Bro, you’re so humble and nice. A little more than 20 minutes is no issue for your videos. Thanks for the hard work and support for solar mobility. 🙏

On the whole, you have struck a great balance between being a fan and being a skeptic. You obviously have a bias, and you call that out clearly and loudly free differently. On the other hand there have been some times when I personally thought your skepticism went way too far. Maybe not too far, but certainly further than my own skepticism went. It's good to have all these voices out there. Thanks for doing what you do

@hardcoreherbivore4730

5 күн бұрын

Your profile name makes me think you’re Canadian, eh!? Are we getting that cup back today? 🇨🇦

@Okurka.

4 күн бұрын

You can learn from his skepticism.

@GoClimbARockEh

4 күн бұрын

@@Okurka. I have plenty of my own. Unlike you I ground mine in facts

Steve, you are definitely not a Shill for Aptera. A fan, yes. But you’ve had some episodes where you said some challenging things where I was like, “Oh man, I don’t think Aptera is going to like that he said that. Bridges burned!” But that didn’t happen. It shows that both you and Aptera are mature and realistic about this moonshot. And if Aptera does fail, we all know you’ll stick around for the post mortem analysis. Keep doing what you’re doing, man!

One of the strengths of your channel is your objectivity. If Aptera goes down, I don't think people will be too harsh on you. The positive things you say about Aptera are either backed up with facts or you make it clear it is your opinion. You point out potential pitfalls and during interviews you are willing to ask uncomfortable questions. Keep up the good work!

IMO Aptera needs to get the $7.5K federal EV tax credit that so many of the EV alternatives have. A $7.5K credit on a $30K vehicle is a very significant 25% discount.

@ZadesLegacy

4 күн бұрын

It was be amazing. But it's possible it does well without it.

Aptera already learned Fisker's lesson. They didn't make the mistakes that plagued Fisker and other EV makers from the start.

@thecuriousquest

5 күн бұрын

Slow and steady. Build that strong yet flexible foundation!

I have followed many of these companies mentioned and to be honest, Aptera has worked very hard to not make the mistakes of so many of these companies.

The reason I have an aptera reservation is because it can do things no other car on the market can. So long as this is true, they will have customers.

@JoeBManco

5 күн бұрын

Let's be clear, the Aptera company is making claims that no other car maker can build. It remains to be seen if Aptera can build what they claim.

I believe that with Aptera, there's a big advantage in the fact that they've already failed once. I believe they've learned their lessons and they continue to learn from other companies mistakes. I think that they could do a lot more on social media if they'd really wanted to get this car really hyped. I'm personally at the point that I feel that some big progress will have to be announced soon (PI builds) to keep momentum going and I hope that they are going to use some of those PI build to get more media attention/ real life reviews and that those PI builds will be able to prove their calculations and estimates regarding safety and range. I know that there's people like that Aussie guy trying to bash everything Aptera as well as you but I believe you're doing a great job. I know that you're just a passionate guy, trying to keep the community up to date and that's great. Of course there might be some technical misunderstandings here another but I do not believe that that's an issue here. Thanks for the Update Steve

@BillMitchell-lm8dg

5 күн бұрын

Aptera long ago made its fatal mistake so that it had to rely on "crowd funding" investors - it did not thoroughly and realistically test out prototypes in Real World situations. And so it had to rely on Little Dreamers to dream its Wonderful Dream of Car Manufacturing.

I feel you've always been objective Steve, even while being a fan. You go out of your way to point out where you stand, in nearly every video. Thanks for the hard work!

I think it’s Aptera which will be the lesson for other vehicle manufacturers. Startups and legacy. Their current plan shows that billions aren’t required.

@madmotorcyclist

5 күн бұрын

If Aptera makes it to production I'm sure other automakers will realize that Aptera's body shell approach is a lot better and maybe cheaper in the end than using welded aluminum bodies.

A couple of positive points for Aptera, they enlisted Monroe & Associates to help with the manufacturing process, which hopefully won’t be Model 3 manufacturing hell :-) Also, Aptera is very open about their progress.

@greghelton4668

5 күн бұрын

Monroe has turned into a Musk fanboy. His advice to Aptera seemed ok but I can’t trust his advice as it seems he lacks any objectivity. He also makes some bold statements regarding areas where he lacks expertise. Furthermore Aptera rarely mentions him anymore.

@Skylancer727

5 күн бұрын

@@greghelton4668 Yeah I'd mostly agree. I mean he did actively praise the "engineering" of running water cooling lines through the battery pack. Something Tesla ultimately gave up on as it cost more, made battery fixes harder, and reduced the general pack energy density. I do still somewhat question how great an idea it is to start big in production. I really struggle to believe Aptera will be as big as most of the major brands. The car is ultimately pretty niche in design and while it has 40K reservation, that's after 7 years of marketing and people talking about it.

@BillMitchell-lm8dg

5 күн бұрын

Sandy Munro is an excellent production consultant. But too many investors consider him to be a suspension/propulsion/aerodynamic design expert as well.

I am a little surprised no one mentioned Canoo here. They are also trying a different path. Lucid may make it but it will be difficult for them. Aptera is the most innovative so far.

@northernsouler

5 күн бұрын

Canoo has to decide what they are. Is it a minivan? A cargo van? A pickup truck? A military vehicle? Targeting fleet sales? Government sales? Consumer sales? Focus on the US? Focus on the UK? Geez, it depends on the week! Given the existing contracts, I can't imagine why they wouldn't focus on their fleet sales to start getting some revenue going, then start figuring out the variants.

@robinpettit7827

5 күн бұрын

@@northernsouler I assume that is the plan.

@northernsouler

5 күн бұрын

@@robinpettit7827 - It's a hell of an assumption. They haven't been able to stick to a cohesive plan for their entire existence, but NASA has one, Walmart has one, USPS has one, they recently displayed a couple different models in England... they need to pick a damn lane and go.

@Skylancer727

5 күн бұрын

@@northernsouler Yeah I agree, it's a pretty terrible idea to spread your market so wide. Each fleet company is gonna ultimately want something different. You're not going to be able to satisfy all of the in a good amount of time. I honestly don't see consumer sales coming any time soon for Canoo. It's a brand I expect to still with the fleet sales that are more consistent and less volatile.

Hi Steve - Honesty is the best policy, especially when it comes to journalism. At the end of the day, the consumer appreciates being told the truth, regardless of their expectations. This builds trust, which is the foundation of trade. I hope APTERA succeeds, and my expectation is that they will, but again, my expectation is not a fact. Thank you

The car itself is actually pretty good, a neighbor down the street owns one. The unfinished software is what killed it...

@madmotorcyclist

5 күн бұрын

A lot of EVs suffer from software issues (hence the need for so many updates) and to be honest EVs require more comprehensive software than ICE vehicles. Remember how close Tesla was to going bankrupt when they came out with there first sport model. Startups are hard and especially in the vehicle domain.

@gr8dvd

5 күн бұрын

3-4y ago I was tempted to buy a used Fiskar ($31k with only 12k miles). Wonder still how many problems could be fixed, including software, with a talented mechanic and aftermarket products. The design (aesthetics) and interior seemed top-notch.

@Skylancer727

5 күн бұрын

I really struggle to believe that. Software is poor on 90% of cars on the road, yet people buy them anyways. The only EV I know of that people actively praise other than Tesla for it is the Mercedes EQS and yet that thing is also ridiculously unpopular. I just don't buy the claim software is the main contributor when there was so much more stacked against them. Ultimately it was a vehicle that cost more than most electric crossovers on the market right now, the power and performance was very average at best, the build quality was only average, and there's little trust in such an early brand. That last part is now fully justified with them going bust. I mean Toyota is one of the top car companies period and their software is either worthless or horrendous. I got the 23 Prius and it doesn't even let you make radio station preset buttons, instead it has "likes" where they shuffle around every time you click on them. It's so bad I basically only use my phone for music.

@madmotorcyclist

5 күн бұрын

@@Skylancer727 Even Tesla has had to update their software many times. Remember the Cybertruck recent software issues shows even Tesla has s/w issues. Aptera has one of the OpenPilot developers in their software wheelhouse and they will be seeking input from people for their UI (they've already made some changes from potential customers input) and hopefully before actual production they will have beta software release for people to try and critique. One nice thing Aptera is doing which is unique from Tesla is not using an ethernet ring to their subsystems and instead using an encrypted SMS messaging system which means their software activity vampire power draw is way less than Tesla. Yeah I concur that the major automakers are pretty pathetic when it comes to software (Ford Lightening is a good example).

@kenmcclow8963

3 күн бұрын

@@Skylancer727the difference is that most companies are around to fix the software and Fisker won’t be. My VW software has improved quite a bit in the 15 months I’ve owned it. It’s possible that some third party might come along and write fixes for Fisker owners and sell it to them. Since less than 10,000 were built and less than 5,000 were sold, it might be worth buying one and sticking it in a barn for 30 years to see if it becomes a collectible

You're doing a great job, Steve. Keep it up.

Slick, no one could blame you if Aptera is not a success. My take on it is the company has utilized the time to have a more robust less complicated, vehicle, with an assembly line capable of breaking even at an attainable number of only 6000. You may not be the most skeptical person, however I believe you are balanced in your logical approach to telling the Aptera story. The company has benefited from your questions, shedding light on the journey to production. Slick, Aptera, and their fans, have benefited from this channel. Thanks for doing this, and I am an investor, and feel like the information I get here on this KZread channel is top-notch. Thanks Slick!

I too would like to see Aptera make it.... and you sharing your opinion is a good thing and at least gets a conversation going about the plus and minuses of Aptera. You have been very up front about your enthusiasm about their product but at the same time, have shed light on things that concern you about the vehicle as well as the company. keep up the good work! stephen

I've been watching your content for some time now and while I don't always agree with your views on things I could not imagine you ever 'abandoning' your 'followers' for any reason ! Call me another huge Aptera fan as well but only invested to the same level as yourself . Thanks Steve :)

I never had a good feeling about Fisker. They lasted longer than I expected actually. I'm one of the few people that drove an original Fisher Karma back in 2012 or so (I didn't drive it far, I was a valet at a fancy hotel). Lucid is another one that I don't think will make it. I never had any doubts about Tesla or Rivian (I hope they don't prove me wrong). I'm very interested in Aptera and have been since the early models over ten years ago. I'm curious to see what happens but I don't have a reservation or a penny invested in Aptera.

What’s up with Elaphe? They report first motors 2029 or 2030. This would be worse than Fisker.

@shrimptopian3392

5 күн бұрын

Aptera promised a explanation soon, but they don't, so i guess big problems

@ddessert6

5 күн бұрын

I thought there was going to be an announcement last week from Aptera regarding Elaphe. The lack of mention in the investor's meeting and now the week gone by without mention of Elaphe or even that the announcement will be delayed do get all the paperwork in order, is getting concerning. If there is an issue with the availability of the powertrain (more than just the hub motors) and I really hope there is NOT an issue; this could spell some serious delays. Aptera needs to learn and hopefully not the hard way that speculation can kill a company. Perception can be much more of an influence than reality. There are huge examples of this going on today in our world.

@shrimptopian3392

5 күн бұрын

Aptera is talking a lot about transparancy, well good time for some

@Skylancer727

5 күн бұрын

@@ddessert6 Aptera has been far more transparent than most companies. I'm assuming they're likely swapping suppliers right now with Elaphe being dumped. Elaphe has been a going concern ever since Lordstown hit the bucket, we've always been questioning their status. I think it's highly likely Aptera has already been looking for a substitute this whole time. Elaphe isn't the only ones making hub motors. Hell if Aptera really tries they may even find someone making axial flux hub motors for further efficiency. Will be sad to lose the cool green motors though.

@BillMitchell-lm8dg

5 күн бұрын

Those outboard motors are a BIG design choice. There can be no "transparency" without word on what's with those motors!

In my opinion, I think you’re doing a great job. Please continue because it’s very valuable and helpful to the community.

@kevinscott8642

4 күн бұрын

Absolutely.

The Aptera co-CEOs seem to be well grounded compared many of the other BEV CEOs, including Musk. Musk in my opinion is making many strategic mistakes at this point for example and Fisker was in love with himself. There are no guarantees that Aptera will succeed but the odds improve when led by dedicated calm people.

Removing skin cooling was a really good change. From my aeronautical engineering experience, it was not really an advantage over well engineered P-51 style radiator and just an added expense which will kill demand. Cost is already high with no rebates available, profitability with low demand will be critical. Factories in low labor cost countries may be critical to scaling up production.

@Skylancer727

5 күн бұрын

I have always somewhat questioned how much an energy advantage it could have running water channels through the entire under body requiring a bigger water pump and the added risks of leaks. Though going away means it will need more active air intake than originally intended.

@arlenbell4376

5 күн бұрын

Agree 100%. As an engineer I found belly cooling an interesting, but probably unworkable idea - especially in a situation where the vehicle is in stop and go traffic for miles on a 95°F day when the asphalt surface is 120°F +. The conventional radiator type solution just makes sense all around.

@BillMitchell-lm8dg

5 күн бұрын

The Aptera didn't have to anticipate being hit by bullets. :-)

@BillMitchell-lm8dg

5 күн бұрын

@@Skylancer727 Lots of engineering experience and damage repair experience went into the design of the P51 Mustang: Smaller critical targets are better.

Nice overview of Fisker. Thanks

A "shill" is someone who publicly promotes or praises a product, service, or organization without disclosing their close relationship with the entity they're promoting. This is often done in a deceptive manner to give the impression of impartiality. You're not a shill Steve.

@Fairburne69

5 күн бұрын

100%

@brianrosenlof388

5 күн бұрын

Couldn't agree more. In true Aptera ethos, Steve is very transparent with his intentions, and regularly calls out his inexperience in finance and engineering (although I think Steve would make a great engineer if he chose to do so). I appreciate his open honesty. He has definitely never pushed people to buy the stock and cautions everyone to tread lightly in investing in startups, including Aptera. Steve does a great job.

Aptera seems way better at communication than all of the companies that failed. I also don’t think they are rushing to production like Fisker did. Cars are very software based now and Fisker didn’t seem to realize that. Out of Spec said there is a world of difference between Rivian’s chief software engineer and Fisker’s. Tesla and Rivian are the gold standard

This makes no real difference, but Fisker the name always made me think of cat food. Maybe Henrik should go into that business. Lol

@romad357

5 күн бұрын

I have several Fiscars! They are very handy.

@tims8603

5 күн бұрын

I think of scissors.

@JoeBManco

5 күн бұрын

It reminds me of an old joke. Fisker? I didn't even know her.

@adimchionyenadum2962

4 күн бұрын

Fisker, isn't that supposed to refer to a cat's mustache? Or, are are those rather "whiskers"?

Aptera need to address the claims they made of systems in the vehicle that got changed and why they did it , to fix the issues , like the skin cooling, that was a pretty big change

Booked an Aptera, ideal for a 100 km trip to work, but the issue is finance : sell the model 3- buy the Aptera = car cost. Running cost is driven by motorway toll rather than electricity (at least in France) and finally how much can I deduct from gvt taxes. Model 3 is 0.4 cts / km, hope Aptera as a 3 wheeler will not be too low otherwise the model 3 will in total cost less 😮

I am skeptical of Aptera. For no other reason than starting a car company is tough. Very tough. Nonetheless, I have an LE reservation and a small investment. The Aptera product is different, niche even, but reportedly doable with less than 10,000 per year due to very novel production. Fisker, Rivian, etc. all need annual sales of hundreds of thousands. Big difference. As for your reporting Steve, you have always been straightforward, a fan but not a fanatic. Keep it up, no matter what happens.

@Skylancer727

5 күн бұрын

10K a year is still extremely high. Toyota only sells around 30-40K Prius in a year and they sell only around 10K Avalon.

I'm actually not surprised

10:38 you have to deliver and when you deliver you have to cash the checks people paid you. Not surprised they had issues when I heard about that.

As a regular user of Tesla’s FSD, I believe its paramount Aptera licenses FSD from Tesla. I won’t buy a car without it.

I'm looking forward to this one.

Thx Didn’t they have “one” Fisker Ocean on the floor diagonally across from Aptera… at the past San Diego Fully Charged LiVE? Odd I just received an email today from Fisker, with a typical Ad and requedt to update our preferences ( We had been on their list for information over the years )

Pausing at 3:00 to comment on the point made. Have been huge fan of your reporting and they have been very objective. Other bit we must not sign off a company without doing at least some minimum query on them. Its difficult to design a product and extremely difficult to produce it in production. For Fisker are we sure they are not arranging for support once production closes. Remember its not difficult to service parts and arrange for repairs. Requesting inputs from all here if you could find what the arrangement will be. I have posted a query to them, will reply back here what I hear.

@gr8dvd

5 күн бұрын

Interested to hear what you hear. I expect a fire sale on used Fiskars…. tho these days it could literally be a fire (or water) damaged vehicle.

You are right, customer’s forgiveness is relative to what else is available, and I think that you have done really well being objective. 🎉

Steve, you perfectly stated the situation. I agree that Aptera is unique in it's position and product. I am buying into the super-efficiency aspect of this car.

Good analysis. I own a Fisker Ocean Extreme. It is a discounted model, approx $39k. It came with OS 2.0 installed. It is a remarkably well built vehicle mechanically, the quality is excellent (fit/finish, etc). I suspect the original OS 1.0 cars had some pretty bad software bugs, but on 2.0 the only issues so far are minor annoyances (random 'charge port open' alerts). Have already taken long overnight trips, the 360mi range is class leading. Buying this was a total gamble, even a broken window is probably going to be unfixable. But getting the cheapest EV on market with longest range in class and a Range Rover experience was hard to pass on. We'll see what I think in a year or two. So far so good. The Brownlee review is quite controversial, he intentionally reviewed a car he got from a third party on OS 1.0 while he could have gotten one from Fisker with 2.0 loaded. Nearly all his complaints would have been resolved had he done that. The REAL problem with the car is it was released unfinished as far as software goes. Aptera cannot afford to do this. I completely concur with the point you made that Fisker should have allowed slippage and fixed some of the software issues rather than meeting timeline. I think most of the Aptera crowd would be happier with further release delays rather than buggy software. The other lesson is the internet can really damage things, even if it is not entirely accurate. Fisker actually made it to production with about 10k vehicles built, but failed. Aptera needs to pay very close attention to this and avoid these mistakes.

@adimchionyenadum2962

4 күн бұрын

//The REAL problem with the car is it was released unfinished... Fisker should have allowed slippage and fixed some of the software issues rather than meeting timeline.// Apart from Aptera's financial constraints, that is the greatest problem they are facing presently - pressure from a small but loud group of investors and reservation holders clamoring for fast track release of an unfinished product. I hope Aptera never gives in.

Thanks Steve. (We're still excited and hopeful for Aptera as well.) Also fwiw, I'm *interested* in driving an Aptera as my daily--I'm not interested in any of the other EVs today. If Aptera can't deliver, perhaps we'll re-evaluate when our current economy ICE vehicle can no longer "freeze water" (not an endless runway), or maybe we'll go truck (+RV) or prius/corolla/fit/volt/elr (-RV) ...but none of those satiate our interest in the radical efficiency-first value proposition of Luna/Launch.

The biggest problem for Fisker was not the car, despite its problems, it was fiscal mismanagement. The lesson for Aptera is to manage the books.

Excellent thread and thoughtful sharing of Aptera with its flaws and shortcomings. On the other hand there are some Australian Tubers that are just not honest and have a strong Bias.

I would love to see a rigorous market study for Aptera by a reputable firm? I am not a marketing person but I would imagine there maybe a way for a study to be done on what the market is, define it, analyze it, and decide if Aptera price and product is sufficient to bring the company to sustained growth. The market analysis that Aptera put out is at a level of high-school intro into marketing. It lacks any credibility. No sampling of the market and what it is looking for. The preorder people are a subset of the market. It’s a base but not sufficient to understand the entire market. I am a fan, accelerator and a sceptic all at the same time. For me reliability at the advertised price is crucial in order to become a buying customer.

I see Oceans about monthly in Seattle. Technically, I've seen YOU in the same room as a Fisker Ocean (fully charged live San Diego 2022)

How many people have asked for their deposit back? we are in for the long haul loyalty runs deep win or lose

You ask hard questions, not just easy ones. Many times you have pointed out the risks of investing as well as potential pitfalls in their plans. Of course, you mention potential upsides too.

Aptera has been on the runway since 2019. It arguably has competition, but no other EV comes close to the efficiency it claims. The Sion claims 3.5 miles/kwh. Lightyear One claims 4.4. My Bolt EV has gotten 4.2 over the last 8k miles, so it's more efficient than the Sion and comparable to LY1. Aptera claims 9 miles per kwh (400 miles from 44kwh). If this claim pans out, the efficiency is far more significant than the solar panels, and Aptera is in a class by itself. 40 miles/day from integrated solar panels (in ideal conditions) is a nice feature, but at 9 miles/kwh, power from the grid is close to free anyway, maybe ten percent of the cost of gasoline per mile.

@arlenbell4376

5 күн бұрын

AND - I will be able to charge Aptera at home for approximately 4¢/KWh so compare that to current gasoline prices.

That is why they should allow Aptera to produce the vehicle whenever they consider themselves ready to deliver a quality product. The agitators for a quick and harp hazard market debut should go chill out somewhere!

Fisker rushed to Market and had awful management. If you look at the horror stories of employees from Fisker it's pretty damning. Even close to when the vehicle was going into production they had something like 15 different suppliers and they were constantly switching them around thing must have been a nightmare to program and Cobble together Magnus tear tried to give them everything that they needed or as much as they could but the management just didn't want to listen so they ended up with like mismatched parts.

@robertkirchner7981

5 күн бұрын

"Magnus Tear" is either a voice-to-text error or some very subtle trolling.

@matthewspry4217

5 күн бұрын

​@@robertkirchner7981read all that and that's all you managed to say 😅

Debt is not the preferred funding method for an emerging growth company. Also, Fisker went public with a SPAC which has proved to be a less than stellar strategy. Quality, quality, quality! You get ONE SHOT at being a great new entrant. One shot. Charge on!

@christopherbarrett9749

4 күн бұрын

Debt if properly managed is fine for some things. For example, new assembly plant in the European market, and the southeast of this country. Like a mortgage to make it happen is a good deal for Aptera. Asking for a tax abatement for creating jobs, and building infrastructure is common sense and done all the time.

Misread the title, thought it said aptera going bankrupt 😂. Was about to be very disappointed.

@shrimptopian3392

5 күн бұрын

You still will be

@emilioparrilla465

5 күн бұрын

@@shrimptopian3392 maybe, maybe not only time will tell. If not aptera, someone will make a vehicle based on the same principles, it's inevitable. I'd just like to wait the least amount of time possible.

@shrimptopian3392

5 күн бұрын

I am hoping a Chinese company is working on aptera like machine right now, and that you can buy it next year for 25.000 I love the aptera concept, but the company, yikes

@adimchionyenadum2962

4 күн бұрын

​@@shrimptopian3392 What is your problem with the company that you wish them to fail?

I'll be honest, the Fisker isn't even a bad product, the issue is the the field is filled already and now the new guys have to compete with the incumbents. Honestly the Fisker Ocean was a way nicer car than the early Teslas, it just wasn't a car for enthusiasts today. I mean people were actually saying it was DOA because it didn't have a hold brake function. There's still many cars that don't have it. Honestly I didn't even think it was that serious a problem. I really just think the issue is that the Fisker was too expensive compared to the competition, especially from a name you can't trust. Even Lucid with theoretically better features vs the competition is basically mocked by people for some reason.

Uber took 15 years to become profitable, but its product was better then competition so it stuck around

If you watched the last installment of, “Autoline After Hours” they discussed Fisker briefly. Fisker, according to them, was, business wise, a total mess. Checks that were submitted took months to clear was one example of how the company was being run. As was mentioned by someone here, Fisker himself was full of himself. He was a good stylist but miserable when it came to actually running business. From the outside, that doesn’t fit Aptera.

The early tesla did have problems, the roadster.. only a few thousand made.. by model s they had / still have a great product. Consumer reports gave their first and only 100/100 to 2014 tesla model s performance..

@scottgabbard662

5 күн бұрын

Yeah, that is when they (Tesla) got my attention. CR could NOT believe such a car could be built. I cannot remember details, but I do remember the review made me think “wow.” It’s still the prettiest car they make but I cannot afford it. Period…but I could buy it.

Glitchy software can ruin a vehicle. I hope aptera keeps theirs to an absolute minimum. Speed controls, motors, chargers have all been around for decades and are very mature. Off the shelf components have an extremely low failure rate. Build the Aptera reliable and efficient and people will buy it. It does not have to be a computer on wheels.

Don't go Public 😊

Frisker's design was great. They had terrible corporate culture. Lots of stories about nepetism. Frisker hired his wife as CFO and she had no experience running an automotive company. They also hired relatives and you can't speak out against the family. Then they used the same factory as the Jaguar i-Pace, the worst quality EV ever made. At least Frisker sold his mansion to cover some things. Keep work and family separate. This ain't Korea.

Steve, what you are is a pragmatist, not a skeptic.

Lucid is more pissed for bankruptcy in my opinion. Yes they have the technology and they've made a good product but if it wasn't for the Saudi investment fund they'd have been out long ago. They're gonna bankrupt that fund single handedly 😂 and they're paying Rawlinson way too much money

In my opinion, people who gamble and invest all their nest egg in anything, are bitten by the "Greed Bug", then lose it should not complain if that's what they did. Hello, all of us would love to be very rich, but to gamble with your IRA or 401K or retirement savings, which is your protection for retirement, is really dumb and shows a careless act of entitlement behavior!

@Fairburne69

5 күн бұрын

100% Agree with you. I invested a relatively small amount into Aptera and never even considered touching my retirement fund. The thought didn't even occur to me. Way too risky.

@shrimptopian3392

5 күн бұрын

Another red flag

@madmotorcyclist

5 күн бұрын

Similar to people that buy lottery tickets.

@robertkirchner7981

5 күн бұрын

Any investments in Aptera should come from your living/spending budget, not your investing budget. If you are not prosperous enough to have both, you probably shouldn't be investing in Aptera.

You pronounce Marques the same way my dad does "Mar-kees" instead of "Mar-kez"

People will 100% flame you if aptera goes down. Not your fault really but its the reality.

I'm surprised that you would mention Marques' comments on Fisker given his willingness to criticize Aptera when he clearly hadn't bothered to learn anything about it.

@JoeBManco

5 күн бұрын

Funny how some on both sides can recognize the other's failure, but not their own until it is too late. I'll give many of the Aptera fans credit for acknowledging they might not see a return on investment.

Shill for Aptera... nope. Objective... yup. Fan... yup. Optimistic... usually. That's why I continue to watch and support your channel.

Company know you and I disagree on a few things here and there, but you are slightly biased at most.

Aptera's transparency and openness is a big investor risk reduction.

They wher to pricey and they had lots of debt so put the vehicles out to soon.

Too bad Aptera doesn’t have four wheels. Then it would qualify for the federal and state tax break

Some crowd funding is good. It depends on the company and the validity of the information they share. Aptera is proven to be honest. I don't think Fisker was very honest. So public companies are not a guarantee of honesty.

@shrimptopian3392

5 күн бұрын

How you know Aptera is honest I think they started with good intentions but are becoming a sc*m

@barnabasseadog7660

4 күн бұрын

Two years ago I looked Chris Anthony in the eyes and asked him about beta testing his vehicle. This year I visited the factory twenty-six miles from my house, and sat in Gamma as Chris M spun around the parking lot. I can telI you firsthand how Aptera is dealing in good faith, but that doesn't serve your purpose here, eh. I will just say that I have money on the table that says you don't know jack.

@shrimptopian3392

4 күн бұрын

Oh barnabase, than it must be true

@kevinc8811

4 күн бұрын

@@barnabasseadog7660Oh, now we’re convinced. Not giving you a hard time but you have to understand your opinion is meaningless to people who don’t know you or your reputation personally.

Fiskers failure could bring down Aptera. Its not fair because they are polar opposites in terms of what they are trying to do. Aptera is an engineering driven company thats trying to push the boundaries of energy efficiency in a way that nobody else is. Fisker was a styling driven company that produced an off the shelf SUV that was just like every other SUV only worse. Aptera has also been financially responsible. They have a very lean staff and they've been focused on getting a single product out the door. Fisker was a cash fire with no discipline at all. They had multiple vehicles in the works, changed directions and at the end tried to launch in multiple markets at the same time which is something that even the giants would never do. That said Aptera needs money, not nearly as much as everyone else burned but still a lot. Crowd funding has kept them alive but its not enough to get them into production. The problem for them is that EV startups have vaporized billions of dollars with nothing to show for it. Lordstown and Nikola were out and out scams. Fisker was badly managed. Lucid has done some brilliant engineering but they built the wrong car. They built an S class competitor and its turns out that even Mercedes has a hard time selling an S class EV. Even Rivian which has a great product and have been shipping for a couple of years is still losing money. Getting anyone to invest in yet another EV startup is going to be incredibly difficult. Anyone making the investment purely on ROI is going to walk away. They will need someone who has an additional agenda, specifically an environmental one.

@arlenbell4376

5 күн бұрын

Well stated. If Aptera had been where they are today three years ago investments would have been a thousand times easier. Aptera will; however, be a whole new and exciting EV coming to the market.

I'm on a fixed income so I had to make a choice about investing in Aptera. I want to buy one but if I invest in them, I won't be able to afford to buy. IF in the very extremely slim chance they do end going belly up, all I'll have lost is $100, not $10,000.

@Fairburne69

5 күн бұрын

I'll lose $2100 if they go belly up. An amount I could afford. If they don't go belly up I own 200 shares and already have a $1000 down payment. Huge win if the gamble pays off. If not, my life goes on the same as it is now. For me the downside was minimal while the upside was huge. Having said all that if I was on a limited fixed income I wouldn't have invested either. $100 place holder would have been my choice.

@TheScottShepard

5 күн бұрын

Only invest what you can afford to lose. Don’t feel like you are making a poor choice by not investing.

@madmotorcyclist

5 күн бұрын

All stock investments prior to IPO are a crap shoot. However, unlike most companies Aptera has been pretty upfront and informative of the progress and delays.

@rngalston

5 күн бұрын

U shouldn't even lose that-your reservation is fully refundable-it would have to be BAD for us to not get it back. (i.e. I was able to get my Elio deposit back)

@JoeBManco

5 күн бұрын

I'm told that California law requires reservation funds to be held in a separate account until the sale is final. If Aptera fails, the reservation money will be returned eventually.

Watch my video titled Will Aptera Fail. I am hopeful but I think they are beginning to chase the wrong market.

@adimchionyenadum2962

4 күн бұрын

Care to expand?

No competition for Aptera? Hmmm I would not bet on that by the time they may... get into production. BYD have proven to be very innovative & fast. If someone comes out with a 4 wheel solar recharge vehicle that has very low drag & looks great....then Aptera's very niche looking shape may lose the entire market. Very niche contours can sometimes go out of style fast! The cyber Truck for example is already losing interest for this reason because it's actually a pretty boring & ridiculous looking vehicle.

Comparing Aptera and Fisker is comparing apples and oranges. There are two huge differences: (1) Fisker designed a competitively-priced product with very broad appeal (an SUV/crossover), and (2) Fisker actually entered production and delivered some vehicles before going bankrupt. By contrast, Aptera has designed a niche product that will only be desirable to an extremely small demographic (seniors, empty nesters, other childless adults, and/or families who can afford a second or third car), it's comparatively overpriced, and Aptera will never, ever enter production or deliver a single vehicle to a paying customer before declaring bankruptcy. Steve, I enjoy your dedication, but at this point you are just being diplomatic to keep the lines of communication with Aptera open in order to gain interview access. You know that Aptera is doomed.

@JoeBManco

5 күн бұрын

I think it is possible that Aptera makes a few customer vehicles, but I strongly doubt they will make their way through all of the pre-orders and become successful.

@barnabasseadog7660

5 күн бұрын

I got mpney on the table that says you don't know jack.

@JoeBManco

5 күн бұрын

@@barnabasseadog7660 I don't know what mpney is, but I'm glad you left it on the table.

29 employees. Empty factory. No production funding and no product to sell. I too love the concept, but it's time to fact facts.

@lsh3rd

5 күн бұрын

Where have you been recently? Two out of three of your "facts" are wrong.

@JoeBManco

5 күн бұрын

@@lsh3rd Which two out of the three?

@lsh3rd

5 күн бұрын

@@JoeBManco empty factory… this is not evident in literally any video. No funding… funding is being secured currently. I can’t speak to head count, but there’s opportunity for all 3 facts to be incorrect.

@JoeBManco

5 күн бұрын

@@lsh3rd Does the factory have everything it needs to build production vehicles? No, so that is probably what "empty factory" means. Does Aptera have the funding to build production vehicles? No, at least not yet. As for the head count, the latest SEC filing showed it was below 40 people. The exact number probably fluctuates.

@montanaerdoc

5 күн бұрын

@@lsh3rd Head count is in the last SEC filing. Empty factory. Testing stations yes. Offices yes. Production line no. Production funding unsuccessful so far. They had to hire US Capital to look for a 65 million dollar investor. They don't have the money. We don't know if US Capital will find an investor.

Aptera will be good for a documentary about how good intentions can become a disaster and why crowdfunding a car company was the word idea ever Please Netflix, make a documentary about Aptera

@ronfarnsworth7074

5 күн бұрын

Your crystal ball has binary logic slipping bits! Give Aptera a chance! Fair enough?

@shrimptopian3392

5 күн бұрын

They made the first aptera website in 2002, its going slowly towards a quarter of century, i love the aptera concept but i don't think it will be by this company

@jonj9149

5 күн бұрын

A documentary isn't about what you hope will happen.

@JayGrant-hi5ms

5 күн бұрын

I hope you bought a nice hat to eat, Shrimpie! You’ve provided lots of entertainment so far.

@Aspkkr

5 күн бұрын

Aptera has a lot in common with "Ingen Dynamics/ Aido family robot" funding campaign in my opinion. I think they finally gave up in 2019

It would be more fair to compare Aptera to Arcimoto. I think Aptera will also make a few vehicles, but ultimately it won't succeed.

@lsh3rd

5 күн бұрын

Completely incorrect. The only thing shared is three wheels. I need a weathertight vehicle, so Arcimoto wasn't even a consideration and I doubt they would be cross-shopped if both were in the market at the same time.

@JoeBManco

5 күн бұрын

@@lsh3rd Both paid Sandy Munro to help design the factories.

@lsh3rd

5 күн бұрын

@@JoeBManco You may as well say, "In both companies, Thursday is a work day".

@JoeBManco

5 күн бұрын

@@lsh3rd I could say that since both are facts, just like it will become a fact that if Aptera doesn't have a hub motor supplier, they will in fact fail. The latest chatter on the internet is Elaphe is 5 years away from mass production of their hub motors. It is a fact that Aptera can't wait that long.

@lsh3rd

5 күн бұрын

@@JoeBManco This is speculative, of course, but a single supplier of any part IS extremely high risk. I'd like to think that Aptera would have a backup plan on the motors such as the rights to take the motor design and contract another company to build them. I worked on a product that used A123 as a battery supplier and believe me, there was some scrambling there when they went under.

Aptera claims. How to sum Aptera is two words. Look, even Aptera will not stand behind their six thousand unit claim because they cannot make that statement and then declare they do not know what price they will sell the vehicles for. You cannot have one without the other. Yet you never seem to make that connection nor would you challenge Chris or Steve if you did. Fisker did not have sufficient reservations prior to launch to support themselves as an automobile manufacturer. They even did not have the large outlay of setting up their own factory and still did not have sufficient funds. I doubt Aptera has sufficient reservations nor will they convert a sizable percentage. However we can guarantee Chris, Steve, and Jason, will have theirs You are not a shill but damn you are gullible and an apologist. You are not a skeptic by far. You never really press them on anything substantial and its obvious they know they own you. A bit of half hearted praise from Chris or Steve and you are simping for them again. You went through the whole WSJ article and completely glossed over the fact the wind tunnel tests were only a photo op nor did you point out Chris's statement they could have produced a vehicle last October as a lie which it was. Heck we are still waiting for Chris to come clean on the Elaphe motors issue and now we have word they took out a sixty million dollar loan

@JoeBManco

5 күн бұрын

Speculation on the internet is Elaphe is still 5 years from having a mass produced hub motor. Aptera doesn't have 5 years to wait around.

@christopherbarrett9749

4 күн бұрын

Please cite the $60 million loan! Not sure what you are saying as I am unaware of said liability.