September 20, 2025

Is it a car, a UFO or…? Part 2: Inside Aptera’s Innovative Production Facility

By Jeff Daum, Ph.D., PPA

Product & Technology Analyst

Those of you who follow my blog might recall that I ended my initial article on Aptera Motors Corp.¹ saying “This is hopefully Part 1 of a multipart Aptera review. Stay tuned for Part 2: a factory visit and first drive…” I just returned from Aptera’s production facility and while I did not get the opportunity to drive the Aptera, I did enjoy a ride in a preproduction unit.

My focus here will be on what I’ve learned and not to go over the points discussed in my initial article (link in footnote) other than to reiterate my full transparency statement: I was so impressed with the Aptera, its cutting-edge technology and dual CEO team direction and commitment, that I have placed and received confirmation of a pre order future variant all-wheel drive Aptera.

Our tour- my wife accompanied me being highly curious about the Aptera and why I was excited about it- was facilitated by Will Jarrett from Aptera’s Marketing department. Aptera Motors intended production facility in Carlsbad California is a bright open space building of approximately 77,000 square feet.

While the formal visitor tour set up is still being developed, parts of it are currently in place including:

A preproduction version with the same body shape as the production version, but with a clear glass rear hatch instead of solar panels
The front-end light unit from the supplier with its classic smile look
A complete body shell
A full frame
An AGV robot of the type that will be used to automatically move the assembly components around the production line
Various solar panels for different sections of the Aptera, all designed and made in-house
An earlier version Aptera in striking matt black
Gold colored Gamma version
More solar panels including those being sold to other companies for non-Aptera applications
A pneumatic ‘gun’ for firing pellets at the solar panels for testing durability
Aptera bodies with nearly complete interior components
A video simulation showing the 14 or so stations that the assembly line will progress through on the AGVs

Not included in the tour were areas of the facility that housed testing rooms, subassembly rooms, etc.

As we walked through the facility, Will explained what we were looking at and responded to my questions. Here is a summary of our discussions. The extremely low coefficient of drag body is manufactured in Modena Italy by the C.P.C. Group and is a combination of Carbon Fiber Sheet Molding Compound and Glass Sheet Molding Compound and shipped over as a unit. Amongst its advantages are the significant strength to low weight ratio and that it has only six structural pieces compared to the hundreds that are used in most cars. The Aptera safety cage is modeled after Formula 1 cars!

It sits on a custom metallic chassis that is also made in Italy by the Costamp Group, located right next to C.P.C.

The components and Apteras as they are being assembled will be moved around the 14 stations of the production line on AGVs that follow the blue line that can be seen on the facility floor. The advantage of this AGV technology is flexibility over fixed production lines. If something happens with one of the AGVs it can be pushed aside and the line will continue to operate.

The cars will be primarily assembled by people, assisted by automation where practical. After the low-volume production phase, the objective is to produce 20,000 Apteras in this facility per year.

[above three images are screen shots from Aptera’s Media Simulated Production Line video]

The battery assembly will be done in house. 40 KWh unit will provide a 400-mile range. They will be using LG batteries.

The solar panels are designed and patented by Aptera’s team. They have also started licensing the technology to others for alternative applications. Amazingly they are bendable and have a glass surface similar to Gorilla Glass (as used in smartphones). They can withstand direct hits without breaking. The design allows for the panels to be replaced if necessary postproduction. For example, if a section gets damaged, or down the road the efficiency of the solar panels improves so much that it might make sense to swap the older ones out.

The production versions will have a solid trunk lid without glass and be covered with solar panels and use a camera for an unobstructed comprehensive rear view in a center mounted electronic rear view mirror (similar to the one used in the new Corvette for example). The side mirrors are combination of mirrors and cameras. The mirrors are required to follow existing US NHTSA law. The cameras show clear views of both sides of the Aptera on two screens directly behind the steering wheel.

The gold unit “Gamma” in the following image is the most recent prototype, though they now have Production Validation versions. This is the one we rode in.

The silver unit is a current Production Validation Aptera called Artemis and is the one that they did the extended Route 66 trip.

There are a few additional things that Will pointed out. They have built-in fail-safe backups like having buttons behind the large central screen that will allow you to continue to drive the Aptera if the screen fails.

The trunk lid is designed to open part way without flying up so that if you have a low ceiling you don’t have to worry about it hitting it. You manually open the lid the rest of the way.

There are plans to have several options for the battery pack beyond the standard 400-mile range, including a 250-mile range, 600-mile range and 1000-mile range. Also having a Level 2 Autonomous driving option.

In the image above, you can see the North American Charging Standard (NACS) port located behind the license plate which slides to the side providing access

While Will is not permitted to discuss the status of funding he said once sufficient capital is obtained it will be about nine months until the first production vehicles are finished and out the door.

My thoughts following the tour and ride

Having driven several all-electric vehicles from different OEMs and currently owning one, I’ve come to expect lots of torque and rapid acceleration from an EV and Aptera doesn’t disappoint. What I did not expect was that Aptera, a three-wheeler, would feel so rock solid through turns at speed.

The interior is roomy and comfortable, feeling for example very comparable to my Corvette Stingray Coupe (but Aptera has more headroom) with a surprising amount of usable space behind the seats.

Visibility looking out is very good and supplemented by an electronic rearview central mirror as well as electronic side views on two screens directly in the driver line of sight.

Aptera has lots of ‘coolness factors’ including its slipstream shape, knock on the body to open doors and trunk (no outside handles) and the solar recharging.

I am left with two concerns at this point: One is a driving practicality issue and the other is whether Aptera will achieve financial fluidity to realize their objectives.

What I mean by driving practicality comes down to how the two “outrigger” front wheel units will survive in real world situations. They are quite wide at approximately 88” across when the wheels are straight and wider when turned off center. This width is further compounded by the fact that the tops of the wheel units are low with respect to the Aptera body. That wheel unit to wheel unit width is greater than many cars and even small trucks on the road today.

Here is why I think this may be a concern: If you backed your Aptera in the center of a typical parking spot in a parking garage, the slot often is only 9 feet or less wide, which leaves about 10 inches or less between the edge of your wheel unit and the edge of the next parking slot. If a car, or worse a truck, then goes to back in next to you and turns in rather than pulling straight in, what are the odds that they will only glance at the body of your Aptera and not see the outrigger front wheels? Since the Aptera front wheels contain also the driving motors if they get brushed or hit the damage could be considerable. Will the wheel units need some sort of pop-up flag or indicator to ensure they are seen and avoided when parked?

This width will also require drivers to maintain better vigilance regarding staying in the center of their lane and not straying on the road compared to driving other vehicles.

Regarding Aptera Motors Corp. viability I did some research on their current financial Issues. Based on Aptera’s August 27, 2025, Form S-1 filing for listing on NASDAQ here is their estimate of funding still needed for production: “Our production plan for our Carlsbad facility is phased and each phase is contingent upon a specific level of funding. The initial “low-volume” production phase is estimated to require approximately $65 million in capital to fund remaining necessary tooling and validation programs. Following the initiation of low-volume production, a second phase to ramp to high-volume production would require an estimated additional $140-$160 million. This high-volume rate, which we project to be approximately 20,000 vehicles per year at our current facility’s maximum capacity, was a figure determined in consultation with Munro & Associates, a firm specializing in lean manufacturing principles for the automotive industry.”

“Specifically, securing the capital estimated for both initial low-volume and subsequent high-volume production phases is critical. Until this funding is secured, the Company will be unable to predict if and when production will commence.”

Hopefully the listing on NASDAQ and subsequent offers will go well (and rapidly) for Aptera- I am so looking forward to having one in my garage!

P.S., My wife really enjoyed her ride and was impressed with the Aptera 😊.

Marques Brownlee has just posted an informative video based on his driving a preproduction Aptera. You can view it at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OvyyVxQjuI He raises some excellent points.

Stay tuned for my next Aptera update! Thanks for visiting and reading. If you have a question or comment, please feel free to enter it below!

https://insight.daumphotography.com/2025/01/19/is-it-a-car-a-ufo-or-first-look-at-the-aptera-the-future-of-electric-solar-vehicles/ ↩︎

November 19, 2024

Peter Brock, Designer Exemplar, and first look at the 2025 version of his iconic 1963 Sting Ray

By Jeff Daum, Ph.D., PPA[1]

Sixty-seven years ago, Peter Brock penned the sketch that Bill Mitchell[2] chose to become one of the most iconic cars: the split window 1963 Corvette Sting Ray. At the time, Peter was the youngest designer at General Motors. He would go on to be a renown visionary and prolific designer with accolades and records for a broad range of his designs including the Datsun 510 Coupe, Cobra Daytona Coupe, Shelby-DeTomaso P70 and Aerovault trailer. But my focus here is on Peter’s latest achievement, the 2025 Sting Ray Studio Concept car[3] revealed at the 2024 SEMA[4] show in Las Vegas, Nevada.

At first glance when the cover was drawn back on the 2025 Sting Ray Studio Concept car at SEMA, the body looked very similar to a well preserved 1963 Sting Ray even though it was described as a resto-mod. Peter had done something other resto-mod builders of the C2 Sting Ray had not. He retained the original body shape and design, staying away from radical changes such as widening the body, adding bulging fenders, etc. More importantly Peter added back into the 2025 Sting Ray subtle details and changes to bring it closer to what he had originally designed.

Peter shared with me the back story on how, and why, this came to fruition. He made a conscious decision to change as little as possible in the body to retain the original form since it was well established as an automotive design icon. In the five years it took to take its design to being a production car in 1963, GM was primarily focused on making money so there were compromises made on which details went into the final car. In this 2025 Sting Ray Studio Concept car Peter wanted to restore some of those important details.

Peter worked with Mike Staveski and his company, Resto Mod Vette to build the 2025 Sting Ray. This is the second car that he did with Mike, but the first one that is designed fully to Peter’s specifications. Here are a few images of Peter at Mike’s shop making some of the modifications:

They began with a 1963 donor Sting Ray body. Mike decided on and sourced the modern drivetrain and chassis which included:

GM crate LS3 engine
Electronically raised and lower hood
Harrop fuel injection
Holley engine management
Dewitts radiator
4L60e transmission
PSC push button shifter
Ididit steering column with Sparc Industries Wheel
Dakota Digital gauges (with Peter’s signature)
Vintage Air AC
Art Morrison custom chassis
Cerakote frame
C7 front suspension with AME IRS, Ridetech Coilovers
Wilwood electric brakes
Additional Corvette parts from Corvette Pacifica
Additional parts from Atech Motorsports
Dynamat sound proofing
Custom glass from AM Hot Rod Auto Glass
Douglass Interiors Leather, Linen & Sage
Forgeline 18 wheels
GM Hypersonic Gray paint

Peter designed and supervised the details he wanted to add back to the body. These included making all the vents and air scoops functional. Mitchell, at the time, wanted the nonfunctional vents because while it saved money by not making them real, it added perceived value to potential buyers as they viewed the car in the showroom.

[Note: clicking on an image in these mini galleries will bring it up to full size]

Another important change for Peter was to improve the interior visibility. Mitchell wanted a split rear window on the 1963 Sting Ray as homage to the Bugatti 57SC Atlantique, but that impacted the rearward visibility and Zora Arkus-Duntove[5] was really upset with Mitchell for mandating that. In Peter’s original sketch the glass was not split and went all the way down to the radius along the side. To improve this on the 2025 Sting Ray, Peter enlarged the area of each split window and eliminated the “B” pillar on the doors so that now the side windows are one continuous piece of glass. Together these changes result in better visibility from the inside of the Sting Ray and it feels more open. Complementing this, Peter used only the finest materials on the interior of the resto-mod. This is reflected in the new instrumentation, the top-grain leather on and around the dash, including around the air ducts. All that leather was hand stitched but resulted in a very high-end production finish.

Continuing with detail changes on this 2025 Sting Ray, two more can be seen when looking at it from the back. In addition to the enlarged split windows, Peter brought the fin all the way down to the midline of the body through and including the gas filler door. The fin is also slightly raised paying more homage to the Bugatti Atlantique. A nice detail is that the gas cap can now be placed into a holder inside of the gas filler door when removing it. At the front of the car the headlights have been changed from the flip up 1963 approach to built-in LED quad headlights with halos. Most of the original bright work on the body, like the bumpers, was downplayed and changed to black chrome encouraging one’s eyes to focus more on the overall form. Peter also put his race-type mirrors on the doors, which work well with the flow of the body.

At one point in our interview, Peter mused that this is based on a sixty-seven-year-old design, saying “how does something last that long and still evoke such admiration and desire from people that see the car.” He went on to add “the impetus for the Sting Ray grew out of Mitchell going over to Italy and seeing all the streamlined cars and bringing back photographs of them for us to study. I do not think he knew whether we could design a car that would meet his expectations. But once he saw what we were turning out, his enthusiasm grew, and he kept coming back into the studio to see the progress we were making. We did not always agree on direction, for example, I wanted the nose lower and back end higher, but Mitchell was traditional and knew the drop away in the rear would sell, so that is what we went with.” With emotion, Peter added that he had a particularly good relationship with Mitchell, and that he was a great mentor. Tony Lapine and Larry Shinoda, veteran design specialists, took over the final version as the Sting Ray was getting ready to go into production. Peter had been moved to work with Harvey Earl.[6] He added that it would have been super to have Tony and Larry around to work with him on this 2025 Sting Ray. Since that was not possible, he wanted to make sure it stayed true to their original efforts.

Peter said Mike has a super crew who worked on this 2025 Sting Ray. It came out so well and has been so successful that Peter and Mike have decided to do a series of these cars. Mike told me (JD) he has sold three of these already. This one is headed to Barrett-Jackson’s Scottsdale auction. Craig Jackson, CEO Barrett-Jackson, was at the SEMA reveal and was very impressed with the car and intimated it may be his feature car at the auction. Based on the level of enthusiasm and interest, Peter and Mike think they may do a dozen or two of these cars. Each will be different in terms of paint, interior and finish, but the overall design details will remain the same, so it becomes a limited production that follows the Studio Concept. Mike already has plans for a Z06 version that will follow this same approach. I mentioned to Peter that notably missing on this first 2025 Sting Ray were some safety features such as shoulder (three-point lap) belts and air bags. Peter said he expects more enhancements to make it into upcoming versions, and that the seat belts in this one will be changed before Scottsdale.

It almost seems heretical to talk about cost when discussing the sheer beauty, art, and evolution of the 2025 Sting Ray, but I know some readers will ask me if I do not. Mike told me he has priced these Studio Concept models starting at USD 495k. Of course, Barrett-Jackson’s Scottsdale auction will provide a real-world test of the market value of Peter’s 2025 Sting Ray.

Lest you think Peter, at 88 years old, is now resting on his laurels, he took me into his studio to show me his new car project. Of course, it is sleek with some neat aerodynamic features, and he is very excited about it. However, that is all I can share now, details are currently embargoed but stay tuned.

Thanks for visiting and reading. If you have a question, please feel free to ask below!

[1] Primary sources for content were interviews with Peter Brock and Mike Staveski. Other sources included Peter’s book Corvette Sting Ray Genesis of an American Icon and Brock Racing Enterprises publications.

[2] Head of GM Design from 1958-1977

[3] A Studio Concept car was a term applied to a few special ‘one-offs’ made at GM Styling, after production was underway, for GM executives.

[4] SEMA is the Specialty Equipment Marketing Association, and the show held annually, is the largest of its kind.

[5] Corvette Engineering 1953-1975

[6] In charge of GM Design from 1927-1958

February 27, 2019

Rolling art versus fixed art.

One of the shoots I enjoy doing is finding things that are ‘right before our eyes’ but we don’t always take the time to notice. Wall art, murals, sculptures and street art seem to fall into that category.

I set out looking for wall art and murals in what is considered Old Las Vegas. Included in the following unique creative images, is the iconic American Sports Car, the Stingray for a juxtaposition- rolling art vs fixed art.

Hope you enjoy.