Aptera Motors has successfully completed the first drive of its production-intent solar electric vehicle (sEV), marking a significant step in validating the vehicle’s design and components. This development paves the way for rigorous real-world testing to assess critical performance metrics, including range, solar charging, and overall efficiency.
The vehicle features Aptera’s newly integrated Vitesco Technologies EMR3 drivetrain, which is an in-board motor solution unveiled earlier this year. The initial test drive confirmed the compatibility of Aptera’s proprietary battery pack with the EMR3 powertrain under real-world conditions.
Notably, this marks the first time that Aptera’s composite body structure, known as its Body in Carbon (BinC), has powered the production drivetrain using in-house developed code with energy supplied from the proprietary battery. This achievement underscores the company’s engineering capabilities and commitment to sustainability.
“Driving our first production-intent vehicle marks an extraordinary moment in Aptera’s journey,” said Steve Fambro, Aptera’s Co-Founder & Co-CEO. “It demonstrates real progress toward delivering a vehicle that redefines efficiency, sustainability, and energy independence.”
As part of its development process, Aptera plans to integrate additional production parts and enhance functionality through ongoing testing. This will include performance evaluations in high-speed environments. Upon validating each component, the company aims to deliver a fully tested production vehicle to its nearly 50,000 pre-order customers.
The next phase will involve integrating solar technology, the production-intent thermal management system, and exterior surfaces into the vehicle. Following these installations, Aptera will conduct high-speed track testing to validate performance metrics such as watt-hours per mile, solar charging rates, and estimated battery range. These tests are intended to demonstrate Aptera’s vision of a truly energy-independent solar electric vehicle.
