Vaporware or not? Aptera assembles its first five validation models.
May 14, 2026
The three-wheel, two-seat EV has been in development since 2006.
Credit:
Aptera Motors
Among the many advantages the Chinese auto industry appears to have over foreign competitors is its ability to quickly turn a new idea into a car that customers can buy. At the other end of the spectrum, we have Aptera, which has been trying to bring a three-wheeled, ultra-efficient electric vehicle to market since 2006. Clearly, there have been more than a few stumbles along the way, but this week, the long-running saga got a new verse as the first validation models were assembled, bringing the EV one step closer to the market.
Aptera’s new low-volume assembly line is in Carlsbad, California, and workers there just assembled five EVs, which make their way through 14 stations. “Every vehicle we run through this line teaches us something,” said Chris Anthony, co-CEO of Aptera Motors. “With five vehicles now off the line, we have a growing foundation of data, a team that is getting sharper with every build, and a process that is proving itself in real time. That is what gives us confidence as we move toward our goal of customer deliveries.”
“What we are building here is not just vehicles but the system to build them well,” said Steve Fambro, co-CEO of Aptera Motors. “Each cycle through the line improves precision, efficiency, and repeatability. This is how we plan to meet our customers’ expectations when they finally get their hands on their own Aptera vehicle.”
The Aptera team.
Credit:
Aptera Motors
Like nothing else
Should Aptera succeed and begin delivering vehicles—it says it has “nearly 50,000 reservations on record”—those customers will receive an EV that looks like nothing else on the road. Its front wheels have an open-wheel design; they’re shrouded in aerodynamic pods but mounted out wide from the streamlined cabin, which looks much more aerospace than automotive.
The vehicle seats just two occupants and their luggage, but it takes up a surprising amount of room on the road—it’s actually an inch and a half wider than the gargantuan Hummer EV, if you can believe it, a vehicle so wide it scarcely fits in parking spaces or EV charging bays.
Visits to those charging bays are meant to be rare; the EV aims to deliver a range of 400 miles (644 km) from a 44 kWh battery pack—10 miles/kWh (6.2 kWh/100 km) is the claim for the $40,000 launch edition. (Should Aptera succeed, it plans a much cheaper version with just 250 miles/402 km of range.) Its drag coefficient of 0.13 is lower even than Volkswagen’s 1980 ARVW concept, and while I can’t find a published frontal area for the Aptera, its cross-section is clearly much less than that of a standard car shape.
And as you’ll note from the pictures, that aero body is clad in photovoltaic panels that provide up to 40 miles (64 km) of range a day, Aptera says.
Aptera Motors
Aptera Motors
Aptera Motors
Aptera Motors
Third time’s the charm?
But Aptera, or some version of it, has been saying these things for 20 years now. The original incarnation of the company ceased operations at the end of 2011; among its woes then was the fact that the Obama-era ATVM loan program that helped Tesla so much would not fund a three-wheel vehicle, leading to years spent redesigning a four-wheel version.
In 2012, a Chinese OEM obtained Aptera’s intellectual property from one of the company’s creditors, promising that cars—now three-wheeled again—would be on sale by the end of that year. The following year, its plans had expanded to include a gasoline-powered version, but this incarnation went dark in 2014.
In 2019, Aptera’s original founders relaunched the venture and returned to work, trying to make their dream a reality. Plans for hub motors fell by the wayside in favor of a conventional drive unit, but the design was locked down, and journalists were able to ride in one of the prototypes last year at CES.
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