Or, should we say, nothing else good happened. The company behind the project is still fighting to get its hands on some serious funding, after some of the people who have pledged to get involved jumped ship and despite the Department of Energy's Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing (ATVM) loan program giving it a green light for a loan.
In a somewhat sad letter released today, Aptera expresses its gratitude for those who are still supporting the program and asks for some much-needed financial aid. In case you were wondering what's happening with the company and the vehicle, of course.
“The answer is that we are working to secure the capital necessary to deliver the volume and quality to move the market. We would obviously love to accelerate the process, but the government has to make sure they complete their comprehensive evaluation and we have to let the process run its course,” the Aptera letter reads.
"Both industry and government alike have realized that capital is needed to sponsor the kind of innovation that will lead this country forward."
The Aptera 2e promises to be a 200 mpg vehicle. Its main problem (caused by the lack of funding we mentioned above) is the high price of manufacturing, hence of sale: in between $25,000 and $40,000, depending on the version. Mass production was scheduled to begin in 2010, after the company borrowed $75 million from DoE, but that deadline was obviously missed.
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