Aptera Founders Reportedly Ousted, Layoffs Ordered to Keep EV Maker Going

Aptera Founders Reportedly Ousted, Layoffs Ordered to Keep EV Maker Going

By John O'Dell November 16, 2009

Private Capital Eroded by Production Delays, Aptera Now Waits Federal Loan OK

The co-founders of Aptera Motors reportedly have been ousted in a shakeup that includes numerous layoffs.

Former Tesla motors PR chief-turned-consultant Daryl Siry, writing for Wired.com, reported Sunday that sources at the San Diego-based company told him Aptera co-founders Steve Fambro and Chris Anthony have been dismissed, apparently because of substantial conflicts with the new management team they brought in last year.

A spokesman for Aptera told Green Car Advisor this morning that "something is up" but said he was unable to offer more.

Aptera marketing director Marques McCammon told Wired that Fambro has taken a voluntary eave of absence to help save money. The article said Anthony's status was unclear.

The reported shakeup comes as Aptera is awaiting word on its application for several million in federally guaranteed loans under the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program.

Siry writes in Wired that the rift apparently grew as the team assembled under Paul Wilbur, Aptera's new president and chief executive, discovered that the three-wheeled, aircraft-styled electric vehicle Fambro and Anthony had designed wasn't ready for the market.

Wilbur told Green Car Advisor early this year that a number of changes from the original design had been ordered to make the vehicle more marketable. Some some cosmetic and some safety-oriented. One, the decision to use roll-down side windows instead of the original fixed windows, necessitated a lengthy and expensive re-engneering of a large part of the door assembly.

Wilbur's team decided last year to delay production of the Apteraluntil late this year to make sure the car would satisfy consumers, but the delay reportedly has eaten through most of the $24 million in private capital Fambro and Anthony raised just before hiring Wilbur.

The funding came from topnotch investors, including Google and IdeaLab, unlikely to be willing to watch idly as an internal rift grew.

Siry reports that Wilbur and his team opted to wind things down and lay off employees to pare expenses while waiting for the anticipated government loan to come through, while Fambro and Anthony argued for forgetting the engineering changes and building and releasing cars as they were initially designed.

Aptera's board reportedly came down on Wilbur's side.

John O'Dell, Senior Editor

John O'Dell:  is an AutoObserver Senior Editor. Follow @AutoObserver on Twitter.