2/4/2010 - Aptera Faces More Than Leadership Troubles After... - earth2tech.com

[Matthijs]

http://earth2tech.com/2010/02/04/aptera-faces-more-than-leadership-troubles-after-founders-official-exit/



Just a few months have passed since three-wheeled vehicle developer Aptera Motors announced one of its co-founders, Chris Anthony, would be “stepping aside from day-to-day activities,” and the other co-founder, Steve Fambro, would be taking an extended vacation amid rumors the pair were oustered in a boardroom showdown (http://earth2tech.com/2009/11/16/aptera-founders-ousted-in-showdown-with-auto-vets-report/). Now Aptera says Fambro won’t be returning to work, after all. According to a newsletter Aptera sent out this week, he “will leave the day to day operations as CTO and head of Advanced Concepts to rededicate his time and attention toward pushing new and breakthrough technology.”
It’s not uncommon for the reins to change hands at a startup — the idea-generating go-getters with the vision to create a company aren’t always those who want (or who investors want) to manage the business as it grows.....



HIT THE LINK FOR THE FULL ARTICLE>>>THANKS (http://earth2tech.com/2010/02/04/aptera-faces-more-than-leadership-troubles-after-founders-official-exit/)


......And the highly unusual, ultra-aerodynamic design of Aptera’s inaugural model could be a saving grace if it comes to market relatively late in the game — nothing quite compares to the 2e. But if the company hopes to follow through on Fambro’s plan, described in 2007, to ultimately deliver “more mainstream” products, the heat’s on. In a few years, going “mainstream” with an electric vehicle could mean going head to head with companies like General Motors, Nissan and Toyota.

[virtualeric]

Unless I'm mistaken, this is the same writer that I sited for poor grammar the other day. Same mistakes, same clumsiness in trying to be "clever" with pacing.

[Matthijs]

No that was Camille Ricketts (http://venturebeat.com/author/camille-ricketts/) this is Josie Garthwaite.
(http://earth2tech.com/author/jgarthwaite/)

[aptera1213]

I thought it was a better article. More links. More facts.

This is very important...and should open the eyes of people who think it will be a government conspiracy if Aptera doesn't get a loan:

but approval of the $75 million it’s requested is a long shot. To start, the program’s current budget simply won’t be enough to cover the more than 90 projects that have reportedly requested funding. In addition, as Lux Research senior analyst Jacob Grose told us in December:

“I would imagine that four-wheeled vehicles will continue to get the nod given that, unlike Asia, to date there has been no appetite in the U.S. for electric vehicles with less than four wheels.”

I hope they get a loan, but it surely isn't a given.

and this I've being saying forever...

In a few years, going “mainstream” with an electric vehicle could mean going head to head with companies like General Motors, Nissan and Toyota.

Aptera didn't NEED to be first...but it would have helped. And Aptera was always going to be a niche car. But going against the big boys will make the niche market even smaller.

And I keep hearing the 4000 deposits number. Two things: I wonder what the real number is now. And why hasn't it grown...that 4000 number has been thrown around for 1 year? 2? That seems worrisome.

Gavin

[KarenRei]

It's way less than that now; customers have been dropping like flies.

[aptera1213]

Yeah, I kinda figured that.

Part of me thinks that Aptera wants the deposit holders to all drop out so they can go right to Best Buy on day one. They needed us at first, but now we are holding them back. Best Buy is a bigger "get" for them than a couple of thousand of us.

Another part of me thinks Aptera isn't trying to lose us on purpose, but just through the fact that they are not delivering cars.

And then a third part of me is just a bit hungry and thinks it's time for a late breakfast :)

Gavin

[NeilBlanchard]

Yes, the number cannot be accurate in terms of deposits they are holding. But, they say something like "We have received about 4,000 deposits..." which is technically correct, but it sounds like they are saying they still have that many...

[plainar]

I too am wondering what the latest numbers on reservation holders. I bet half of them have left and not just because of the economy. I also believe that Aptera has lost its market position. There are too many EVs being released in 2010. Aptera, are you niche or mainstream?

[Rembrant]

Matthijs, you really should give some consideration to the concept of copy rights. Your avatar demonstrates where you stand on them and this is the second time in as many days that you have copied an entire story from the net and posted it to the Apteraforums.
Byplug chastised you for it yesterday. Apparently you didn't take it to heart.
Essentially you are stealing from these people.
You can quote a small portion of the story as fair use. You can not copy the entire story. The link is a good idea, it may drive up traffic on the original site. I suspect that most of the people on here search google news on aptera and check things out so maybe it won't make a difference. KarenRei does, she posted the second comment on this story. But she's a writer so maybe she has a better grasp of copy rights.

[aptera1213]

Thanks Rembrant...I will edit it and add another link...

Everyone should link and read the original

Thanks
Gavin

[Matthijs]

Matthijs, you really should give some consideration to the concept of copy rights. Your avatar demonstrates where you stand on them and this is the second time in as many days that you have copied an entire story from the net and posted it to the Apteraforums.
Byplug chastised you for it yesterday. Apparently you didn't take it to heart.
Essentially you are stealing from these people.
You can quote a small portion of the story as fair use. You can not copy the entire story. The link is a good idea, it may drive up traffic on the original site. I suspect that most of the people on here search google news on aptera and check things out so maybe it won't make a difference. KarenRei does, she posted the second comment on this story. But she's a writer so maybe she has a better grasp of copy rights.
I am copying stories with the original link in here for 3 years. No one ever complained. Nice to know that you know where I stand based on one image I used for a avatar. I always use a link to the original story, Twitter the link to the article. Twitter the writers about grammar noticed by forum members. Nice first post btw, just like your first contact moment here.

[CoolWater]

Good Day,

Matthijs, Sorry this is my first post...I'm glad no one has ever complained, but it is a violation of copy right law and in the worst case scenario the site could be closed down and the admin sued if someone were to complain and you ceased to desist.

As to me. I'm a native San Diegan, gave up my gas guzzler 4 years ago and have been commuting by carpool, bus and bicycle ever since. I don't have a deposit down, I discovered Aptera too late in the game to get a low # so figured 'why bother', but I'm holding out on buying anything else on the chance I can one day buy an EV built in my home town and get in on the ground floor of what I think will be the Revolution of our lifetimes away from fossil fuels.

On the broader subject... Aptera has a long road ahead to rebuild good will with the early adopters, but as someone else on another thread noted 2010 is a new year and none of us have any choice but to move forward.

I have hope, no choice but to hope, that 2010 will be a year of more open communication from Aptera and concrete steps toward delivery of a production ready vehicle I'll be proud to own. I don't expect Aptera to deliver this year, but 2011 seems reasonable and if they do deliver several thousand cars by the end of '11 it won't be too late to carve a niche for itself in the EV marketplace.

Here's to believing, naively or not, that the biggest hurdles are behind us and the first waves of Revolution are lapping at our shores:

Cheers!

[KarenRei]

Okay, okay now everyone...

http://www.wired.com/images/article/magazine/1701/st_ice_jet_f.jpg

If you'll pardon the expression. :)

While it may not have been done in the past, it seems a reasonable courtesy to only do excerpts. Matthijs, if someone on the forum has an issue with it, we can do it that way from now on, no? And Rembrant, Matthijs is a long-established, respected poster on this site; let's not make it personal.

Let's all just get along. :) Kumbaya, m'lord, kumbaya....

[aptera1213]

it won't be too late to carve a niche for itself in the EV marketplace.


I am holding out hope too...while still keeping an eye on other coming EVs.

As for carving out a niche...I agree. Sadly Aptera had a team that was ready to deliver a niche car to the public. Somehow the BOD was convinced that the Aptera could be more than niche. That it could be mainstream and sell 100,000 cars a year. That is insane and wrong.

I have always thought that the 2e could sell about 3 to 5 thousand cars a year. I still think they can sell that many come 2011 or 2012....heck Aptera, with that design and all can start up any year and get a few thousand people excited. But the 2e is not, never will be, mainstream.

And if you try and go mainstream, you go up against Toyota, Honda, Nissan, GM, Ford, etc etc.

Aptera had a place. Aptera still has a place. Aptera needs to embrace that place. And that is working hard to get your 2e into 3 to 5 thousand hands each year. Dreaming of 20 thousand sales and then growing to 100 thousand sales is a false dream that will kill the company faster than a lack of communication.

IMHO

Gavin

[Josie Garthwaite]

Thanks for the link, Matthijs. You all are raising some valid questions here (and over in the comments section on the original post) about the most current deposit numbers and I'll see what I can find out.

[Matthijs]

Thanks for the link, Matthijs. You all are raising some valid questions here (and over in the comments section on the original post) about the most current deposit numbers and I'll see what I can find out.

No problem. Welcome to the forum. :biggrin: Great stuff! I think if you can get to the current management and get some real information about the status Aptera is in you can create a very interesting story for sure.

[NeilBlanchard]

I geddit now, Karen -- it took me a moment or two:

Cool your jets!

Yuk, yuk! :happy0005:

[Rembrant]

"No one ever complained."
Actually byplug complained to you about it. I tried to find byplugs post to qoute it but I couldn't find it.

It wasn't byplug that complained it was Brianstorms post of 02-01-2010, 11:51 AM on the thread that Matthijs started on 1/31/2010 - Aptera's Marketing Misfires - brianstorms.com
"Pretty uncool to copy essentially my entire blog post and pop it into the Aptera forum without permission."
And you did it again with the GM electric motor story. Posting everything but the first paragraph=copy right fail.

"Nice first post btw, just like your first contact moment here."
What was my first contact moment here and how do you know about it? For those who don't know it was a privacy concern which you have just validated by confirming you know about it even though you were in no way involved in the "private" conversation.

[KarenRei]

Rembrant:

There was a post in the moderator forum about your case. Matthijs is a moderator. Now let's move on; I think the point about not quoting entire articles has been clearly made. :)

Also, I searched through all of byplug's posts in the past week and a half and didn't see what you're saying.

[Rat]

Unless I'm mistaken, this is the same writer that I sited for poor grammar the other day...
I think you mean "cited."

Sorry, I couldn't resist. Glass house and all that.

[wilsodo]

Josie,
Do you know if the DOE make an announcement concerning the ATVM loans like was suggested yesterday?
Did Aptera win their loan? Any news?

[Josie Garthwaite]

Maybe you're thinking of the announcement from last week, about Nissan closing its loan? I wrote it up over on Earth2Tech, but can't share the link since I haven't posted enough here yet. :)

[wilsodo]

Oh, I missed the date on that. Sorry, Josie. I've been absorbed by the shenanigans of the Aptera Board, what with Steve leaving and all. I thought it might a strategic move on Paul's part to buy out Steve before the company got the award or something.
Any idea of the timetable for these kind of decisions? After all, they allowed themselves $10,000,000 (ten million dollars) to administer this fund. How they can leave Aptera, Bright and others hanging is beyond me. There are so many workers and customers now depending on this. If they didn't intend to disperse the funds, they shouldn't have opened it up for applications. I'm appalled at the way this has been handled. No prejudice intended, I recognize the global nature of business, but as I under stand it, Tesla vehicles are essentially Lotus cars (I do love Lotus) built in England and France (yes I know the loan is for the Sedan), the Fisker will be built in Finland (sure they're going to build the next gen here), and funding Nissan's Leaf will create further havoc with Michigan's dismal hopes for economic recovery.

[10.5]

Matthijs, you really should give some consideration to the concept of copy rights. Your avatar demonstrates where you stand on them and this is the second time in as many days that you have copied an entire story from the net and posted it to the Apteraforums.
Byplug chastised you for it yesterday. Apparently you didn't take it to heart.
Essentially you are stealing from these people.
You can quote a small portion of the story as fair use. You can not copy the entire story. The link is a good idea, it may drive up traffic on the original site. I suspect that most of the people on here search google news on aptera and check things out so maybe it won't make a difference. KarenRei does, she posted the second comment on this story. But she's a writer so maybe she has a better grasp of copy rights.


Tell that to the rest of the Internet.

[SEGsby]

Or China. ;)

Don't be surprised if they copy the Aptera, and claim they invented it first; just like their "Chegway" self balancing scooter:

2uJCs0dvBh4
Chegway Video link (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uJCs0dvBh4)

[Rhodomel]

China do not respect any intellectual property rights. Look how helpless our government is. We complained of country sponsored hack on google but have no fangs to do something about it. Many people complain about quality of Chinese products but then go to walmart and still fill their carts with products from china.

[Rhodomel]

And here we are over blowing issues on copywrongs when the poster have no financial gain whatsoever.

[Rembrant]

I made my point and I have moved on per KarenRei's request.

[plainar]

Oh, I missed the date on that. Sorry, Josie. I've been absorbed by the shenanigans of the Aptera Board, what with Steve leaving and all. I thought it might a strategic move on Paul's part to buy out Steve before the company got the award or something.

Do I detect sarcasm? One of Paul's most stupid moves was to oust Steve before he closed the round and got the DOE loan. BOD? Idealab? Anyone thinking with a clear head?

[KarenRei]

Oh, Paul is right about to close funding. In the same manner that affordable, efficient, mass-market hydrogen cars are just five years away. ;) (singing) "And the Chicago Cubs will beat every team in the league...."