Chris Anthony shows he knows why Aptera is different

[neomaxcom]

A couple of weeks ago "The Current Review" ... a small 175 subscriber group interview show ... had Chris Anthony on and in my opinion, he raised the right questions in this conversation.

[George Hughes]

I'm amazed at the venues that Chris and Steve have appeared but not as amazed as I am at what they're saying.

In the interview above, Chris emphasizes that Aptera is not an automobile company; it is a vehicle company ... and that distinction is what freed them to develop a vehicle with minimal requirements of capital investment because of the way it was designed to be assembled. Out was the metal forming plants and paint facilities which cut environmental concerns. Outsourcing components in the form of sub-assemblies simplified production, examples being the CPC CFSMC bodies and the vitesco power train.

Chris convincingly points to Aptera's small part count and simplified manufacture and notes dramatic improvements in reliability and low maintenance that mean traditional auto dealers who depend on service for profits are actually hostile toward the brand.

And then he makes the bold prediction that a system of manufacturing and sales will arise to complete the task of building 3 million Aptera by 2033.

To me Chris is setting us up for a fairy tale: Sleeping Beauty comes to mind. You know the one where Sleeping Beauty is awaked by the kiss of a prince ... and you get the idea that he feels destined to meet, maybe a prince, that will take Aptera to the promised land over the rainbow and ...

It is in another way a shot at landing a new, large partner. Some have suggested Elon but Elon has no interest in Aptera - it is too honest. Some others have wondered about Lucid or Rivian as a partner for Aptera.

I think the objections Chris voiced in this interview make it unlikely he would fall for any path leading toward traditional autodome.

CES is where retail ideas and buyers come. A low-maintenance, high-quality, money-saving consumer targeted retail vehicle could be sold at retail. Crosley sold a bunch in his stores and Sear's Kaiser was another 'retailer' brand. All suffered from high maintenance and/or low quality and retailers only entered the market after WWII when demand was enormous.

In the book I'm writing I'm suggesting that a utility serving a suburban community wants to buy a fleet of special 1000 mile Aptera with the intent of using their batteries and solar capabilities, as part of their community emergency preparedness. They want so many in my book that they partner with Aptera for a new plant like Carlsbad. The idea is that the big-battery Aptera could be used as battery storage for solar and for other electric rate arbitrage ... plus by leasing these to its utility customers, they could get grant money for cutting carbon emissions by encouraging lessees to drive, baby, drive ... the Aptera instead of their other (ice) cars. By putting out 10,000 leased Aptera with no mileage restrictions, the utility displaced the carbon output of 15,000 vehicles as consumers would look at the zero incremental cost of taking the Aptera vs. the 22 cent a mile penalty for cranking up the pickup or commuting in the escalade. The good old boy's think they're putting one over racking up the miles on the EV while the Escalade sits pristine, in the garage.

The real trick in that scenario is the utility sees the future of transportation and also recognizes that the CPC body is reusable and rebuildable over time, each new improvement restarting the capital depreciation on the fleet while keeping the overall 'value' of the Aptera owned by the leasing company very near the original ante. The real play here for the leasing company is that in a few short years you will be able to take an off-lease Aptera and refurbish its interior and add autonomous operation and a credit card swiper and you've got a solar powered robotaxi still capable of doing electric rate arbitrage and power a widow's home for two weeks when she was knocked off the grid. '

The trick is in the leasing and getting the finance folks to grasp the benefits of a multi-generational vehicle in the general scheme of transportation as a service. And if that doesn't float your boat, then we can stop at the first stage of the program which is low-cost $100-200 /mo no-mileage limit five year leases that require that the vehicles be grid-tied a percent of the time as the utility is using the 100kw battery in the vehicle you leased from them to sell power it loaded into your leased vehicle the night before at a contract rate much lower than peak rates and that's why your company gave you special parking and other perks.

[George Hughes]

Again, the pressure is on. Here's a video from two days ago talking about later today (the third day).



Thanks Chad for heightening the stakes.