Paul Wilbur is Aptera’s CEO. A high-priced executive selected by talent search agency Heidrick & Struggles and hired by Aptera in September of 2008 (shortly before Aptera’s first scheduled deliveries), Paul was pure Detroit. This stood in sharp contrast to the more tech-industry style of the existing company. His background includes running ASC for five years until it went bankrupt, and then running Saleen for one year and leaving shortly before it went bankrupt.
For whatever things he is good at, raising money is not among them. When Paul took over Aptera, it had raised approximately $30 million and was rapidly expanding. In the year and a quarter he has been Aptera’s CEO, he hasn’t raised a dime for the company. The way he presents it at any point in time, he’s always just about to close a deal. But they never seem to come.
If you ask him why the company hasn’t raised money, you’ll hear something to the effect of, “it’s a tough market.” It is quite true that it is a tough market for most industries. But for electric vehicle companies, not so much. Coda Automotive, spawned from a manufacturer of poorly-rated neighborhood electric vehicles and several Chinese manufacturers, raised $24m in August. ZAP, an electric vehicle company that a Wired expose all but called a scam, raised $25m in August. Tesla Motors, with only one low-volume EV on the road got a $50m investment from Daimler that valued the startup at a staggering estimated $550m—then in September, they raised $82m more. Bankrupt Th!nk raised $47m. Fisker raised $85m. The list goes on and on. Talk of 25% of the world’s vehicle market being electric in a decade draws out the investors in even the toughest economy.
How could their fundraising possibly be this bad? One VC and Aptera reservation holder recounts the following:
“Our firm raised capital for a green and clean tech fund and I tried to get Aptera interested by contacting Laura directly. Months later their placement agent contacted us, after we had fully committed the fund. There is a ton of money out there seeking clean tech investments.”
Shortly after Paul Wilbur came in, my sources are clear on two things. One, he stacked the executive team with his people, and two, step by step, everything about the vehicle had to change before a single one could roll out the door.
For over a year, every delay in the vehicle’s ship date—and there have been many—have been credited to one thing: “the windows don’t roll down.” But all of my sources tell me that the company already had a solution as early as February 2008: a split window. Indeed, the tape outline of a split window can be seen in the background in one picture from the company, while a press rendering of the 2e with a split window, intended for launch in 2008 currently adorns the title bar of the Aptera Forum.
The split window offered major advantages—not only that it fit into the existing door, but that it also dramatically increased the vehicle’s resistance to side impact crash damage. Rather than a hollow space for the entire pane to slide into, the door could be filled with the same structural reinforcing foam as the rest of the vehicle, giving it over four times the side impact crush resistance the federal government requires for cars.
Wilbur would have none of it. He found it ugly and was concerned that the “fast food” crowd would be inconvenienced. He even vetoed the idea of releasing with a split window for those who want it and having a later model update for full-roll down windows for those who don’t.
Contrary to the concerns, an Aptera engineer took a prototype to an In-N-Out Burger and ordered a double-double combo with drink. He simply opened his door and took the food. Unlike a normal car door, the Aptera’s doors open upwards, largely within the wheelbase, and hence are easier to use in tight spaces.
All in all, sources say Paul had 60-80% of the vehicle redesigned, micromanaging the process down to the component level as though he were an engineer.
More concerning, though, is that there seems to be little overlap between the target market for the Aptera 2e and your average fast food eater. A leading target for ridicule on the Aptera forum is Detroit’s obsession with lesser factors of the vehicle ownership, such as cupholders or the stats of the vehicle’s consumer electronics hardware. Yet Aptera’s communications often seemed to focus on just these aspects. Who is running their marketing operation?
His name is Marques McCammon.
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Karen,
And just think, back in, oh, June I think, you dissed a bunch of commentators who were complaining about Aptera because they had reserved cars and were getting the run around. At that time you defended Aptera when – based on their customer’s outcries – you should have been more critical of the company.It is really sad to read about a good company being ruined by arrogant, incompetent management, but this story is also notable because you should have seen it coming.
Karen,
And just think, back in, oh, June I think, you dissed a bunch of commentators who were complaining about Aptera because they had reserved cars and were getting the run around. At that time you defended Aptera when – based on their customer’s outcries – you should have been more critical of the company.It is really sad to read about a good company being ruined by arrogant, incompetent management, but this story is also notable because you should have seen it coming.
Quite true. I more than gave them the benefit of the doubt for a long time.
If you were part of the Detroit establishment and you were worried about their products being seen as badly out dated, what would you do to beat back the threat?
They seem to have won another battle.
It would seem that good engineering is only a small part of selling vehicles in America.
If you were part of the Detroit establishment and you were worried about their products being seen as badly out dated, what would you do to beat back the threat?
They seem to have won another battle.
It would seem that good engineering is only a small part of selling vehicles in America.
Well-written piece, Karen. I hope to see more information come to light as time passes. Not a story that should be allowed to fade into obscurity.
Well-written piece, Karen. I hope to see more information come to light as time passes. Not a story that should be allowed to fade into obscurity.
Good write up.
Is there a lesson here for other EV start-ups?
Who to blame for hiring these losers when their track records are so questionable? Was it the founders who all just got fired or ‘board members’ who are more than likely investor reps who are probably more clueless than the idiots they hired to wreck the company?
Lets have a roll call and a few interviews with some of the board members who supposedly support the CEOs constant delays!
Good write up.
Is there a lesson here for other EV start-ups?
Who to blame for hiring these losers when their track records are so questionable? Was it the founders who all just got fired or ‘board members’ who are more than likely investor reps who are probably more clueless than the idiots they hired to wreck the company?
Lets have a roll call and a few interviews with some of the board members who supposedly support the CEOs constant delays!
I’ve followed Aptera since almost day 1 very closely. While there is a lot of truth to what your saying here – there’s a lot of incoorect information as well.
1) Google made a significant investment into Aptera and Jay Leno and others have recently done test drives and reviews.
2) Ive been in contact with someone at a local automotive research facility and they claim that Detroit is out to murder Aptera as it seems they pose the first credible threat to them beyond Asia. They will not stop at any length … even paying off employees of Aptera to leak false information or not do their job – sabotaging the company.
3) The state of California needs/wants Aptera to succeed – California is in a mess. It’s bankrupt – it can’t help any business grow at this point. Your story seems to be commentary on California’s economy rather than Aptera’s chances to weather the storm – I mean 2012 – they are facing in CA.
4) While I appreciate your information regarding CEO’s past lives – it is their past. Apple has been caught in similar SEC problems – it usually means nothing more than hard to follow or understand rules and regulations – and or (and mist likely in Apple and Apteras case) sabotage. Just as Dell, Creative, and Acer would love to see Apple put under – so does GM, Chrysler, and Even Toyota for Aptera. Your story hurts Aptera with negative PR. Your story may become a self fulfilling prophecy if it becomes popular enough.
5) From my own experience, getting a product to market or even as small as launching a website requires a gradual education and a lot of setbacks. Aptera has made some mistakes that they could have avoided – but I do think they can recover. Good news has been coming their way.
3)
I’ve followed Aptera since almost day 1 very closely. While there is a lot of truth to what your saying here – there’s a lot of incoorect information as well.
1) Google made a significant investment into Aptera and Jay Leno and others have recently done test drives and reviews.
2) Ive been in contact with someone at a local automotive research facility and they claim that Detroit is out to murder Aptera as it seems they pose the first credible threat to them beyond Asia. They will not stop at any length … even paying off employees of Aptera to leak false information or not do their job – sabotaging the company.
3) The state of California needs/wants Aptera to succeed – California is in a mess. It’s bankrupt – it can’t help any business grow at this point. Your story seems to be commentary on California’s economy rather than Aptera’s chances to weather the storm – I mean 2012 – they are facing in CA.
4) While I appreciate your information regarding CEO’s past lives – it is their past. Apple has been caught in similar SEC problems – it usually means nothing more than hard to follow or understand rules and regulations – and or (and mist likely in Apple and Apteras case) sabotage. Just as Dell, Creative, and Acer would love to see Apple put under – so does GM, Chrysler, and Even Toyota for Aptera. Your story hurts Aptera with negative PR. Your story may become a self fulfilling prophecy if it becomes popular enough.
5) From my own experience, getting a product to market or even as small as launching a website requires a gradual education and a lot of setbacks. Aptera has made some mistakes that they could have avoided – but I do think they can recover. Good news has been coming their way.
3)
Wow, after reading your article and the comments, I think I agree with Rus – this sounds like a Detroit hatchet job. Why would Aptera, knowingly, bring in a bunch of failed management to take them to production? I have to think that they wouldn’t. It sounds to me like Steve Tambron and Chris Anthony were sold a bill of goods by some slick search firm recruiters – the old Trojan Horse scenario.
I hope that Tambron and Anthony are somehow able to cease back control. This car needs to be brought to fruition. Only a moron would think that opening windows are the prime reason that anyone would want this car. How sad…
Wow, after reading your article and the comments, I think I agree with Rus – this sounds like a Detroit hatchet job. Why would Aptera, knowingly, bring in a bunch of failed management to take them to production? I have to think that they wouldn’t. It sounds to me like Steve Tambron and Chris Anthony were sold a bill of goods by some slick search firm recruiters – the old Trojan Horse scenario.
I hope that Tambron and Anthony are somehow able to cease back control. This car needs to be brought to fruition. Only a moron would think that opening windows are the prime reason that anyone would want this car. How sad…
Sounds like the slow painful death we all suffered at Saleen, verbatim
Pathetic…
Sounds like the slow painful death we all suffered at Saleen, verbatim
Pathetic…
Aptera for them is just a toy to play the whole game. if they focus on perfect its workmanship and product performance, then they will suceed. Otherwise, the result is GAME OVER!
Aptera for them is just a toy to play the whole game. if they focus on perfect its workmanship and product performance, then they will suceed. Otherwise, the result is GAME OVER!
SLANT: Knowing what the people from Aptera are going through, I really feel for you.
Rus:
“1) Google made a significant investment into Aptera and Jay Leno and others have recently done test drives and reviews.”
The Google investment was from under the original team — July of 2008. The Jay Leno review was one of the only recent reviews, and it was via a non-production model.
“2) … They will not stop at any length … even paying off employees of Aptera to leak false information or not do their job – sabotaging the company.”
I can guarantee you that is not the case here. Unfortunately, I cannot give you more information than that without revealing sources.
“3) The state of California needs/wants Aptera to succeed – California is in a mess.”
Yes, they do. Which is yet another element to the tragedy here.
“Your story seems to be commentary on California’s economy rather than Aptera’s chances to weather the storm – I mean 2012 – they are facing in CA.”
Fisker, Tesla, and Coda, all California companies, all raised large amounts of money. It has nothing to do with California. Heck, the weak economy in California means cheaper rent and lower salaries. When you leave potential VCs in the dark and don’t even respond to some requests for months, your fundraising efforts are doomed before you start.
“4) While I appreciate your information regarding CEO’s past lives – it is their past. Apple has been caught in similar SEC problems – it usually means nothing more than hard to follow or understand rules and regulations”
It’s not a case of “not understanding the rules and regulations”. The SEC says she spent years making bogus documents listing inventory exchanges as sales to artificially inflate their earnings. She did what Enron did. You’re literally excusing Enron’s behavior. That’s unfathomable to me.
“Your story hurts Aptera with negative PR. Your story may become a self fulfilling prophecy if it becomes popular enough.”
You know, that’s the issue that’s weighed the hardest on me. If you check into my background, I’ve spent a long, long time actively promoting this company. If you want to know how much I want this vehicle, check out this website of mine:
http://www.rechargeamerica.net/trip/
But I have a moral compass, and what’s gone on here is wrong. More wrong than I can even let on because I must protect my sources. And so long as this team is in charge of the company, I have little confidence of the company ever delivering in any relevant quantities. So we’ll likely see one of two things: a reversal of the circumstances that led to the purge, or bankruptcy. Wherein some company will snatch up the wreckage of the company at bargain-basement prices to acquire a pre-made EV company ready to go.
“Good news has been coming their way.”
The light at the end of this tunnel is the headlight of an oncoming train.
Nuke Detroit.
Nuke Detroit.
Nuke Detroit.
Thanks for writing this article! I’m facing similar conflicts whether or not to cancel my pre-order. I’m trying to see how anything good will come out of this situation based on my 20+ years of working in the high-tech industry and all I can see is Aptera going down in flames with the current Board of Directors. The only thing that really communicates to a business is money, so by canceling my reservation along with others would be the only way we can express a vote of “no confidence!” Sorry Steve and Anthony, I loved and believed in what you and your team created, but Aptera as it exists now will never deliver it! So sad!
Thanks for writing this article! I’m facing similar conflicts whether or not to cancel my pre-order. I’m trying to see how anything good will come out of this situation based on my 20+ years of working in the high-tech industry and all I can see is Aptera going down in flames with the current Board of Directors. The only thing that really communicates to a business is money, so by canceling my reservation along with others would be the only way we can express a vote of “no confidence!” Sorry Steve and Anthony, I loved and believed in what you and your team created, but Aptera as it exists now will never deliver it! So sad!
Aptera started out with a great idea, the serial hybrid, and some very well-qualified technicians and ideologues. It CAN be made to work, the idea was sound; the fact that one GM-Delco-Delphi employee is in a key spot is a sign of trouble.
For EVs to work, ALL the incompetent nincompoops who ran the oil-fired car industry into bk must be demoted to working the line, sweeeping the floors, and learning the new business. How long with Rick Wagoner or Bob Lutz, or Fritzy, last cleaning urinals? Not long, being failures.
Putting the same failures in charge of the EV industry means that it won’t work, of course; idiots such as those who wrecked Chrysler are not capable of running a real business or solving real business problems.
Aptera started out with a great idea, the serial hybrid, and some very well-qualified technicians and ideologues. It CAN be made to work, the idea was sound; the fact that one GM-Delco-Delphi employee is in a key spot is a sign of trouble.
For EVs to work, ALL the incompetent nincompoops who ran the oil-fired car industry into bk must be demoted to working the line, sweeeping the floors, and learning the new business. How long with Rick Wagoner or Bob Lutz, or Fritzy, last cleaning urinals? Not long, being failures.
Putting the same failures in charge of the EV industry means that it won’t work, of course; idiots such as those who wrecked Chrysler are not capable of running a real business or solving real business problems.
Knowing the executive actions of the PW and MM team from ASC days, their ‘toy box’ approach to niche vehicle development and manufacturing is so off-base it is hard to fathom that their line of song and dance is still being accepted at high salary rates. Please CA don’t reflect on those two as to “how things are done in Detroit” – too many good people get misrepresented by those two clowns.
Knowing the executive actions of the PW and MM team from ASC days, their ‘toy box’ approach to niche vehicle development and manufacturing is so off-base it is hard to fathom that their line of song and dance is still being accepted at high salary rates. Please CA don’t reflect on those two as to “how things are done in Detroit” – too many good people get misrepresented by those two clowns.
Knowing the executive actions of the PW and MM team from ASC days, their ‘toy box’ approach to niche vehicle development and manufacturing is so off-base it is hard to fathom that their line of song and dance is still being accepted at high salary rates. Please CA don’t reflect on those two as to “how things are done in Detroit” – too many good people get misrepresented by those two clowns.
Aptera and the electrical vehicle industry were doomed when Washington bailed out the Big Three, and Wall Street, hotshot CEOs, and “creative accounting” and “financial innovation” destroyed American business and know-how.
Aptera and the electrical vehicle industry were doomed when Washington bailed out the Big Three, and Wall Street, hotshot CEOs, and “creative accounting” and “financial innovation” destroyed American business and know-how.
I put down a deposit a almost a couple years back and just kinda forgot about it. Looks like it’s time to pull it.
I think you make a really good point. If they can’t write a newsletter then how are they going to produce cars? Not that I even want a newsletter. Just say what you’re going to do and then do it. Just the basics here people.
I put down a deposit a almost a couple years back and just kinda forgot about it. Looks like it’s time to pull it.
I think you make a really good point. If they can’t write a newsletter then how are they going to produce cars? Not that I even want a newsletter. Just say what you’re going to do and then do it. Just the basics here people.
I put down a deposit a almost a couple years back and just kinda forgot about it. Looks like it’s time to pull it.
I think you make a really good point. If they can’t write a newsletter then how are they going to produce cars? Not that I even want a newsletter. Just say what you’re going to do and then do it. Just the basics here people.
man this sucks i remember when it was a concept.
when it came off the bord it was orange and cooly weird.now i fear it,ll go
the way of the tucker.
and that folks would suck.
thanks for the ear.
william mc gowan
It is so sad to see corporate fraud-makers destroy a promising start up so quickly looking only for their personal benefit.
It is so sad to see corporate fraud-makers destroy a promising start up so quickly looking only for their personal benefit.
It is so sad to see corporate fraud-makers destroy a promising start up so quickly looking only for their personal benefit.
Exactly, hasn’t anyone heard the story of Tucker?
Exactly, hasn’t anyone heard the story of Tucker?