Aptera Eyes Mass Production of Unique Solar Car

0:00Is your multi-entity management creating more confusion than clarity? You need the Intuit ERP. Intuit Enterprise Suite. It's the AI-native ERP solution that's powerful, painless, and proven. Learn more at Intuit.com slash ERP. Bloomberg Audio Studios. Podcasts. Radio. News. You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and Tim Stenevek on Bloomberg Radio. Driven by the sun and looking like it belongs in outer space. Aptera Motors is a solar mobility company formed back in 2019. It is based on its website, still in the testing phase, but we wanted to find out exactly what they're up to and where they're headed.

0:45Chris Anthony is co-CEO. It is a$152 million market cap company, Aptera Motors. The company is based in Carlsbad, California, and that's exactly where we find Chris. The micro cap, by the way, down about 31 % from its direct listing on the NASDAQ earlier this year. Hey, Chris, good to have you here with Matt and myself. I know he's going to take over in one minute because he's our car guy or one of our car guys. But tell us a little bit about where the company is. You're in your, what, sixth year. Tell us about where the car is, where you're going. You're on the road. You're testing. Tell us a little bit about it.

1:20Yeah, Tara's currently in final validation, and we're looking to press into full production in 2026. And it's just exciting to see the vehicle come together and see solar mobility finally on the road. I was thinking about this interview earlier today. And, you know, clearly the current zeitgeist is not what you would consider pro solar car. The administration seems not to be the biggest fan of alternative energy or renewable energy. On the other hand, they've given you a ton of what I must believe are very incentivizing tax rules in the current one big, beautiful bill, especially if you're going to manufacture in this country, which you are, right?

2:12Yeah, we're manufacturing in Carlsbad, California. But, you know, there is a global supply chain for for vehicles like this. And we hope that, you know, there's enough investment in the U.S. to bring more and more of that supply chain, you know, over in time. What are the critical pieces that you need? Like, what do you need to import and pay tariffs on? And what can you get from this country in order to build your car? You know, initially we partnered with LG Kim and a company called CT &S in Korea to make our battery packs. But we're bringing the cell manufacturer over to Tennessee and bringing the equipment over to manufacture our battery packs here in Carlsbad, California.

2:56So that's been assisted by a California Energy Commission grant, and we hope to have all that production here in the U.S., hopefully by the end of 2026, maybe 2027. What's the most difficult aspect of what you're doing and trying to create a market essentially for it and then ramp up. What is the trickiest part right here? Yeah, you know, most companies start with a minimum viable product in transportation. You know, it's kind of about the styling of the vehicle and how many cup holders it has, how many passengers. That's not really where we started. We started with how do we make the most efficient transportation possible?

3:36And then it became this solar-powered masterpiece that we have now. But we really didn't know what kind of market there was. We weren't able to study the market for something that didn't exist. So we kind of had to just build what we wanted to bring to the world and then hope that people really liked it. And luckily, within the first couple of weeks of announcing it, we had over 4 ,000 orders. Now we have almost 50 ,000 orders for the Aptera. And, you know, we think people are really excited about transportation built for efficiency's sake and something that can be solar powered, something that you never have to worry about putting gas in.

4:10It's something you never have to worry about plugging it in. Do you have to worry about range? The standard version of the Aptera gets 400 miles of range. Plus it gets the solar charging that it gets every day just by leaving it out in the sun. But we do offer larger range models of our Aptera up to a thousand miles of range. So that's easily enough for like my daily commute. The car looks really, I mean, it looks cool. It looks weird. It looks different. It's a three-wheeler. I guess that would be so that you can classify it as a motorcycle. Correct me if I'm wrong. And you've got these outboard fenders on the front, two wheels, and then one wheel in the back.

4:52Tell us about the design. Yeah, you know, what most people don't realize is that 60 % to 70 % of your fuel at highway speeds just goes to pushing air out of the way if you're in a typical SUV or sedan. So we started, you know, with aerodynamics when it comes to making transportation more efficient. That's why it looks more like a fish than a box. And with something that looks so unique, you also want to eliminate, you know, any weight you can. So it's very lightweight. And that made it three wheels. So there's less rolling resistance, less weight. And that three wheels has some unique advantages and they were classified as a motorcycle.

5:28But because it's three wheels, you don't have to have a motorcycle's license. Because you have something over your head, you don't have to wear a helmet. And in California, EVs are no longer allowed Radis admission to the HLV lane, the high occupancy vehicle lane. So we'll be the only EV that's able to drive in the HLV lane without any restrictions. So that's interesting. That's interesting that you can sort of weave through different regulations with a three-wheeled vehicle. And that's why you've seen some of the coolest experimental vehicles from the Morgan three-wheeler to this Aptera car. It's got room for two people inside, right?

6:07As well as, I guess, luggage or a pet or whatever you want to bring along. What's it like when you're driving around? I mean, everybody must be rubbernecking. How come you haven't driven one yet? Yeah, how come I haven't driven one yet, Chris? Well, we need to get you in one soon, Matt. It's a pleasure to drive. It's super, super quiet. It's kind of eerily quiet because a lot of the noise you hear in a typical SUV or sedan is wind noise. buffeting off the vehicle at higher speeds. But because the Aptera cuts through the wind so nicely, you don't really get a lot of that. So it's a very different kind of driving experience.

6:43It's quick. It's 0 to 60 in 5 seconds, top speed 100 miles an hour. And, you know, it's definitely something that gets attention. If you are an introvert, maybe this is not the vehicle for you initially because any Starbucks that you pull up to, you're going to bring a crowd. But you can take it off the beaten path, right? I mean, I'm sure I've seen the website because I recall pictures of maybe the Aptera on a beach or in the woods. It comes with, or you can buy, I guess, camping gear or a kit that goes along with it so that you can get out there. And plus the fact that it's solar charging, you can charge with the sun up to 40 miles a day, right?

7:24It means that you can really take it off the grid. It's a little deceptive on the storage. There's actually 35 cubic feet of storage in the back. If you put the front seat forward and the passenger side, you have seven feet of space from the tail to the tip. So you can put surfboards back there, mountain bikes. You can actually leave the hatch up, and there's a camping kit where there's a tent that goes over the back of the vehicle. So you can camp two people comfortably. But most importantly, it's very cool to think that you can drive 200 miles to your favorite camping spot. You can camp for a week, and you can come back with more energy in your Aptera than you left with.

7:59Unless it rains. or no? It does get less solar production, you know, if it's super cloudy or if it rains, you know, if it's cloudy, you can count on maybe half of the energy production. You know, if it's a whiteout snow, obviously you're not going to get much solar, but it's really a whole new vehicle category, a vehicle that creates its own fuel. There's never been anything like it, where you purchase the vehicle and you're also purchasing a lifetime's worth of fuel with it. Hey, we're talking with Chris Anthony, co-chief executive officer of Aptera Motors, joining us from Carlsbad, California.

8:32I mentioned that the company began in 2016, but it's really like an iteration of a company that goes back a while. I think goes back to actually 2006. It was a company. I think it liquidated. It came back as a second company, and now it's the third company. Is there anything, like if someone Googles, they might be like, God, this feels a little uncomfortable. Anything that connects you to kind of the history of this company from day one? Yeah, you know, I met Steve Fambro in 2005. He had a vision for how to make vehicles more efficient. He was a bit perplexed that there are some vehicles on the road that you would think should be efficient.

9:12You know, things that look aerodynamic, you know, a VW bug. Why doesn't that get more than 50 miles per gallon? It really all comes down to the aerodynamic losses, the weight losses. So how would you make the most efficient vehicle possible? And that's what Steve and I set out to bring advanced engineering to is if you really tackle the problem from a first engineering principles perspective, what do you end up with? You end up with a vehicle that looks more like a fish. It's about 2 ,000 pounds. It has three wheels and it has an electric powertrain because that's the most efficient way to get energy to the wheels.

9:47You know, by happenstance, we created something that gets some 350 miles per gallon equivalent. And when you do that, you can put a relatively small solar package on top. We get really useful range. We get about 40 miles a day of free power just from leaving the Aptera out in the sun. So if you're like the average American and you only drive 30 miles a day, 40 miles a day of solar charging is great. You just never have to plug the vehicle in. You just leave it outside and it takes care of all your average driving needs. So, Chris, is this something that you really see for local driving? I'm curious if it taps out at 65 miles an hour or is it does it how fast can it go and can it be on highways or what's your VMAX, dude?

10:31Thank you. Yeah, you're the suspension handling characteristics are great. you know it's a very spirited drive zero to 60 in five seconds but you're actually faster you know at the upper ends of the speed you know 30 to 60 you know is faster and a top speed of 100 miles an hour so definitely driving it on the highway it's it's made to be a southern california vehicle you know lots of sun out here it's made to be more than you know just a commuter vehicle you can you know take it and you know do the family shopping you can you know pick up the kids from the school. You can do a lot with this vehicle in terms of usability.

11:10I also see that it can fit individuals of up to six foot eight, which is important for me. Because you're six. I'm six four, but I want six. I need leg room, right? I don't I get claustrophobic in normal cars and planes. So I need my space. And by the way, zero to 16 in five seconds. When I was in college that was what a 911 was doing so that's respectable really respectable i mean there's still a lot of cars um that can't do that of course you got the instant torque here getting up to 100 miles an hour i rarely exceed that speed when i'm driving to and from work i try to come close when there's nobody around how many orders have you got for this i mean uh how many people um do you think you're going to sell this car to when it goes into final production just got 20 seconds against you.

11:59We've got almost 50 ,000 orders, but we hope to deliver up to a million Aptera in the next 10 years. It took Tesla 13 years to deliver their millionth vehicle. We hope to do it in 10. Well, I can't wait for Matt to try it out and report back and then you can come back on with Chris. Chris Anthony, co-CEO of Aptera Motors, joining us.