Ilaria Rosella Pagliaro At CES 2025, Aptera Motors unveiled an electric vehicle that runs on solar energy, eliminating the need for recharging: with 50,000 pre-orders and 135 million raised, it promises to revolutionize sustainable mobility
©Aptera
Last week, the California-based startup Aptera stole the show in Las Vegas as it made waves at the highly anticipated 2025 Consumer Electronics Show (CES). Why? For the official introduction of a production-ready variant of its record-breaking solar-powered electric vehicle: a car with the audacity to promise driving without ever getting plugged into the charging station. Although it has been in pre-order for several years, the company has not announced a certain release date. Its presence at the CES 2025, however, is promising news, bolstered by the recent tests done on the prototype P12.
The co-founder of Aptera Motors, Chris Anthony, refers to the vehicle as several years of innovation and relentless commitment to energy-efficient mobility. As such, during this event at CES, Anthony had this to say:
“CES is the perfect platform to share our vision and invite the world into creating a cleaner future that’s run on solar-powered energy.”
Despite high expectations, this highly revolutionary electric vehicle has continued to see delayed availability. First planned for 2021, then for 2023, the commercial launch was even further pushed beyond despite a significant $33 million investment in 2024.
Mass production may be near
During the announcement at CES 2025, Aptera Motors said it has raised $135 million to begin mass production of the vehicle, but the company did not release an exact timeline for the commencement of the process. It wasn’t different as far as an official release date was concerned since the would-be buyers continued waiting.
Despite these uncertainties, interest in the solar vehicle seems to be increasing rapidly: Aptera reportedly received about 50,000 pre-orders, representing an estimated $1.7 billion in potential revenue.
Technical specifications and pricing
The Aptera weighs less than 1,800 pounds with its aerodynamic body hosting 32 sq. ft. of solar panels, producing 700 watts of power in total.
That allows the car to travel as many as 37 miles per day on pure solar power, or more than 11,000 miles annually.
Yet, the total driving range is over more than 620 miles thanks to the battery that also accepts a charge from a standard charging station. Its performance is not worse: the velocity is over 100 mph, and it takes this car 4 seconds to accelerate from 0 to 60 mph.
The Aptera electric vehicle is already available for pre-order on the company’s official website, starting from US$32,000, or approximately €31,300.
Source: aptera.us
