Solar EV startup Aptera Motors has submitted an Offering Memorandum to the SEC that provides numerous details about its progress in bringing its sustainable mobility technology to market. The startup continues to rely on public investment to fund its SEV development, and the latest filing details just how difficult the road to scaled production is for startups.
We’ve said it once and will say it again – scaling is hard.
Veteran startup Aptera Motors remains up to the challenge and has shared its plans for the future. It will continue to rely on outside investments to reach its holy grail of scaled solar EV production.
In the summer of 2021, Aptera Motors launched a Regulation A offering, complete with an exemption from registration requirements with the SEC in regard to public offerings of its securities while offering the opportunity for funding from (potential) customers up to a certain amount.
In early 2023, co-founders Steve Fambro and Chris Anthony announced a new “Accelerator Program,” in which Aptera accepted community funding investments from reservation holders willing to fork over a minimum of $10,000. Those who invested in Aptera have had their deliveries prioritized with commemorative Launch Edition builds – the first to be built in 2025.
This past February, Aptera relayed that all 2,000 initial production slots had been spoken for, raising nearly $34 million. Despite that influx of cash, Aptera’s co-founders divulged that more funding would be required to scale, and the company had been exploring additional funding streams.
In May, Aptera introduced a new investment opportunity in the form of a self-directed IRA, but less than two weeks later, shared a deadline for crowdfunding opportunities as seeks private funding from FinTech investment firms like US Capital.
Per an email sent to reservation holders and newsletter subscribers, Aptera will close its Regulation A offering on June 30, 2024, capping off three years of crowdfunding that resulted in over $100 million from more than 17,000 investors.
Looking ahead, Aptera still has a long road ahead of it before the masses are driving its potentially revolutionary solar EVs, but its latest SEC filing shows the startup is still very much alive.
Aptera SEC filing: $35.6M in assets and $16.1M in cash
Aptera Motors submitted an Offering Memorandum to the SEC dated May 30, 2024, sharing that it is offering up to $5 million worth of Class B Common Stock (non-voting) at a minimum investment amount of $1,000.
Per the SEC filing, Aptera must raise at least $25,000 by June 30, 2024, in order for any securities to be sold. The listed purchase price per share is $10.50, and the startup is offering perks that vary by the amount of money committed:
- Invest at least $1,000 and receive a $100 coupon toward the purchase price of an Aptera SEV. The coupon can be used for the pre-order reservation fee.
- Invest at least $2,000 and receive a $1,000 coupon toward the purchase of an Aptera SEV.
- Invest at least $10,000 and receive the following:
- 5% discount on a future vehicle.
- Invest $25,000 will receive the following:
- Investors who invest at least $27,000 will receive the following:
- The opportunity to purchase the first Aptera units it delivers to the United Arab Emirates with unique vehicle identifiers for the region.
- Invest $100,000 and have lunch with Aptera co-founders Chris Anthony and Steve Fambro.
Per the SEC filing, Aptera has a priority delivery waitlist in which the first 53 solar EVs will be delivered to the UAE that will go to investors in the Middle East who commit to at least $27,000. This is a separate perk from the 2,000 Launch Edition Aptera SEVs already secured in California. Here are some other pertinent details from Aptera’s SEC filing:
- As of May 25, 2024, the startup had 48,000 SEV reservations with a less than 5% cancellation rate and $11 million in open purchase orders (not debt)
- Its previously announced supply agreements with Yazaki, CPC Group, and CTNS are non-binding.
- As of April 30, 2024, Aptera Motors had $35.6 million in assets and $16.1 million in cash
- Between January 1 and May 19, 2024, it sold 864,580 Class B common shares for $9.1 million.
- Aptera currently has 29 full-time employees.
What’s interesting is through 38 pages of the filing, there is zero mention of US Capital, the potential investor Aptera has been in talks with but has remained extremely vague about.
While production of the Launch Edition SEVs is still targeted for 2025, Aptera shared it won’t scale more until 2026, when it expects an annual output of 20,000 units. Many of the boldened headers in Aptera’s SEC filing detail a tough road ahead, including phrases like “Our auditor has issued a ‘going concern’ opinion” and “We face significant technological and legal barriers to entry.”
Because Aptera’s journey will be so capital-intense in a highly competitive market, it said it will rely heavily on revenue from a single model (the flagship Aptera SEV) and a limited number of them. Previously, Aptera’s co-founders have hinted at plans for additional solar-powered models, but those seem a long way away as the startup continues to claw forward via capital raises and “future fundraising rounds.”
We continuously applaud Aptera Motors for its transparency with the public, so we’re confident the startup will continue to keep investors and reservation holders informed on some of the hurdles detailed above in its monthly updates. We recommend checking out the full Offering Memorandum to see the big picture of where Aptera stands and how it intends to move forward.
If anything, Aptera’s SEC filing shows just how difficult the process is to reach scaled vehicle production unless you have billions of dollars at your disposal. Still, we are very much rooting for the company and hope to get behind the wheel of a production version of the SEV in the future.
As always, you can still reserve an Aptera for $30 off here or visit the company’s investment page to support its attempt at reaching production.
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