Aptera price -- new info

[KarenRei]

So, I emailed the contact at the bottom of that press release the other day that said $30k for the Aptera, asking about the contradiction in the article and the website. Here's what I got:

Karen - Thanks for your message. Yes, the price is going to be about
30K...most likely under in the range of 26,900, and production will begin in
last quarter with rollout of the actual vehicles on the road in Dec. But I
agree the messages should be consistent across all media! We are going to
update the site. Thank you very much for your email! T

[KarenRei]

To sum up the timeline, based on what I've gathered:

Tours and test drives "June-ish". Given that the factory won't be in production yet, we'll be driving one of the Mk-1 prototypes and seeing the factory getting set and the problems on each part line worked out. It seems possible and even likely to me that by then the Mk-1 prototypes will have been retrofit to resemble the final production model -- i.e., rolling windows, proper bucket seats, etc.

The site says production in October. This says production in Q3. So, that matches up. Whether they can achieve that, who knows; I'll give them 50-50 odds.

They say rollout in December. That leaves only two months for things like crash testing. I have no experience in this field, so I can't say how long that takes.

My production expectations: They'll manage to have at least Steve's Aptera (I assume he's the first) made in some way or another out of parts produced, in some way or another, in their new factory, so that they can claim to have met this benchmark. In '09, production will start out very slow thanks to all the usuall production glitches that pop up, but steadily increase throughout the year. I.e., I expect it to be pretty similar to Tesla. Hopefully without an equivalent to Tesla's transmission problem

My price expectations: They'll do everything they can to stop the price from going over $30k. This may mean turning some things that they'd like to be standard into options if they hit serious cost overruns. Given how late in the game this is, I don't think the price is going to move up too far from the $26,900 mark, to be quite honest.

[butter]

"Yes, the price is going to be about
30K...most likely under in the range of 26,900..."

Did the person leave out a comma between "under" and "in"? Otherwise it doesn't make much sense to me -- what does "most likely under in the range" mean? And even if the person meant "yes, 30k, but most likely it will be under that, in the range of 26,900," that still basically says what we've already known, so how would a website change be needed?

[KarenRei]

It looks like she left out a comma. It didn't bother me. As for what we've already know, the article said $30k (no wiggle room), and the website said $26,900 (no wiggle room), so some people were wanting to know if this was a price change. Instead, it just seems to be a statement of price flexibility -- which you'd expect.

[pk-sd]

How can they say "in/under" the rage of $26,900 and $30K are the same thing? There is a difference of $3,100(not small change).

Also is $30k for that for the electric version or hybrid? We already knew that electric was $26,900 and hybrid $30k.

If electric is $30k, you can be sure, hybrid might be around $35k.

[SpyderMike]

here is a little more on schedule (from another Aptera Forum):

"Emily Mizutani of Aptera client relations wrote me a polite but
disappointing letter refunding my deposit this morning. She has
assured me that current orders will be delivered in 2009 and a new
facility producing 10,000 units per year will open by 2010. At that
time I can purchase one and drive it out of the state. "

[Apteratude]

Originally Posted by KarenRei

...They say rollout in December. That leaves only two months for things like crash testing. I have no experience in this field, so I can't say how long that takes.

Being that it's classified as a motorcycle, I would think that all their crash testing will be voluntary, as motorcycles to my knowledge have no crash test standards to meet. I'm sure they'd like to reassure their customers that it is safe, but legally, I don't think they'll have to.

[Chupacabra]

if you round to the nearest ten thousand dollars, 26,900 is 30k. i'm not suprised at the ambiguity of the numbers when the car isn't in production yet. they don't have the full costs of their vehicles figured, how can they set a price and stick with it? they'll set it too high and either put off buyers, or set it too low and lose money and go under.

i'm with karen on this, they'll do everything in their power to keep it under 30k. there's just this mental barrier there. even though its not that much price difference if the car had been priced 32k, i would have mentally thought too much for that thing and not put down a deposit.

what's the link to the other aptera forum?

[KarenRei]

Also is $30k for that for the electric version or hybrid? We already knew that electric was $26,900 and hybrid $30k.

I specifically asked about the Typ-1e.

Being that it's classified as a motorcycle, I would think that all their crash testing will be voluntary, as motorcycles to my knowledge have no crash test standards to meet. I'm sure they'd like to reassure their customers that it is safe, but legally, I don't think they'll have to.

You're right -- it's not required. But they've stated that they are going to do it anyways. It's a good philosophy to take, in my opinion -- just saying "trust me, it'll be safe" doesn't work as well for a startup with a radical design as it does for a big car company with same-old, same-old.

SpyderMike: Thanks for the info. I *figured* they had expansion plans, but it's nice to see them quantified. And 10k/year is nice volume, too. But if they can sell vehicles as well as they have been, this early on, in CA alone (with just a few exceptions ), that's probably a reasonable number. Might need to expand even for worldwide sales.

[swinti]

30k is that the ex-factory price or the public selling price? Nobody has jet mentioned the marketing and dealer structure and the normal margin for this chain. Car importers normally have a discount of about 50 %.
That means ex factory 15k!

50 % for what?
* transport
* custom and import taxes
* general marketing
* stock and spare parts stock
* training in marketing and maintenance for local dealers
* transport to local dealer
* local dealer discount
* local marketing
* customer discount up to 10 %
* VAT
* ????

Still 30k or maybe 60k?