Spaceage car start-up nears launch

MONEY SAVER

Aptera's makers are still shopping the car as a money saver despite an initial price tag of between $25,000 and $40,000, depending on whether buyers want an electric, hybrid or traditional powertrain.

"It doesn't matter if gasoline is $2 or $4 a gallon, you are still going to be buying a lot less when you buy our vehicle," Wilbur said.

Aptera will begin shipping its all-electric vehicles to customers in the fourth quarter of this year. The electric version has a 100 mile range per charge and can be recharged by plugging into a regular electric outlet.

The company plans to make about 10,000 cars a year initially, increasing to 100,000 in the next few years. Ultimately, it will employ several thousand people at its facility just north of San Diego, Wilbur said.

Consumer research Aptera performed at the end of last year led the company to believe it will be able to sell many more cars than it originally thought.

"We walked in with one mentality about our what our volume estimates might be, and quite frankly were very happy and surprised and even a little overwhelmed by how positive the reaction was," Wilbur said.

To fund the production rampup, Aptera is actively seeking new investors. The company's early investors include company incubator Idealab, Google Inc's (GOOG.O) philanthropic arm and Esenjay Petroleum, and Wilbur said the company has more than enough money to meet its fourth-quarter production target.

But the U.S. federal government declined to invest. Because of its three-wheeled design, Aptera was excluded from participation in a Department of Energy program that extends low-interest loans to manufacturers of fuel efficient cars.