Five years ago, Aptera's founder Steve Fambro endeavored to design and build a passenger vehicle that was safe, comfortable, and more fuel-efficient than anything ever produced. This aspiration, combined with his background in engineering, led him to an intensive study of aerodynamics, and composite aircraft construction. He hypothesized that a low-drag, aerodynamic body shape could be achieved without sacrificing comfort, drivability or safety.
 
What emerged, after much designing, conceptualizing, and constructing, was a prototype two-seat, three-wheeled vehicle. This first operating prototype achieved a stunning 230 miles per gallon, Building on this success, Steve expanded his Aptera team and created the Aptera Typ-1, which has been re-designed, re-engineered, and refined into a production ready vehicle. We are excited to announce that the Aptera Typ-1 is now available for reservations.

Steve grew up in Georgia learning how to work on cars well before he could drive. After four years in the Army repairing electronics, he decided to pursue his engineering degree. At almost 30, he put himself through college while working as a freelance programmer and building custom loudspeakers. Working in the biotech industry at Illumina, Steve contributed greatly to their patent portfolio and efficiency, while successfully bringing several projects from R&D into manufacturing. Steve also brought a great deal of automation and IP to traditionally labor-intensive manufacturing steps helping to ensure Illumina's market dominance. While most of his colleagues left to start their own biotech firms, Steve left Illumina in 2006 to start Aptera. Starting from his garage and teaching himself composites, he has since grown the company to 15 employees, completed the pre-manufacturing phase of development, and raised two-rounds of funding from outside investors. Steve has a BSEE from the University of Utah and enjoys flying composite airplanes.

Chris also founded Epic Boats LLC and grew it from the ground up to become one of the most well recognized brands in its market segment. Through Epic Boats he has developed many useful design and prototyping techniques that have been extremely valuable to Aptera's initial growth process. In conjunction with Epic's building out a manufacturing facility in the Northwest, he also developed a resin infusion process that is currently recognized as the World's Leading Large Part Composite Manufacturing Method in use today, with several patents forthcoming. Chris has a legacy in hydrodynamic and aerodynamic theory, which he has put to use in the design of several Olympic Class Whitewater Kayaks and Man Made Whitewater Courses. His skills in operations management, part design and assembly have been invaluable in the development of the Aptera and its unique build processes. Chris holds a degree in Finance from The University of North Carolina, a brokerage and insurance license, and various technical certifications in computer programming and network management.

Neil was a GMI grad (BSME), and started early in his career at GM. There, he assembled and directed an engineering team responsible for the aerodynamic development of NASCAR Winston Cup cars, including the design and manufacture of stamped steel racecar body panels, composite front and rear fascias, and Lexan windshields. From there, he did a stint in a crash sled lab and went on to spend many years with DaimlerChrysler, where he focused on hard-core product development in chassis, suspensions, powertrain, and body structures. During his time there, Neil also held the Viper and NASCAR program manager posts. He then went to work at Saleen, where he managed the development of the S7, a limited-production, 200mph American Supercar. Next, Ford Motor Company hired Hannemann to run its supercar GT program. Upon completion of the GT, Neil moved on to McLaren Automotive—another household name in the niche car industry—overseeing all aspects of engineering and technical integrity for products, including a new mid-engine sports car for Mercedes-Benz.

Tony started out in the auto business straight out of grad school in South Africa when he joined the Volkswagen subsidiary there as a young trainee. Within a few years he was heading up marketing and became known within the Volkswagen group as a creative and innovative marketer. This led to an invitation to move to Detroit as Audi of America's director of marketing, an assignment that lasted for five years. A transfer in 1990 to the UK to head up sales for VW and Audi was followed two years later by an offer to take up the position of CMO of BMW's South African company, a fully integrated manufacturing and marketing operation. In 1998 Tony returned with his family to the US via Charleston, SC but moved to Scottsdale, AZ in 2001 to start a brand experience strategy consulting practice.