Aptera, the company behind a highly efficient electric vehicle capable of charging from the sun, is about to go public, but its approach raises concerns.

Is it the end of another solar car project?

There have been a handful of “solar car” projects and they all have failed so far.

I put “solar car” in quotes because they are essentially small electric vehicles that are so efficient that adding solar panels can contribute relatively significantly to charging the car.

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Aptera is one of the rare survivors, thanks to a couple of relatively successful crowdfunding efforts. The company has been inching closer to bringing its vehicle to production, but it still appears to need some investments to make it happen.

Now, Aptera is going public.

Generally, that’s good news. An initial public offering (IPO) means that a company is going to raise capital for its operations and give more people the opportunity to invest in the company.

However, Aptera is not doing a traditional IPO. It’s not even doing a SPAC deal. It’s doing a direct listing, which means that if approved by NASDAQ, it will allow shareholders to trade their shares on the public market.

This is usually an exit strategy for existing shareholders. Aptera won’t receive any proceeds from going public. They wrote in their SEC filing:

This prospectus relates to the registration of the resale of up to 31,741,948 shares of our non-voting Class B common stock… We will not receive any proceeds from the sale of shares of Class B common stock by the registered stockholders.”

What good could come out of this for the company?

As of the end of June 2025, the last reporting date, Aptera had about $13 million in the bank, and it is burning through more than that in a year – meaning it is running out of cash.

The company needs to be infused with capital soon, and this direct listing is not it.

Meanwhile, Aptera stated that the public listing will not occur until at least October 14, next week, to allow shareholders, including those who invested in the crowdfunding rounds, sufficient time to transfer their shares into their broker accounts and trade them.

Electrek’s Take

As I previously disclosed, I invested a small amount in Aptera’s crowdfunding campaign a few years ago. Nothing I wasn’t entirely willing to lose. I knew and consistently stated that the project would be challenging to bring to market.

I invested because I love the project and wanted to help give them a chance to succeed. I not only like the solar aspect, but also the idea of creating a hyper-efficient vehicle that still retains a relatively high level of utility.

But this smells like the end to me. I’d love to hear your take in the comments below, but I don’t see a way out of this for the company.

I guess there’s a possibility that insiders somehow hold, and there’s some public demand for the stock amid this crazy bubble we are in – resulting in a price increase, which Aptera takes advantage of with a public offering. But that sounds far-fetched, doesn’t it?

What other possible scenarios are there except for the obvious one where current shareholders quickly dump their shares, the stock crashes, Aptera can’t raise capital, and closes its door and sell itself for parts?

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