TV News Story by San Diego NBC Station

[John O]

Before I signed up I got my friend who lives in Carlsbad to visit Aptra and see if they were real. He saw this on the news last night...

http://video.nbcsandiego.com/player/?id=232457

It's only 1:11, but it is good to see local news covering them.

Here's the MSNBC article:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23785536/

I was surprised that they said that they only had 1120 preorders. I thought the number was higher already. As of Feb 3rd, they gave me production slot 1198!!!

John O

[KarenRei]

Remember that they did purge a whole bunch of out-of-staters a while back.

[John O]

I asked them why they were just up to 1120 when I had number 1198 and I got a reply! Either there's news about to be released, or she's "shining me on".

Here's the e-mail thread (read up from the bottom):

From: family <family@aptera.com>
Date: Wed, Mar 26, 2008 at 12:11 PM
Subject: RE: Your Aptera Reservation Confirmation

Hello,

Unfortunately, I am unable to provide you with that information at this time. When we get closer to production, we will assign approximate build dates based on your production slot, our roll-out locations, and whether you chose the "All Electric" or "Plug-in Serial Hybrid" option.

You will be receiving an update very very soon, so stay tuned.

Thanks again,
emily mizutani | aptera
client relations
carlsbad, ca 92010

-----Original Message-----
From: John Overstreet
Sent: Wednesday, March 26, 2008 10:47 AM
To: family
Subject: RE: Your Aptera Reservation Confirmation

Emily,

Thank you for your reply. Would you please look me up (1198) and let me know what my "actual" production number is? That would be really nice to know.

Can you give me any other tidbits of news about development? I'm dying to know more...

Thank you,
John O

-----Original Message-----
From: family <family@aptera.com>
Date: Wed, Mar 26, 2008 at 9:45 AM
Subject: RE: Your Aptera Reservation Confirmation
To: John Overstreet

Hello,

Thanks again for reserving an Aptera Typ-1!

I apologize. You have not been bumped off the list and we are on track to begin production on time. The reason for the difference in numbers is that we had a lot of out of state residents who signed up for reservations in the past that we have refunded. We have since changed the reservation page to make it harder for that to happen. So, in actuality, you are higher on the production list than your number states. Based on planned production estimates, we plan on filling your order by late summer 2009. Unfortunately, I am unable to provide a specific date at this time, but we will grant approximate build dates in the future.

We appreciate your order and will be receiving a newsletter update very soon!

Best regards,
emily mizutani | aptera
client relations
carlsbad, ca 92010

From: John Overstreet
Sent: Tuesday, March 25, 2008 9:40 PM
To: family
Subject: Re: Your Aptera Reservation Confirmation

Hi,

I was wondering if you could answer one little question for me. On Feb 3rd I was assigned production slot 1198 (see e-mail below). On the KNSD news story last night (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23785536/) they said that you had 1120 pre-orders. Did I get bumped off the list without know it? Even if the first 78 production units are not going to be sold, surely there have been more pre-orders than mine since the beginning of February...

Can you help calm my fears? Are you still on track to deliver mine? What is the current delivery estimate?

Sorry, this is more than the one question I started out with, but I (like others who have pre-ordered) are very excited about being Aptera owners.

Thank you,
John Overstreet

On Sun, Feb 3, 2008 at 9:44 PM, Aptera Motors, Inc. <sales@aptera.com> wrote:

John Overstreet,

Thank you for your reservation! You are now part of the Aptera family. Below are the details of your order.

Regards,
The Aptera Motors Team

----------------------------------------------------------------
Aptera Reservation Details:
First Name: John

<SNIP>

Typ1 Options Chosen:
Electric/Hybrid: Hybrid
Production Slot: 1198

We are available at this email address if you were to have any questions or comments: family@aptera.com.

[KarenRei]

I like the sound of that "very, very soon" remark ;) Think it's going to be the site that lets us customize our vehicles? Ooh, I hope so :)

[APTERA 2356]

OOH I am guessing it will be 2010 before I get mine... I hope the old car will last that long.

[Kratos Aurion]

Why is the Per-order a CA only thing why can’t out of staters do it? It Shows that people out of CA want one to.

[mmalc]

Why is the Per-order a CA only thing why can’t out of staters do it?

See Aptera's FAQ (http://www.aptera.com/ask.php) (GENERAL > Why are you selling the Aptera only in California?).

[FunkyIT]

IS the CA only release because of the market or some obscure law or a business choice.

Not that this is a 3 sided argument or anything :)

[Kratos Aurion]

Well ok as long as they plan on sending some my way sometime in the near future. Tell then ill be saving some cash :D

[Nigel]

From what I've read Aptera is releasing the car in CA only because they simply do not have any way to service the car for out of state customers.

[Mzbhavn]

well i guess I'll make the camry last a little longer too... 29....posts

[Mzbhavn]

You know what I think they should do to release the car in northern cali. bring the first 10 northern cali. cars to Laguna Seca in Montery and let us drive them. One, it would get us very excited about aptera. Two, it would help avoid accidents once these cars do get released to more owners. (remember the pics of the first testla accident?)......30 posts

[Rat]

From what I've read Aptera is releasing the car in CA only because they simply do not have any way to service the car for out of state customers.
This is certainly a major reason, perhaps the most important, but I think also because they are building it to comply with California law and because it is probably not a good cold-weather vehicle and they want to limit the initial period - what could be viewed as a reality check - to a warm weather environment. That may be why the three initial areas they mention will be their release points, San Diego, LA and Bay Area are all coastal. No mention of Sacramento, Tahoe, Eureka, Redding, etc.

[KarenRei]

Honestly, I think the main reason they're limiting is because they can. They simply aren't going to have the production to meet all of their demand for a good while. Might as well keep the car near where you can service it when you have an essentially unmeetable demand for the next few years even there.