Another electric car manufacturer has hit hard times in light of the struggling economy with Aptera forced to delay the launch of its 2e electric vehicle.
The three-wheel car, which looks extremely futuristic, some would say like a science project, has been in the works for some time but turning a prototype into a car that can be sold to the public has proved difficult. Now, the company has delayed the launch date until late 2009 – a year later than originally planned.
The San Diego based company outlined reasons for the delay in a letter to consumers. The letter went as far as to state that while the founding team had been adept at designing and engineering the prototype, they didn’t have much experience in developing a car that meets consumer demand.
There has now been a concerted effort to boost the company’s management team with experienced representatives that can build and market production cars. The company is concentrating on more consumer friendly features – such as roll-up windows that were excluded from the initial plans.
The company will bring its first vehicle off the production line on January 16, but this will only be used as a test vehicle. Production of retail models won’t begin until October 1.
Indeed Aptera is also requesting that consumers give it a vote of confidence to help it gauge demand. If consumers volunteer to convert their refundable $500 deposits into non-refundable down payments to ‘lock in’ their orders it will reward them with an additional $250 credit toward the purchase price of the cars.
The company is quick to reassure customers that the deposit money will be held until the purchase of the vehicle begins – it will not be used as a source of additional operating funds.
