Aptera April update: ‘Artemis’ feature-complete pushes forward, first solar deliveries, and a new partnership [Video]

As anticipated, Aptera Motors has shared its monthly progress update for April, complete with new progress across its business strategy. In the video you can view below, Aptera’s co-founder Chris Anthony details the progress of two more production-intent solar EV builds, including codename “Artemis,” and discusses the startup’s latest investment opportunities to secure one of the first production builds.

Aptera continues to trek forward as the little motor that could in the lonely world of solar EV startups. At the end of each month, Aptera shares a progress update detailing its latest milestones. In recent months, we’ve seen the company perform real-world testing, which included the first road trip in one of its production-intent builds, which traveled over 300 miles.

This month, Aptera co-founder and co-CEO Chris Anthony shared progress updates on two more production-intent builds, including PI4, codenamed “Artemis.” Before we dig into that tech, we want to recap some financial news the company shared in mid-April.

As reported in December 2024, Aptera announced a return to a crowdfunding strategy after an unsuccessful attempt at an investment round selling convertible notes with the help of US Capital Global. At the time, Aptera shared that prospective investors could once again purchase shares in the startup priced at $14.80 each, requesting a minimum investment of $1,000.

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Last month, Aptera sweetened the deal with a promotional update to its investment program, offering a price-match discount coupon valid toward purchasing a Launch Edition Aptera. For example, if you invest $1,000, you get $1k off your SEV purchase, a $5,000 investment equals a $5k coupon, and so on, up to $10,000.

Additionally, the first 1,000 investors who commit $5,000 or more will be added to a priority SEV delivery waitlist, but that’s after Aptera completes the initial 2,000 deliveries promised through its previous crowdfunding venture, the Accelerator Program.

Chris Anthony shared details of this latest investment opportunity and the progress of the rest of Aptera’s business in its April update.

April ended with several new Aptera updates

During Aptera’s April update video, Chris Anthony shared that over 400 SEV believers have already committed at least $5k to Aptera’s latest investment program, securing priority delivery status (if the startup makes it to that milestone).

While the company still has approximately 600 slots to fill, securing 40% of its desired investors in less than a month shows that there is still a loyal following of everyday consumers who believe in solar EV technology. Speaking of that, the April update also included a closer look at Aptera’s latest production intent model, PI4, or “Artemis.”

In the video below, two employees are working on PI4 behind Anthony, who explained that the company is working to install the complete thermal management system, which was designed entirely in-house, to manage heating and cooling across the solar EV’s components and cabin.

On the software side, Aptera’s team continues to progress in heating and cooling controls on the SEV’s thermal management system and the startup’s proprietary infotainment system, which will be displayed on a 12.8-inch screen from Tianma (seen above). Other features the software team has recently tackled include wiper control, window control, and power steering control.

According to the update video, Aptera is also preparing to begin assembly of PI3, codenamed “Gemini.” Per Anthony, the SEV will include production-weight components that should help achieve even better efficiency numbers than its track vehicle.

Aside from vehicles, Aptera announced that its solar technology venture is currently in production, assembling an order for its first customer. According to an email from Aptera, that initial delivery was recently completed. Per Anthony:

Though this effort is outside of the vehicle program, things like it can help unlock better material pricing and generate early revenue, which helps support our long-term goals as a company. It’s just one of the examples of how we apply efficiency everywhere we can.

To cap off the update video, Aptera’s co-founder shared plans for several road trips across the continental US this summer, beginning in California before visiting the Midwest, followed by states like Florida and New York. Looking ahead, Aptera has promised a video showcasing its thermal management system and a public event involving Artemis.

One last tidbit that wasn’t in the video was news that Aptera had signed a new partnership with Inmotive Inc. to “explore opportunities for increased efficiency and sustainability in solar-powered transportation.” Per a release, Aptera and Inmotive will work together to integrate the latter’s Ingear two-speed transmission into future solar electric vehicles.

That’s all for now. If you’d like to watch the full update video from Aptera yourself, you can do so below!