Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Good morning everyone. Thank you for joining another episode of the Preferred Way. This is our podcast. Today we are talking with Chris Anthony from Aptera. So good morning Chris, how are you today?
[00:00:13] Speaker B: Good morning. I'm doing great. Another busy day in Aptera.
[00:00:16] Speaker A: Oh yeah. All right. So today a little bit different. So we are always, our investors are always thinking about new ways to invest, new products to invest in. And one thing that came to mind when we decided to do this podcast was to talk with someone from Aptera. So Aptera has this super cool solar electric vehicle that they are producing and so we're going to talk a little bit about that today, how you can invest through a self directed IRA and all about Aptera. So to get us started, why don't you tell us about how Aptera was founded and the inspiration behind its unique approach.
[00:00:58] Speaker B: The original idea for Aptera was actually incepted by Steve Fanbro, my co founder. He had an idea for a vehicle that was efficient for efficiency's sake. And he started getting interested into electric vehicles. And he was wondering why, you know, a VW Bug, for example, is not very energy efficient when it comes to miles per gallon. You would think, hey, it's, it's small, it's curvy, it's light. A VW beetle should be 150 miles per gallon, 200 miles per gallon. But no, they're more like 50 on a good day, 70 if they're really well tuned, you know. But where's all the energy going? Well, if you really look at the energy equation for transportation today, it's really aerodynamics first. So SUVs and sedans today use about 70% of their fuel at highway speeds, just pushing air out of the way. So if you want a very efficient vehicle, the first thing you got to do is make it aerodynamic. And then the second biggest loss is from rolling resistance. It takes energy to deform your tire on every rotation. And the heavier your vehicle, the more.
[00:02:04] Speaker C: Of a penalty that is.
[00:02:05] Speaker B: So if you want an efficient vehicle, you got to make it lightweight. And then the efficiency of your powertrain plays into it. And if you put all those three major things together, aerodynamics, light weighting, efficient powertrain, you can get something that looks a lot different than traditional automotive, but something that gets over 3, 950 miles per gallon equivalent. And that's what we have at Aptera. And we incepted around that idea. And then we developed other cool attributes like our solar charging. We have enough area on top of.
[00:02:36] Speaker C: The vehicle to add about a 700.
[00:02:38] Speaker B: Watt solar package, and that gets you over 40 miles a day of free.
[00:02:44] Speaker C: Power from the sun in Southern California.
[00:02:47] Speaker B: So for most people, you only drive about 30 miles a day. You would never have to plug the Aptera in if you, if you commute.
[00:02:55] Speaker C: Like an average commuter in California. So it's, it's been a big, a big attribute for people to see the.
[00:03:04] Speaker B: Solar charging capabilities, and I think that's.
[00:03:07] Speaker C: Largely the reason why we have almost 50,000 orders for our product now, and.
[00:03:12] Speaker B: We'Re pushing to production and trying to deliver them as soon as possible.
[00:03:15] Speaker A: That's crazy. So tell us, okay, so production, did it start this year? And when do you expect the first vehicle to come out?
[00:03:23] Speaker B: We're, we just started building the first production validation units, and validation will take three to six months.
And then once we're done with validation and calibration, things like ABS and airbags.
[00:03:39] Speaker C: Also fine tuning our drivetrain.
[00:03:42] Speaker B: Once that done, that's done, then we'll start putting the pieces of our assembly plan together. And we're hoping by late next summer.
[00:03:49] Speaker C: You know, end of Q3, maybe Q4, we'll start delivering actual production units to people next year.
[00:03:56] Speaker A: That's awesome. I actually read a little bit about the fact that the vehicle was actually featured in a Star Trek.
[00:04:03] Speaker B: We were in the Star Trek reboot, Star Trek into the Darkness. So if you're quick and you're a hawk, there's a scene where they're going to the Starfleet Academy and the upter is driving around in the background. So it's, it's 1.7 seconds of fame. But we'll, we'll take it. We're also in the, we're also in.
[00:04:24] Speaker C: The latest Jennifer Lopez movie, Atlas.
And we've been animated into shows like the Family Guy.
[00:04:31] Speaker A: That's awesome. Very cool. All right, so why did Aptera choose crowdfunding over the traditional venture capital?
And how has that shaped the company's growth, do you think?
[00:04:44] Speaker B: You know, we always thought, you know, designing for efficiency's sake would be inspiring.
[00:04:52] Speaker C: To a lot of people that just love the thought of, you know, advanced engineering, solving a lot of today's modern problems.
[00:05:00] Speaker B: And, you know, pollution from transportation is a big deal. The cost of people's transportation, it's a big deal. Family spending over 3000, 4000, sometimes $5000 a year just on gasoline to get the family around. So if you can have a vehicle like the Aptera that, that costs nothing to drive because you get all your power free from the sun, it's, it's an Inspirational story. And you know, crowdfunding really only came into existence in like 2019.
[00:05:31] Speaker C: Then the pandemic made for a weird.
[00:05:33] Speaker B: Start for crowdfunding, but now it's well established. But we were one of the front runners of, of how it's done. We've had the most successful crowdfunding in history. We've got over 18, 000 investors in Aptera. And it's really just on the story. People are inspired by the promise of solar mobility and they've been happy to support us, but it really was a function of, we thought we had a really inspirational story. Other companies that maybe don't have an inspirational story but still may have cool tech, think of material science stuff or you know, maybe it's not a consumer product now it's more of a business to business product. Those companies may not find as great a success in crowdfunding as we have, but we have a very visceral vehicle. Almost everybody drives a car so they can identify with driving. They can identify with putting gasoline in it, they can identify with the pain of how expensive it is.
And especially now, a lot of people that really want to be unique. Our customers kind of break out into four different segments.
[00:06:40] Speaker C: We've got a lot of good data.
[00:06:41] Speaker B: Because we have over almost 50, 000 orders now. But it's really, you know, it's a scientist that just loves the engineering. I think, you know, engineers, pilots, it's the environmentalist that loves, you know, the good things that this can do for the planet.
[00:06:57] Speaker C: It's the cost cutters that just love that.
[00:07:00] Speaker B: This thing is basically free transportation, perpetually free transportation in your driveway. But the largest segment of our reservation holders are actually people that just want to be unique.
So in this world of Instagram posts and social media and everybody trying to stand out, if you have a solar powered spaceship in your driveway, you're, you're.
[00:07:23] Speaker C: Probably going to be pretty.
[00:07:23] Speaker A: Yeah, you're surely going to stand out, that's for sure.
[00:07:26] Speaker B: So, you know, it's because of those attributes that I think we've, we've, we've been able to amass over a million social followers over the last couple years.
[00:07:34] Speaker C: And we just keep telling our story, you know, and people, people love what we're doing.
[00:07:39] Speaker A: So, so what does Aptera see for the future of transportation? I mean and, and what's coming down the pipeline and what makes you different from other electric vehicles?
[00:07:51] Speaker B: You know, what we hope for the.
[00:07:52] Speaker C: Transportation industry, as we said, an example that efficiency is meaningful.
The battery pack is the most expensive Part of an electric vehicle, obviously you're carrying your fuel around with you.
[00:08:03] Speaker B: So every ounce of weight you save.
[00:08:05] Speaker C: Every bit of aerodynamics you add, every bit of efficiency you eke out of your powertrain means you can use a smaller battery pack.
[00:08:15] Speaker B: You know, we can go 250 miles.
[00:08:18] Speaker C: On our, our standard small battery pack. That's about what most EVs get today.
[00:08:24] Speaker B: But other EVs are spending, you know.
[00:08:26] Speaker C: 30 to $40,000 on that battery pack because it has to be so big to push these big heavy on aerodynamic vehicles that we're paying five or six thousand dollars for the, the same range battery pack.
[00:08:38] Speaker B: So we just have better, you know.
[00:08:39] Speaker C: Economics and it's all built on efficiency. And the industry is also moving to bigger Americans like size and space.
And you see some of these newer EVs, the, the Hummer EV and you know, lots of the EV pickup trucks and now EV SUVs and they, they're rolling bricks. So they're not aerodynamic, they're super heavy because, you know, you got to have sound insulation and you know, the special things for the family to, so they're enormously heavy. And when you total it all up, some of These are using 800-900-Watt hours per mile. That's EV vernacular for efficiency. We're using 100 watt hours per mile. So you know, the, the big SUVs were using a sixth or an eighth of the energy per mile. And we just see it as, as wasteful for most transportation. Most people in California especially drive alone. So, you know, why do you need a rolling house to get to work 30 miles away?
You know, we think right size transportation is something that hopefully takes a hold in the transportation landscape, but it hasn't happened yet. And we think that delivering on the promise of solar mobility will show the world, hey, people really want this.
[00:09:59] Speaker B: People really like it.
[00:10:00] Speaker C: It fits in people's daily lives. And you can actually have very useful transportation that burns a fraction of the energy per mile, that uses a fraction of the raw materials to make compared to a traditional ev, it just looks a little different. Looks more like a fish than, than a box.
[00:10:18] Speaker A: So when you're talking about investors, if someone's interested in investing specifically, let's talk about a retirement account. How can they go about doing that? I think that's one of the things people are interested in, making alternative investments within their retirement accounts. They're looking to get outside of the stock market. And how do they do that if they're interested, interested in investing in Aptera?
[00:10:38] Speaker C: Well, you know, we have A fabulous partner and preferred trust to help assist people in making those investments. But, but yet you can invest in your IRA and buy stock in Aptera and you become an owner and a sponsor of solar mobility for the masses.
It's, it's a process that you have to kind of step through. It's not as easy as just putting your credit card down for a regular investment, but after some, after some light paperwork, contacting your plan administrator and hooking them up with preferred trust, most people make it through the process in a couple weeks. We've seen. And then you're able to use your retirement account to invest in amazing ideas like Aptera.
[00:11:22] Speaker A: Yeah. So what can investors expect for future communications and progress from Aptera?
[00:11:30] Speaker C: We're very unique in that we have kind of an open book policy.
We, we do constant update video. We have an active discord channel where I answer our fans questions. We put out monthly newsletters.
You know, we, we have a very active community. We have almost a thousand Aptera ambassadors that answer questions on our behalf and host local events and talk about us online.
So you know, information for us is, is, is pretty active. We also have kind of the regulatory compliance where we have to file an annual report and we have semiannual twice annual accounting reporting. So because we're a regulated offering from the sec, there's also some of that compliance stuff that you get to learn about Aptera through. But most people will learn about us through the videos and see the progress updates and get the newsletter and that's how they'll stay in touch. Also, Preferred Trust is available for questions on the actual investment.
And you know what, we're, where it stands, where it's sitting, if what the totals are, that sort of stuff.
[00:12:43] Speaker A: So what about going public? Like that's a big question that we, we sometimes get from investors. Are there plans to go public with it?
[00:12:51] Speaker C: We would like to tie an IPO strategy with the start of production. We're starting production, you know, hopefully in nine months to a year here. So we have put the wheels in motion to start talking about an IPO strategy and hopefully we'll have something to announce closer to the end of the year here.
Take a while to actually get all the paperwork done and get the filings done and stuff to become a public company. But, but that's the aspiration. I've taken three companies public. My last company, Flux Power Lithium Battery Co. Is doing quite well and yeah, I look forward to taking Aptera to that, that level as well. Really. Companies go public to, to, to, to be able to leverage more financing. So we want to have the ability to not just open one plant, but to open eight plants around the world by 2030. We hope to be producing about 150,000 vehicles a year by 2030. And we hope to deliver over a million vehicles by 2033. So, you know, that, that requires capital and a lot of equipment and tooling and, and you know, buildings all around the world. So we will be looking to, to finish our current crowdfunding and convertible note and then go through an IPO process that'll allow us to raise a bit more money.
[00:14:12] Speaker A: Awesome. You kind of answered my next question was, was going to be what do you see Aptera, you know, in the future, five to ten years from now. So you kind of, you kind of answered that. Eight, eight different sites, production sites. That's pretty awesome.
[00:14:24] Speaker C: Yeah, we, you know, we think the more Aptera that we can get on the road, the better it is for the planet. The better it is for people's pocketbooks, the better it is to set an example to the rest of the transportation industry.
[00:14:36] Speaker B: So we're eager to get our vehicles.
[00:14:38] Speaker C: On the road, we're eager to deliver them in mass, and we're eager to spread our, our motto for efficiency around the world as quickly as possible.
[00:14:48] Speaker A: And is there anything like, if an investor is interested, is there anything they should know, anything important when they're looking at getting into the investment? Anything particular that they could consider when they're looking at Aptera?
[00:15:01] Speaker B: You know, I would tell people to.
[00:15:03] Speaker C: Consider all their investments carefully and how they fit into their overall portfolio and investment thesis.
You know, obviously we're still a startup.
We're not cash flowing, you know, operating eight factories around the world yet.
But investing in startups, you know, is something that takes quite a bit of research on your side. So make sure that you feel comfortable investing in our idea of what the future of transportation should be. And we have plenty of public filings out there. You can go through our financials, you can watch tons of videos, you can obviously do research on the industry that we're in and then, then see how we might fit into your portfolio. Talk to your financial advisor, if you have one, and see, see how we might fit. But for a lot of people, it's, they have kind of a risk pool.
[00:15:57] Speaker B: Of capital, They've got a safety pool.
[00:15:59] Speaker C: Of capital, they've got something in bonds. You know, we would be over on the risk side of your capital allocation.
But we've, we've been super humbled by the amount of support We've gotten from the investment community, 18,000 Investors says it all.
You know, I think people, people like our vision for the future of transportation and they've been willing to put their, their real hard earned dollars into us to make it happen. So we're, we're humbled and appreciative and hope that more people watch this podcast and say, yeah, I want to invest in the future of transportation too.
[00:16:37] Speaker A: So absolutely. Where can they go to see a model of it? Do you have, where are you located?
[00:16:43] Speaker C: We're in Carlsbad, California and as I said, we're working on our first production validation vehicles. Now.
We're going to be doing a big trade show early in January next year and we're going to be showing the first production units there. And then probably next early summer, you'll be able to come to the plant and you'll be able to see actual Aptera vehicles and hopefully get a ride and sit in an Aptera vehicle and see, see what it's like before you take delivery. And obviously, if you have an order, we'll tell you when we think we're going to build your order and you can come to the plant and you can test drive a vehicle, make sure it's right for you before you fully commit, and then we'll just give you a date on when we'll finish your vehicle and you can come and take delivery or we can deliver it to you.
[00:17:31] Speaker A: Very exciting, very cool stuff. Anything you want to mention before we sign off today?
[00:17:37] Speaker C: Just that we appreciate preferred trust and their ability to, to help people invest their retirement accounts into Aptera and help us make all this happen. It's been a great program so far and I think a lot of people, you know, they kind of wonder, you know, how do I get my in retirement investment accounts really working for me and why is it stuck with just mutual funds and bonds and some of the old boring investment that I hear about on cnbc? I want to invest in cool things, you know, like if I could have invested early in Google or Tesla or Apple through my retirement account, gosh, that would have been great. But there was no mechanism to do so. Because of the job acts and crowdfunding, we've been able to open up these options to people so you can invest early in what could be the next great American innovation company and something that, that will hopefully make you feel good about how you're investing your dollars and hopefully in the future pay off handsomely.
[00:18:48] Speaker A: Absolutely. Yeah. We are excited to have clients onboarded already and investing in Aptera through their self directed ira. So if we have listeners out there who are interested, give us a call and we can help you through it. Thanks for joining us today, Chris. It's a lot of great information. I'm going to go check out those movies you mentioned and go see if I can find a little bit more a little view of the actual vehicle. But we appreciate you being here today and we look forward to talking to you in the future. We look forward to actually seeing the vehicle and getting it on the market. It's awesome.
[00:19:22] Speaker C: Thank you so much.
[00:19:23] Speaker A: Thanks. Thanks guys. Don't forget to like and share and subscribe to the preferred way.
