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Aptera Delta Update Suggests the Solar Trike Will Also Be Built in Europe

In November, Aptera revealed the body components for its solar trike would be made in Modena. To be more specific, C.P.C. Srl will produce them and send them to the Carlsbad factory in California. However, the latest Aptera video about the vehicle development suggested the solar trike will also be assembled in Italy.
Aptera Delta is the closest one to production so far 36 photos
Photo: Aptera
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At least, that was what Thomas Vecchi stated in the video. C.P.C. Srl’s chief sales director said that “this will be the facility where the vehicle will be assembled.” Considering it will also be manufactured in California, that can be interpreted in at least two ways: a European production plant or some assembly steps that we were not aware of until now.

Aptera has always stressed how simple the trike’s structure is: it is composed of six parts. Until now, we thought that C.P.C. Srl would manufacture them and ship them to the U.S. All the rest would be on Aptera’s. That would allow a much higher amount of components to be exported in the same container, lowering transportation costs. It may not be the case.

When the company detailed its production stations in Carlsbad on a video, Station 2 was the first to present the body-in-carbon (BINC). At that point of the assembly process, the BINC is mated to one of RedViking’s automated guided vehicles (AGVs) and receives the front suspension. The rear one is mounted to the battery pack on Station 1.

If you check the image that presents these stations in our gallery, you’ll notice that the BINC looks almost complete in Station 2. The Aptera’s BINC contains six main components: underbody, sides, roof with windshield frames, rear roof structure, and front structure. This component also presents part of the windshield frame structure and part of the nose.

This part of the front component is almost like a smaller windshield frame in the sense that it has a hole in the middle – as if the Aptera were to have a frunk. In Station 2, the body appears only without this part of the front structure: there is nothing ahead of the bottom of the windshield structure apart from two longitudinal rails.

In the video, there is no workstation dedicated to putting the six body parts together. In other words, it may be the case that it comes from Italy almost in one piece. We’ll ask Aptera if that is correct. If so, we need to know how much that costs compared to only importing the parts.

Supposing that is all true and Vecchi was talking just about this assembly, not the whole car, we’ll ask why that is not the case. After all, Elaphe – Aptera's in-wheel motor supplier – is also in Europe. Local production in the Old Continent would make a lot of sense for those interested in the solar vehicle around there.

In the update video, Aptera also said that the Delta development phase is going well. Once the final design is locked down, the prototypes will undergo validation and crash tests. Approval of the solar trike in those steps will allow the company to present the Launch Edition vehicles. That’s for 2023, but Aptera did not disclose exactly when it expects that to happen.

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About the author: Gustavo Henrique Ruffo
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Motoring writer since 1998, Gustavo wants to write relevant stories about cars and their shift to a sustainable future.
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