straubel, chief technology officer for Tesla, and Paul Wilbur, CEO of Aptera, which is working on a futuristic-looking three-wheeled vehicle, weighed in on the question late Tuesday at the AlwaysOn GoingGreen conference.

Kevin Czinger, Coda Automotive: The growth of a viable electric vehicle industry will require an automotive-grade battery system designed “from the ground up,” said Czinger. “And then you need to be able to manufacture it at scale at the right price point from the very beginning,” Czinger said. That’s why Coda has “designed total battery system design from the cell up,” hoping to be “close to competitive at Day 1 with internal combustion vehicles.”

Paul Wilbur, Aptera: “We don’t want to be in the battery business,” said Wilbur. The battery technologies that are here today don’t offer a realistic long term solution for affordable electric vehicles, he said, “so we’ve decided to focus on the physics of the automobile. If you don’t focus on aerodynamics and you don’t focus on weight, then quite frankly you’re missing a big part of the pie.” Ideally, said Czinger, Aptera wants to offer a “sub-30″ (less than $30,000) model. “That’s where the mass market will come into the game.”

JB Straubel, Tesla: Tesla focuses very heavily on powertrain technology, said Straubel, and tries to “optimize systems to work together,” rather than getting “directly involved in cell chemistry research.” The startup is, however, “working extremely closely with the largest battery vendors in the world,” Straubel said, to the point of conducting internal R&D on different suppliers’ battery cells to “determine which have the most cost efficiency.”

Cost-cutting measures will become increasingly important for Tesla with its upcoming Model S sedan and the lower-cost models it hopes to eventually produce, but Straubel said, “Cost competitiveness based on the value you’re giving your customer. With these technologies, it’s not just about the very lowest price point…I can recharge a 5 mile range car in 5 minutes and it wasn’t that useful.”

Electric car maker Aptera Motors has deep-pocketed friends — it’s raised more than $24 million from investors including Google.org, Idealab, The Beall Family Trust, The Simons Family, Esenjay Investments and David Gelbaum’s Quercus Trust. But Uncle Sam has so far declined to pony up the $75 million in loans Aptera requested for its futuristic electric three-wheeler because the feds define an automobile as “any 4-wheeled vehicle.”

Now the Wall Street Journal reports that major lobbying dollars are being spent as some of Aptera’s backers kick up dirt over the issue in Congress. The House gave the green light for a provision in a spending bill before the August break that would change the highly competitive $25 billion Department of Energy Loan program to “include any fully enclosed vehicle designed to carry two adults and that averages at least 75 miles a gallon,” and require the agency to reconsider applications (like Aptera’s) that were rejected on the basis of the four-wheel rule.

That would give Aptera’s 2e, which the company says gets 100 miles on an electric charge with extreme aerodynamics made possible by the three-wheel design, a chance for the funding under the program. Aptera CEO Paul Wilbur says the company doesn’t need federal aid to kickstart its already-delayed production later this year, but the loans would help accelerate its expansion.

It’s hard not to root for the startup’s outsider market position, but it strikes me as an unduly risky bet with public dollars to back this first-gen model, given that so many companies are seeking funds for green vehicles with a better shot at mass market adoption than the 2e. However, Aptera founder and former CEO Steve Fambro described a plan back in 2007 to use the three-wheeler to help establish the Aptera brand and generate revenues while it works on other “more mainstream” products. When it comes time to seek funds for that more mainstream effort, then more power to ‘em.

simple modern metal

designs brought to you by husband and wife team: tim + keva dine

together since 1998

by day they are:

senior fabrication engineer+weldor at aptera (tim)

creative industry recruiter at TKDAinc. (keva)

by night they are: metalDINE

The metalDINE story:

it all began with a birthday card…

made out of aluminum.

tim knew keva liked getting birthday cards, but being a metal guy and not a paper guy, he decided to work in his preferred medium: metal.

then tim and keva became parents. so, tim made keva a aluminum pendant with son #1’s name stamped into it. then came son #2 and another pendant. then a chunky circle necklace. then a ring, then his brothers wedding ring.

keva wore her pendants all the time. then her sister wanted one. soon her friends wanted one. so tim made a few more and on and on it went until one day, keva’s sister, aimee, started getting orders for more name pendants. lots of orders. so tim and keva decided to make it official.

thx for checking out the site and goodies. lates.

For this post, I would like to introduce you all to the very unique; Aptera. This alien looking vehicle is a new take on the energy efficient car. Now before I fill you in on the 3 wheel, 2 passenger hybrid, why don’t we look at the Aptera company. Discovered by Steven P. Fambro and Chris L. Anthony, the California based motor company has a focus on the creation of high efficiency vehicles. The word Aptera is actually Greek for wingless flight, quite appropriate I think.

So now with a hybrid like this, the first question that waits at the tip of your tongue would be how many miles per gallon do I get? Well I wouldn’t worry about that since you would be getting an astounding 300 miles per gallon! How did they get that many miles per gallon packed in there? Well pretty much everything about this car is designed specifically to help with the emissions and efficiency of the car. On the exterior, the Aptera concentrates on aerodynamics and weight. It is easy to see by the sheer look of this car that weight reduction was an obvious goal but it is also designed to provide minimal drag therefore improving your fuel economy by leaving the “motorcycle” with more energy. It even has gull wing doors!

Aptera goes so far to help lighten our footprint on earth and keep some extra sheckles in your pocket that it even has Eco-Chic seating. Eco-Chic? Oh yeah, that would be recycled material, colored with natural dyes. The Aptera has also got mother earth covered with its solar assisted climate control system. That’s right, solar panels on the roof help you stay comfortably heated or cooled without any harm to our beloved environment.

My Thoughts: I’m not exactly going to rush over and acquire this special looking car/motorcycle but I can still admire its brilliance. It really has all the areas covered from fuel consumption and environment friendliness to total protection of the driver. Performance isn’t exactly “hardcore” but it is not exactly what a car like this is about.

Thumbs up! The Aptera is creative, efficient and will guarantee many heads to turn in your direction.

A little more information on the hybrid on Popular Mechanics. Enjoy!

There is just so much about the Aptera that makes it the unique creation that it is. For more information on it, visit their site: APTERA. Even the web design is great as well as the way they display their information.

Let me start by saying I almost bought this car. I put down the deposit but because Aptera is a new company you need to wait for your vehicle. I couldn’t wait and had to give up my dream of owning one of these little white toy cars. The great news is they gave me a full refund! Now I get to watch as the company grows and as the cars get better with each new model. The first Aptera model has 3 wheels, rear vision system, solar assisted climate control system, eco-friendly seats and much much more. If you want a ride that screams I’m a Sci Fi tree hugger – this is it! They may look strange but I think it’s a great step in the right direction. Check it out!

Bootstrapped startup Lorax Motor Works has a love-hate relationship with India’s Tata Motors (s TTM). The team, based in Hood River, Ore., and working on a three-wheeled electric “human utility vehicle,” wants to follow Tata’s lead in supplying ultra-low-cost vehicles in developing countries. But as founders Adam Kravetz, Aaron Blake and Tris Tarantino told us in an interview in San Francisco this week, they don’t like the idea of millions of people who don’t currently own cars driving the Tata Nano, which still runs on gasoline.

Lorax’s Hauler combines bicycle pedal power with a battery pack that can be charged via a solar panel, or by plugging in at a standard outlet. Blake describes it as a “water buffalo replacement” for carrying up to 300 pounds of water, food, farming supplies or other cargo (groceries and a couple laptops for Lorax’s initial target market: eco-minded city dwellers). It’s about as fast as a trotting water buffalo — the electric motor can power it up to 20 MPH — and is priced on the high-end at $2,660 for the basic plug-in version, or $3,260 for the model that comes with the solar charging kit.

In that respect, Lorax and Tata aren’t exactly going head to head. The Nano, the so-called “people’s car,” is a four-seater that has a max speed of about 65 MPH and a price of about $2,000 in India.

That isn’t stopping the Lorax team from aiming for part of the Nano’s market. But the group, which met at Cornell and came to California this week to present at the university’s entrepreneur network’s Silicon Valley mini-conference on the future of automobiles, has a lot of work to do to achieve their goals. Or even quit their day jobs, which involve financial services, engineering and fire fighting.

To ramp up production, and potentially one day produce larger electric cars like the Aptera 2e, Lorax is trying to raise venture capital or funding from a philanthropic venture like Google.org. Kravetz tells us that Lorax hopes to use a first round of funding to help finance efforts to sign on U.S. bike shops as dealers, starting in California, with the goal of winning over green-minded consumers who could use the Hauler for urban commutes that require more carrying capacity than a bicycle offers.

But Lorax has designed the Hauler to offer benefits specifically for developing economies, too. The battery packs and electronics “pop off” the Hauler easily, so they can be used to store and provide energy for rural buildings. In Kathmandu, Nepal, the team is working on a small deal with an adventure tourism company drawn to the potential for green marketing, but also as a way to reduce vulnerability to events like the gas dealer strikes that halted Nepal’s fuel supply back in 2006, and again this summer.

Obviously Lorax is a very early stage venture and who knows how far they’ll get. The startup represents just one of a growing number of ventures hoping to carve out a piece of the market where Tata has been racing (despite delays) to grab an early lead. And with prices in the thousands of dollars, the Hauler is not geared for the mainstream, although Lorax hopes wealthier, zealous early adopters in the U.S. will help fund deployment in developing markets (in combination with grants from NGOs).

lf Lorax is able to find a demographic that wants a sturdy, several thousand-dollar electric hauler, larger vehicle manufacturers may be able to serve that market better — or at least faster, by driving down costs and using their global reach to expand more quickly. But according to Adam, it wouldn’t be a total loss, since “We’re trying to get a revolution started here.”

In the end, Lorax is putting a new spin on a strategy about as old as the automobile itself. By targeting “rural small farmers,” he said Lorax is taking a cue from Ford’s Model T, initially developed with that same group in mind. The Hauler “even looks kinda like it,” Blake said: “chunky, gnarly, overbuilt.”

Photos credit Lorax Motor Works

In some industries, bankruptcies, shutdowns and pullouts have become so commonplace that we’ve had to start deathwatch lists just to keep track (see: coal, ethanol). Not so in the electric scooter sector, which has only begun to rev up at the starting line. But this week, startup Vectrix, one of the earliest movers in a market that has begun to attract big-name players (Honda, Piaggio), appears headed for bankruptcy.

What happened? AutoblogGreen has posted a Vectrix press release (dated July 14) downloaded from the startup’s site before it shut down, and it paints the whole gloomy picture. Noting “challenging market conditions for some time as a result of the credit crunch and lack of consumer spending on bigger ticket retail purchases,” Vectrix says it has seen “very disappointing” sales and been unable to secure financing over the last several months.

According to the Providence Journal, which broke the story, Rhode Island-based Vectrix has sold only 2,000 of the $11,000, Poland-made Maxi scooters, although it had plans to market “two lower-end models costing as little as $5,100.” Vectrix, which the Journal says never turned a profit, had some 200 workers and 225 dealerships at its peak.

At this point, the startup has laid off most of its team (at least 20), as it pursues “strategic options including the sale of the Company.” If that doesn’t pan out within 30 days, Plan B is for Vectrix (“a victim,” as Edmunds Green Car Advisor puts it, “of the ‘good idea a little too soon’ syndrome”) to file for bankruptcy.

Vectrix, having ventured into the business of electric two-wheel scooters 13 years ago, will leave behind it (if it does go kaput) a much fatter field of electric vehicles designed as alternatives to the standard four-wheeled car than when it started — including VentureOne from Venture Vehicles, Aptera’s Typ-1, Brammo’s Enertia and Mission Motors’ planned Mission One. Here’s hoping we don’t have to start another deathwatch.

Photo credit Flickr user Sonietta46

I just finished reading an article in the New York Times about the new Ford Fusion Hybrid. I am not sure what aggravates me more: Ford, the company that invented the automobile over 100 years ago touting their new hybrid that gets 39 MPG over all, or the “legitimate press” perpetuating the idea that a car with a milage rating at that level is desirable. Think people! The automobile is over 100 years old! Why are we stuck in this black hole where innovation is concerned? The greed-heads in Detroit are the problem. Retooling costs money. If you retool it cuts into profit margins and we all know what that means… no new executive jet for the CEO this quarter. Yeah, I know Gulf Streams are not on the minds of the beleaguered auto executives right now, but that is the way it was for years and it is why we are in the mess we are in now. And the fact that our news papers are still spewing the party line only reminds me Nero fiddling while Rome burned.

100 years of improvements to styling shoe boxes doesn’t cut it anymore. And for everyone out there that thinks they will look silly driving a car like the Aptera because it doesn’t look like your idea of what a car should look like (shoe box) you are behind the curve and throwing fuel on the already burning Rome that Detroit has become.

I am starting this post with yet another apology. I am about to say some things that are my OPINION and not necessarily fact. So please do the research on your own and form your own opinions. Don’t let me pollute your thinking. First I would like to apologize to Robert Q. Riley for the things I am about to say about his car the XR3. I am going to be critical regarding a couple of features that I find troubling. I probably would have never mentioned the XR3 in this blog, except that I feel a need to comment on the less than complementary statements made about the Aptera in a recent post in Fast Company. That said, my comments about the XR3 later in this article are actually meant to be more about constructive criticism than they are to be about vengeance.  My statements about the XR3 will be about the things I would like to see changed in the vehicle. In my opinion, if they are made, I think the XR3 would be an even stronger contender to the Aptera.

I don’t like destructive criticism. I find little use for it. The article I read about the XR3, in Fast Company by Kit Eaton, needlessly dragged the Aptera into the article. It seemed more mean spirited than informative. Kit Eaton used the words, “geeky”, “awkward”, and “odd” to describe the Aptera. He has every right to do so. It is after all his opinion… I think. To me, it seems very strange that Eaton felt compelled to throw the Aptera into the article about the XR3. What purpose did it serve to draw comparisons between these two cars? It doesn’t seem to be needed at this time since neither are really on the market. Most people that stumbled upon his article probably never heard of the Aptera nor the XR3 before they read about them in Eaton’s piece. I wonder how many people were driven to the Aptera web site by his article and sold on the looks of the Aptera over the XR3? To that end, Eaton’s article was like an outline for a larger article. An article that should take place in a future time when both car companies are going head to head after both of them have sold a few hundred thousand and both have developed a fan base of drivers.

As for the XR3 it self, it has a fantastic rear end. The publicity shot of the car shows the rear of the car and not the front. That seemed strange to me at first until I found a front end shot. The front of the car has looks of a classic race car with the exception of the giant black nose on the hood. My honest first thought when I saw it was that it looked like a proboscis monkey. I am not being mean; that is really what I thought! If there must be a raised area on the top of the XR3 Mr. Riley, can’t it be more rounded like that of a classic Corvette?

The only other feature I found to be a problem for me was the way the car opened up for the driver and passenger to enter and exit the vehicle. For someone (me) who always loved science fiction, I love the look of this car… in the sun. I don’t think I would be so inclined to like it on a Midwestern day when the rain is pouring down, “in sheets” as they say. The design as I see it in the photo looks as though there is no rain protection for the interior when you pop the hatch. And, unless you have lived at least one season in a Midwestern winter, you may not realize that on days when the weather is right, snow may poor down and melt just enough on a car to leave a layer of ice that fills all of the jams. After you scrape the snow off you then have to deal with door jams that are frozen shut on both sides of the car. This design looks like it could be a potential nightmare in such weather. I find it annoying enough to have to beat the jam with my fist to get the door open. I think I could find a special level of anger at a hatch that covers a large portion of the surface of the vehicle being frozen shut. That said I think that the XR3 has a great amount of potential and I look forward to seeing the final product.

I was disappointed to find out that the average range per charge of the Aptera is 100 miles. The original design which was more complex allowed for a gasoline engine to keep the car on the road even after the battery ran down. I won’t complain about this until I see real world statistics, but I did like the idea of traveling across the country in an Aptera.

Somewhat related to the subject of the all electric Aptera, is the recent announcement that Toshiba has developed a battery that can recharge in about 90 seconds. If you follow the link you will see among other things that Toshiba is going to target the automotive industry to market it to developers of new hybrid and all electric cars. This battery (if placed into mass production) will be a game changer. To my knowledge, Aptera has not announced that they are even looking at these batteries. But what if they did? What if Steve Fambro discovered that he could easily implement them in his current design. Recharging the Aptera in 8 hours with today’s technology is an achievement in and of itself. But what if you could charge the Aptera in about 5 minutes? All the problems of long distance travel start to go away. Early adopters may find it difficult to find an open outlet on the road, but I can see a future where recharging stations will be as plentiful as today’s gas stations. And what about the solar panel on the roof? Could that recharge such a battery array in a way that would allow the car to go further than 100 miles? Could a cluster of battery arrays be arranged in a fashion where the car could run on one battery while the solar panel charged another battery array? If this could be done, it seems reasonable that an automatic switching system could automatically switch to a freshly charged battery when a low voltage is detected. Then the depleted battery could be switched to the charging circuit to charge up again with the solar panel.

Of course, this is all conjecture on my part. What I just described here is akin to a perpetual motion machine which is impossible according to the laws of physics. But then again… We are talking about solar power being combined with a battery that can be recharged in 90 seconds or 5 minutes depending on how you array the things. The power from the panel has to be the equivalent of a 110 volt power outlet… maybe. Maybe 220 volts… Maybe 1.21 Gigawatts. Oh well, I am not on their design team and I am not getting paid to think about this stuff. And if you have to stop every 100 miles for 5 minutes, so what?  I still think if these batteries take off, that our Aptera may just get them in the future.