Washington, Aug 16 (ANI): Would-be California automaker Aptera has announced that it is returning all deposits it currently holds for its two-seat, three-wheel electric car.
The company sent out a note on August 12th to the people who had reserved the Aptera 2e, saying: "...as you know, our path to production has been longer than anticipated, which has complicated our reservation administration to the point that we have decided to return your deposit," Fox News reports.
The declaration came a month after the company stopped taking new reservations. The company said that it is a result of a credit card processing system that only works over a six-month period and not the cancellation of the project outright.
Instead, reservation holders' names will be added to a "VIP database" which will keep them up to date on the progress of the development of the revolutionary vehicle, touted to have the equivalent fuel economy of a gasoline-powered car that gets 200 mpg, the report said.
Over the past few years Aptera has been raising funds to get its ultra-aerodynamic battery-powered car into production, but has not put out the vehicles on sale so far.
Reports suggest that the company has applied for a loan from the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program from the Department of Energy, but it has yet to be approved. Although the size of Aptera's request is unknown, it is believed that the 25 billion dollar program has awarded hundreds of millions of dollars in loans to competing start-up electric car companies Tesla Motors and Fisker Automotive. (ANI)
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