Aptera Motors, a startup company that develops solar electric vehicles, announced today that it has received encouraging news in the form of a grant from the California Energy Commission (CEC) of $21 million.
As one of the several startups still attempting to measure the sustainable technology for the masses effectively, Aptera is one of the few companies to receive the grant, which comes as welcome news for the company as it works toward reaching scaled production of its namesake solar electric vehicle.
Electrek reports that the other solar electric vehicle industry startups fail or maneuver their businesses apart from EV manufacturing, Aptera Motors keeps pursuing what its competitors could not accomplish: scaled SEV series production.
Aptera’s Launch Edition solar EV
The significant introduction of Aptera’s Launch Edition solar EV in January marked a major step forward for the company on its protracted path toward achieving this objective.
Although the technology that will debut on the Launch Edition Aptera appears to be beyond promising in terms of unmatched range and aerodynamics, the company co-founders shared that large amounts of extra funding still were needed for production, which is still at least a year away.
A week later, the company released a crowdfunding campaign called Accelerate Aptera to collect an additional $20-$50 million to assist in propelling its technology toward production.
This ingenious campaign asks its passionate community of reservation holders to donate at least $10,000 to the cause as part of a funding competition, complete with a leaderboard that gives priority for first SEV deliveries to whoever donates the most money.
The Accelerate program has raised close to $8 million in funding and guaranteed production slots for 544 reservation holders, with the current leader investing more than $1 million.
The co-founders of Aptera announced that the company had earned a grant for $21 million while they announced the crowdfunding campaign. However, it was almost certain that the company would receive the grant because the procedure would be finished in February or March.
Aptera has clarified that it will receive an official state grant award in California. This grant, in conjunction with the company’s Accelerate program, will assist the startup in moving closer and closer to the point where it can begin scaled production of SEVs.
The SEV production at Aptera Motors is making significant headway.
Greenhouse gas emission reduction
The newly established company announced in a press release that it had been awarded a grant of $21 million, which will go toward funding its Solar Mobility Manufacturing Project in California.
Aptera was given the money by the California Energy Commission to support the project, which involves reducing cumulative greenhouse gas emissions while producing components and vehicles within the state (GHGs).
“Aptera represents California’s innovative and entrepreneurial spirit when it comes to electric vehicles, harnessing the power of the sun to go further on truly zero-emission solar energy. The Energy Commission is proud to fund Aptera to manufacture the world’s first mass-produced, three-wheeled solar car. Meeting California’s goal to zero out pollution from transportation over the next 15-25 years will require innovation and thinking outside the box.”
Patty Monahan, the commissioner of the CEC
The grant will function as a refund program, which means that Aptera will need to make qualified transactions (production equipment, machines, etc.) up to $21 million with its own money before the CEC pays the company back afterward.
Accelerate Aptera program
Nevertheless, fresh funding is exciting news for both the employees who are hard at work at Aptera HQ as well as those reservation holders who are looking forward to getting behind the wheel of one of the first production model SEVs.
“Working with the CEC enables us to produce grid-free, carbon-neutral solar mobility while creating new jobs for all Californians (targeting 10% in underserved communities). Our over-arching goal is to meet the demand for our solar electric vehicles to have a real impact on climate change, sharing in CEC’s ultimate mission.”
Co-founder and co-CEO Chris Anthony
Aptera Motors plans to increase its production of SEVs in California by relocating its customized in-wheel motor manufacturing from Europe to the United States once the company has achieved sufficient scale.
The date of March 26, 2023, has been set aside as the closing date for the Accelerate Aptera program. From then on, we will obtain the final investment total from reservation holders, which will be added to the $21 million already awarded.
See Also:
- Aptera Motors introduces three-wheeled EV that offers up to 60km through solar energy alone
- Aptera ready to adopt DC fast charging for its solar EVs in future
- Aptera unveils the Launch Edition of its tri-wheel electric vehicle
- Aptera to use Tesla’s charge connector in its solar electric car
- Tesla reportedly cancels several solar projects, possibly downsizing
