The year was 2006. Electric cars were nothing more than vaporware, or just promising but limited one-off science experiments like the General Motors EV1 or Toyota RAV4 EV—and even those had been shelved years ago. The Tesla Roadster was still years away. Still, climate change was on everyone’s minds, as was American energy independence amid spiking gas prices and wars in the Middle East. A few players were still working hard on decarbonizing transportation in novel ways.
The Aperta was another rethink of the gas-powered car. It promised motorcycle-like fuel economy from a car shape, by adopting airplane-like principles to reduce drag and achieving a crazy high 330 MPG figure at 65 mph with a diesel engine, according to the company’s founders. None of this would ever come to be, though; that iteration of the company failed by 2011.
That wouldn’t be the last act for the pseudo-flying car, though. The name and concept would be resurrected at least twice more (once under Chinese ownership) before the original co-founders Chris Anthony and Steve Fambro took the reins and relaunched “Aptera Motors” in 2019.
Gallery: Aptera CES 2025
Aptera has been cooking since then, as it has been since the George W. Bush years. It returned to CES in 2025 with a similar, but streamlined silhouette. It still had the same tri-wheel design with airplane-like aerodynamic principles. But this time, the fantastical 330+ mpg from its 12 horsepower diesel was thrown out for all-electric power—aided by solar panels that covered the car’s teardrop-shaped body. Fambro and Anthony made claims that the car would never need to be recharged because it could get 40 miles of driving range directly from the sun.
Supposedly, it’s the world’s first production solar-powered car. That’s a bold-ass claim.
CES gave me the space to get acquainted with Aptera’s wares. I got some seat time with both its production-intent static (non-functional) model, as well as a ride-along in the passenger seat of an interior-less unit used during the model’s validation testing.
Even after a ride along, I still have questions, concerns, and comments about this three-wheel mobility device. Sure, I know that the car is a real thing that can move under its power. But there are some looming questions about this car’s use case that I’m not sure people inside of the Apetera investor and employee bubble see.
Aptera’s stand outside of the CES Las Vegas Convention Center concourse struck quite a contrast with its other “startup” neighbor: Scout Motors.
Whereas Scout is going the (somewhat) conventional route with a retro-inspired truck and SUV, Aptera’s sci-fi body and mini-aircraft look remain captivating. Xpeng may have shown up with a “flying car,” which was a drone that fits into the back of a purpose-made van, the Aptera looks like it’s a prop shaft and rotor away from serving as a futuristic air taxi from the 2001 movie A I.: Artificial Intelligence. I don’t blame the lady standing next to me for not understanding that the Aptera did not fly.
Aptera says the unit on display was its “Delta” version of the prototype. The styling is about the same as it’s been since the brand came back on the scene in 2019, meaning, it still has the three-wheel layout, complete with outboard wheels. The body is covered in solar cells, and the car is a two-seater. The interior, design work, and finishes were complete, and I was told that this was pretty close to what buyers should receive when they take delivery of the car by the end of 2025.
At least, in theory. The static model on display at CES was a body-in-white prototype with no functional powertrain. I was told the design and materials were pretty much what we’d expect from the production model, but key parts of the car didn’t work yet. For example, the unit’s solar panels on the trunk lid weren’t connected to the actual car’s battery system. The interior door latch buttons didn’t work, so when I closed the door of the prototype to get a better feel of the interior, another Aptera PR person had to open the door for me. The door’s exterior release was finicky, too – knock twice on the B-pillar, and the door will release. The car didn’t respond to the first four knocks.
Still, I’m willing to let that slide. Early build prototypes are often rife with teething and build quality issues. The car ain’t done yet, and even Aptera was clear on that. I hope for their own sake they improve those interior materials because they feel more akin to an off-road UTV rather than a traditional car.
Solar Powered, Huh?
Aptera claims that its three-wheeler can be effectively solar-powered, but keep in mind there’s an asterisk on those numbers. Aptera said that drivers average about 29 miles per day. Aptera says that its solar panels can generate 40 miles worth of driving per day, when parked outside—effectively removing the need for charging for most drivers.
That sounds cool, but Aptera relies on some interesting math to back up that claim. Aptera says that the car can generate up to 4 kWh when parked outside in a full sunny, sun-belt California-Arizona-Nevada, 12-hour day. Thus, Anthony says the vehicle will average 10 miles per kWh to get that 40-mile range. That 10 miles per kWh seems to be the basis of Aptera’s huge range claims; it says its 25 kWh battery entry-level model will be able to travel up to 250 miles, extrapolated out from that 10 miles per kWh goal.
Aptera says that the model is super light and super aerodynamic. They claim a drag coefficient of as little as 0.13, much of that due to the car’s streamlined teardrop shape and outboard-covered wheels that help it cut through the air. Aptera also claims that the floorpan of the vehicle is the largest single-piece carbon fiber tub ever created. In all, the car is said to weigh at max 2,200 lbs in its heaviest form.
These might be cool technical innovations, but those numbers are a very high bar to reach. If this is true, then the Aptera would be the most efficient EV on sale, although it’s technically not legally a car.
Aptera offered me a ride-along in a prototype about a 5-minute walk from the Las Vegas Convention Center. This example was missing a lot of parts, it had the same structure and most of the design as the production-intent prototype on display, but was missing an interior, and the front wheel spats that improve aerodynamics. Oh, and also the power steering wasn’t working.
I took my ride along with grace, the driver was adamant that the car’s software and suspension validation weren’t complete. The car felt as stable and as swift as any four-wheeled car on the road, there’s not a hell of a lot to say about a quick 5-minute spin around Las Vegas’s flat, traffic-laden streets. The ride quality was okay, albeit far more brittle than you’d expect from the Aptera’s targeted $40,000 price tag.
Is This Too Good To Be True?
It’s nice to see signs of life from Aptera after so long, even in this early build state. However, I can’t help but question Aptera’s “never-charge-Solar-EV” claims. Let’s just do the math here.
In order for the Aptera to hit its targeted 4 kWh per day maximum power generation target, it would need to generate an average of 333 watts per hour, from the sun, assuming an exceptionally ideal 12-hour daily sunny day. This doesn’t take into account any sort of charging losses present from moving that energy from the panel to the car’s battery pack. Anthony said the 186 solar cells can generate as much as 700 watts.
While in the passenger seat, I watched one one-meter show of the wattage the Aptera was generating while driving. At its peak, it hit 164 watts, for about a second or two, but mostly hovered around the 45-100 watt mark. It doesn’t take a mathematician to notice that isn’t enough to hit the Aptera’s 4 kWh, 40-mile goal. Anthony claimed the Aptera had driven more on solar than battery power, but we can only take his word for it.
It’s hard to say where Aptera goes from here. It’s certainly still raising money, which is part of why it went to CES. It’s back to forms of crowdfunding, and in November, it reported to the Securities and Exchange Commission that it has about $18 million in cash or equivalents but a great deal more debt, as is common of many startups. But it takes a lot more to build a car than that; Aptera said it’s looking to raise about $60 million to produce 100 to 200 launch-edition vehicles in 2025.
I’m not saying that the car’s a complete sham because it isn’t. It looks like the car’s solar panels do tangibly contribute to the vehicle’s power and range in ways that offer real utility. It’s light and interesting, even if the car’s status as a three-wheel autocycle means that it skirts some of the laws and safety standards that apply to a four-wheeled car.
Gallery: 2025 Aptera
I don’t want people to get the wrong idea here, thinking that the Aptera is a sort of perpetual motion machine, one where it can recharge as it moves, solely from the sun. The “Solar EV” claim seems to hinge on the idea that it will hit 4 kWh solar charging goal, and 10 mile per kWh efficiency goal. As clever as some of Aptera’s tech is, I don’t know if I’ve seen enough from this brand to confidently say that it can hit those goals.
And then there’s the question of whether the Aptera car is the right “green” car for the moment or not. It was interesting that it was parked next to Scout Motors at CES. One of those “startups” feels in tune with where things are going—electrified versions of cars people know and love like SUVs and trucks, developed with industry-best software tech—and the other feels like it’s still trying to be the answer to Iraq War gas price spikes. Can Aptera find an audience in this decade? That may end up being the biggest question of all.
Contact the author: Kevin.Williams@InsideEVs.com
