Photo: Aptera
Two days after we wrote about Aptera’s latest video update, the company released more information about its first factory. It will be built in Carlsbad and will have 77,147 square feet (7,167 square meters). But there are more juicy details in Aptera’s statement: the company is planning an IPO (initial public offering) in 9 to 18 months.
The move will provide additional funds for expansion. However, Aptera will not expand in the traditional way. Instead of having a massive factory producing all its vehicles, the company wants the Carlsbad unit to be the first of many micro-factories. That is something similar to what Riversimple and Gordon Murray Design have conceived.
With a simpler manufacturing process, with no need for gigantic stamping or casting machines, Aptera vehicles can be produced closer to its main markets. Due to the low investment, these factories can employ local workers in multiple locations. The company did not mention how many people each of these micro-factories will hire.
In Carlsbad, the plan is to reach a production of 40 vehicles per day. According to Pablo Ucar, Aptera’s Vice President of Production and Procurement, the first micro-factory will start with a few hundred cars, part of the Paradigm Edition.
As time goes by, it will first reach 250 units per month before the 40 cars per day, representing about 800 trikes per month. Even at full speed, it is clear Aptera will need more micro-factories soon: it already has more than 13,000 pre-orders. At 800 units per month in the best-case scenario, it would take one year and four months just to cope with the vehicles clients have already reserved.
Aptera’s statement also shows that the floor plan we have seen in the video does not correspond to the new plant. Apart from the 77,147 ft² to build cars, it will also have two additional spaces of 16,000 ft² and 8,000 ft² for beta development, R&D, and solar composite manufacturing. The floor plan mentioned two areas of about 1,700 ft² (157.9 m²).
With a simpler manufacturing process, with no need for gigantic stamping or casting machines, Aptera vehicles can be produced closer to its main markets. Due to the low investment, these factories can employ local workers in multiple locations. The company did not mention how many people each of these micro-factories will hire.
In Carlsbad, the plan is to reach a production of 40 vehicles per day. According to Pablo Ucar, Aptera’s Vice President of Production and Procurement, the first micro-factory will start with a few hundred cars, part of the Paradigm Edition.
As time goes by, it will first reach 250 units per month before the 40 cars per day, representing about 800 trikes per month. Even at full speed, it is clear Aptera will need more micro-factories soon: it already has more than 13,000 pre-orders. At 800 units per month in the best-case scenario, it would take one year and four months just to cope with the vehicles clients have already reserved.
Aptera’s statement also shows that the floor plan we have seen in the video does not correspond to the new plant. Apart from the 77,147 ft² to build cars, it will also have two additional spaces of 16,000 ft² and 8,000 ft² for beta development, R&D, and solar composite manufacturing. The floor plan mentioned two areas of about 1,700 ft² (157.9 m²).
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