2010 Aptera 2e - Click above for high-res image gallery
Remember Aptera? Well, after the 2e's struggles at last year's Automotive X-Prize competition, Aptera went silent. Now, in Aptera's latest newsletter, the automaker's intentions to relocate have surfaced.
According to the newsletter, Aptera is trying to secure a manufacturing facility outside of California. This means that the automaker's ambitious plans to produce 88 2es a day in San Diego County will have to be scrapped. Aptera spokesman Marques McCammon told Sign on San Diego that:
For now, Aptera's headquarters, research and development center and sales division will remain in Carlsbad, CA. Here's the kicker: Aptera says that no factory will be builtThe economics of the facility we have, we don't think make sense. In fact, we have received some very generous multi-million-dollar incentive proposals from other states. These vast potential savings, coupled with lower structural costs – such as labor, real estate, energy and logistics – would support our goals to keep our vehicles as affordable as possible. We've worked to find similar savings in our North County [San Diego] plans to offset these structural costs without increasing the price of our vehicles, but the potential is stronger elsewhere.
Photos by Drew Phillips / Copyright ©2010 AOL
[Source: Aptera, Sign on San Diego]
Greetings!
Here's a quick update for you as to what's happening at Aptera.
____________________________________________________
Even though we haven't been making much news lately, these are exciting times at Aptera. We will begin rolling-out our four-part strategic update during the next six months, which includes solidifying our final funding and production plans. And while we can't reveal everything right now, here's a glimpse into our near-term future.
We are moving our headquarters from Oceanside to Carlsbad. Yes, we purposely opted to continue residing in North County-San Diego, which has been and will remain Aptera's home for our leadership, administrative, sales and marketing, product development and research functions for the foreseeable future. The Carlsbad site will specifically allow us to grow our engineering and office facility to accommodate several hundred new direct and indirect jobs and, in reality, why would anybody want to leave "America's Finest City?" We love San Diego! It's a growing strategic hub for clean technology thought-leaders, and we plan to be a part of that growth. In fact, we are looking to begin staffing engineering, composites product development and design positions as early as the third quarter of this year.
The key element in our corporate headquarters move is that Aptera management has been exploring the impact of consolidating our production facility plans, from two lower volume plants (one in North San Diego County and one proposed elsewhere in the U.S.), into one higher volume facility outside of California. In fact, we have received some very generous multi-million-dollar incentive proposals from other states. These vast potential savings, coupled with lower structural costs - such as labor, real estate, energy and logistics - would support our goals to keep our vehicles as affordable as possible. We've worked to find similar savings in our North County (San Diego) plans to offset these structural costs without increasing the price of our vehicles, but the potential is stronger elsewhere. This is a change in direction for us, but it is a change that we are happy to make because it supports one of our key objectives...keep our radically efficient vehicles accessible to the masses and made in the United States!
Look for numerous exciting Aptera announcements between now and the end of the year pertaining to job creation, product development, our impressive composites engineering, vehicle designs and funding. So while we're not making much news today...you'll definitely see a lot of forward momentum as we move deeper into 2011. There are a lot of positive happenings at Aptera as we build a company that will prosper for years to come.
Look for pictures of our new facility on facebook Find us on Facebook later today!
Here's a quick update for you as to what's happening at Aptera.
____________________________________________________
Even though we haven't been making much news lately, these are exciting times at Aptera. We will begin rolling-out our four-part strategic update during the next six months, which includes solidifying our final funding and production plans. And while we can't reveal everything right now, here's a glimpse into our near-term future.
We are moving our headquarters from Oceanside to Carlsbad. Yes, we purposely opted to continue residing in North County-San Diego, which has been and will remain Aptera's home for our leadership, administrative, sales and marketing, product development and research functions for the foreseeable future. The Carlsbad site will specifically allow us to grow our engineering and office facility to accommodate several hundred new direct and indirect jobs and, in reality, why would anybody want to leave "America's Finest City?" We love San Diego! It's a growing strategic hub for clean technology thought-leaders, and we plan to be a part of that growth. In fact, we are looking to begin staffing engineering, composites product development and design positions as early as the third quarter of this year.
The key element in our corporate headquarters move is that Aptera management has been exploring the impact of consolidating our production facility plans, from two lower volume plants (one in North San Diego County and one proposed elsewhere in the U.S.), into one higher volume facility outside of California. In fact, we have received some very generous multi-million-dollar incentive proposals from other states. These vast potential savings, coupled with lower structural costs - such as labor, real estate, energy and logistics - would support our goals to keep our vehicles as affordable as possible. We've worked to find similar savings in our North County (San Diego) plans to offset these structural costs without increasing the price of our vehicles, but the potential is stronger elsewhere. This is a change in direction for us, but it is a change that we are happy to make because it supports one of our key objectives...keep our radically efficient vehicles accessible to the masses and made in the United States!
Look for numerous exciting Aptera announcements between now and the end of the year pertaining to job creation, product development, our impressive composites engineering, vehicle designs and funding. So while we're not making much news today...you'll definitely see a lot of forward momentum as we move deeper into 2011. There are a lot of positive happenings at Aptera as we build a company that will prosper for years to come.
Look for pictures of our new facility on facebook Find us on Facebook later today!
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