5 ms·

I note that among the costs for the inefficient car+solar combination, that the CO2 emissions just to make the panels, the inverters, the controls, and the asse

I note that among the costs for the inefficient car+solar combination, that the CO2 emissions just to make the panels, the inverters, the controls, and the assembly are not mentioned. The article does compare the install on a residential roof -- indicating far greater efficiencies are obtained, without the cost of using extra electrons to carry the extra weight of the aforesaid 'extras'. Aptera, has been suggesting this and going bankrupt at least once, while 'trying' to get to mass production. Their delays make Tesla look positively lightning fast (see, Cybertruck).

steveBK123 4y ago
Some of these companies going nearly bankrupt before they've even started production is telling. When you are just designing the thing, your costs are basically staff. Now trying to scale production you have all sorts of capital expenses and then operational costs that don't get recouped until you have scaled production enough. Designing a car is not a hurdle. Building a prototype is not a hurdle. Having 20k pre-sales is not a hurdle. Actual serial production in an operational factory able to ship 10k+ year is your first hurdle. Doing the above while selling the cars for enough money to not go bankrupt, while opening some sort of service network for the cars .. is a big hurdle. Getting closer to 100K/year, is the next real hurdle. And being a real big boy automaker in the 1M/year range is
DennisP 4y ago
That Aptera that went bankrupt was actually a diesel-electric hybrid, supposed to achieve 300mpg. They had to close shop when they didn't get the funding they needed. The founders went on to other things for a few years. Now they seem to be making pretty solid progress. I don't think putting "trying" in scare quotes is justified; launching a car company isn't an easy task.

5 ms·

I note that among the costs for the inefficient car+solar combination, that the CO2 emissions just to make the panels, the inverters, the controls, and the asse

by powerbroker 4y ago

steveBK123 4y ago
Some of these companies going nearly bankrupt before they've even started production is telling. When you are just designing the thing, your costs are basically staff. Now trying to scale production you have all sorts of capital expenses and then operational costs that don't get recouped until you have scaled production enough. Designing a car is not a hurdle. Building a prototype is not a hurdle. Having 20k pre-sales is not a hurdle. Actual serial production in an operational factory able to ship 10k+ year is your first hurdle. Doing the above while selling the cars for enough money to not go bankrupt, while opening some sort of service network for the cars .. is a big hurdle. Getting closer to 100K/year, is the next real hurdle. And being a real big boy automaker in the 1M/year range is
DennisP 4y ago
That Aptera that went bankrupt was actually a diesel-electric hybrid, supposed to achieve 300mpg. They had to close shop when they didn't get the funding they needed. The founders went on to other things for a few years. Now they seem to be making pretty solid progress. I don't think putting "trying" in scare quotes is justified; launching a car company isn't an easy task.