Solar EV startup Aptera Motors has shared its latest monthly progress update, which is one of the most exciting ones in a while. Aptera shared footage of its first production-intent validation vehicle testing in real-world conditions around the Mojave Desert. This milestone is another (small) step forward as Aptera hopes to reach SEV production.

Anyone who has been following the last remaining solar EV startup, Aptera, knows its journey thus far has been long, ever-evolving, and quite expensive. Still, the little solar-powered “engine that could” pushes on, and we are one of its cheerleaders sitting in the front row.

Every time we share Aptera news, we tip our hat to the Southern California-based startup for its continuous transparency and its monthly progress updates, usually hosted by one or both co-founders and co-CEOs. In the past few months, newsworthy updates from Aptera, especially as they pertain to SEV testing, have been light.

Last October, Aptera shared testing footage of its first production-intent solar electric vehicle driving at low speeds around a parking lot. That may not have been a big deal for everyone, but those who have been following the second iteration of the startup or, better yet, have a financial investment in it were excited to see a bonafide SEV cruising around. Just the words “production-intent validation vehicle” marked a huge milestone.

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This past month, Aptera took a shinier and completed production-intent solar EV to a proving ground in the Mojave Desert, where it completed its core efficiency testing under real-world conditions. See the video below for the entire February 2025 testing update from Aptera.

Aptera completes a number of SEV testing measures

In addition to the video below, Aptera shared a blog post outlining the testing process of its first production-intent validation vehicle which took place last month.

Aptera’s real-world testing included a coastdown to measure the solar EV’s aerodynamic, rolling, and powertrain losses by tracking how efficiently the vehicle moves through the air along a given road. Per Aptera, its results were “groundbreaking.”

The production-intent validation vehicle took three minutes to decelerate from 60 mph to a complete stop, even while traveling uphill. The startup states its SEV’s coastdown distance is “significantly more than any other vehicle on the road today—gas or electric.” You can check out that coastdown footage here.

Next, Aptera used its validation vehicle to conduct aerodynamic tuft testing to confirm real-world airflow matched its computer simulations. Using this data, Aptera engineers will be able to fine-tune the SEV for maximum efficiency in its production version.

Lastly, Aptera conducted extended highway drive cycle testing in which the solar EV drove hundreds of miles while its creators closely monitored its energy consumption in real-time. Aptera shared that the testing data was within a few percent points of its mathematically simulated predictions, meaning the actual vehicle is about as efficient as predicted. Aptera co-founder and co-CEO Steve Fambro elaborated:

Our validation testing confirms that we’re on track to achieve our target energy consumption of roughly 100 Wh/mile—unlocking a level of efficiency that makes solar mobility possible in a way never seen before. What started as Matlab calculations is now coming to life on the road. This is the future of transportation.

Looking ahead, Aptera says it is already developing its next production-intent validation vehicle that will be refined with less gaps, a design-intent weight, and include optimized parts. When complete, the second validation SEV will return to the track for more testing, including a full range test from 100-0% as well as determining real-world solar charging capabilities.

We are excited to see what those numbers look like, but for now here’s the full progress update from Aptera for February 2025.

The European Commission has decided to give automakers breathing room in achieving its zero-emission target, which is going to enable them to buy fewer emission credits from Tesla and other all-electric automakers.

In Europe, like several other markets, they have a mandate to transition new cars to zero-emission vehicles and they implemented a system of zero-emission credits and fines to force automakers to get there.

Automakers are increasingly being asked to increase their mix of electric vehicle sales year over year, and if they don’t achieve the goals, they either have to pay fines or avoid them by buying credits from automakers with a surplus, like Tesla, Polestar, and several Chinese automakers.

The requirements keep increasing year over year with the goal to be 100% zero-emission by 2035.

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European automakers have been pressuring the European Commission to slow down the transition as the fines are putting pressure on local automakers while sending money to American automaker Tesla.

Their lobbying efforts have paid off as Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced today that the Commission will be giving them three years, rather than only one, to meet new CO2 emission targets for their cars and vans.

Instead of compliance being calculated on their mix of sales this year, it will be based on the average emissions over the period 2025-2027 – giving automakers more time to deploy electric vehicles.

von der Leyen commented:

“The targets stay the same. They have to fulfil the targets, but it means more breathing space for industry.” 

European automakers Volkswagen, Renault, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz have all seen their stock rise on the news.

The proposed rule change still needs to be approved by the EU government. It is getting mixed reactions, with automaker associations wanting even more leeway while environmentalists and EV advocates are disappointed.

Electrek’s Take

I think the EU wants to do the right thing here, but they fear that they would be handing the market over to China, which is not entirely false.

But at one point, you have to blame and penalize automakers who are lagging behind in the transition.

At least, the 2035 target remains the same, and EV sales are still expected to grow in 2025.

I guess that the idea is that this is money that EU automakers will be able to spend on increasing EV production rather than send it to Tesla and other all-electric automakers.