Employees of Failed Electric Car Manufacturer Caught Destroying Car Frames…With Forklifts
- Posted on December 8, 2011 at 8:19pm by
Becket Adams
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Californian car manufacturer Aptera Motors had big plans to revamp the auto industry with its sleek, aerodynamic electric cars.
With the help of Darrell Issa (R-CA), the company had hoped to secure a lucrative $150 million Department of Energy loan guarantee. Issa even sent Energy Secretary Steven Chu a letter back in January 2010 supporting the company’s request.
“They were looking for an answer,” Issa told POLITICO in October. “We simply encouraged it. It’s an interesting project for the commuter vehicle . . . and we simply wanted an answer.”
Issa said the loan would “greatly assist a leading developer of electric vehicles in my district.”
However, when Aptera Motors was unable to secure the loan, the company announced that it would permanently close its doors due to a “lack of resources.”
But something else has surfaced since that announcement.
“Less than a week after California startup Aptera Motors announced it was going out of business, videos of what appear to be employees of the company playfully destroying body shells of its radical electric car have appeared on the internet, prompting outcry from many in the alternative car arena, including two of the automaker’s former executives,” reports Fox News.
Apparently, the destructive activity was sanctioned by Aptera management.
Some have argued that the videos aren’t a big deal because the “teardrop-shaped chassis seen being thrown around by forklifts and crushed into walls are flawed prototypes that were being disposed of intentionally, and subjected to a little impromptu crash testing in the process,” Fox reports.
Nevertheless, the videos have some of the company’s former executives and investors upset.
Not too long ago Aptera co-founder Chris Anthony wrote that the overall plan for the company once it went out of business was to put the assets into:
…a trust with a very well respected Managed Liquidation Company. Their responsibility is to maximize the value of the remaining assets for the benefit of debt and share holders. There are no employees at Aptera and no Board of Directors. Everything that is Aptera, in terms of assets and IP, are now held by the Managed Liquidation Company.
This process to establish how the liquidation will occur has begun, but will take several weeks to be fully defined. Eventually, the assets will be auctioned off to the highest bidder to do with what they choose.
It is the responsibility of the managed liquidation company to protect Aptera’s assets and maximize their value now. They were there when the doors were closed and hold the only access to these assets now.
Nothing will be destroyed, taken away, or otherwise impacted in a way that value will be decreased.
“There is no viable or logical reason for this to have been done, only to prevent the founders from ever seeing their functioning works again,” wrote Steve Fambro, Former Chief Technical Officer and co-founder of Aptera, according to Autoblog.
Karen Pease, one of the early members on the waiting list for the vehicles, said that the vehicles in the videos are actually the models that fans had “fallen in love with before the design became all bloated and inefficient under Team B,” reports ABC News.
“There’s a reason they’re giggling and making fun of them,” she said. “It’s like winning an enemy’s house from them in a contest and then burning it down.”
Source: Sandy Huffaker - Bloomberg via Getty Images
Pease, who was a prolific member of the Aptera online forum, said several employees began to contact her after the company, founded in 2005, started, in her words, “going downhill.”
“They took the vehicles that inspired thousands of people to put down a deposit, gutted them of their reinforcements and smashed them against a concrete wall, giggling about it like high-schoolers smashing mailboxes,” Pease told ABC News.com. “These were incredible vehicles that could do 100mph and cruise at highway speeds using the power of two blowdryers; they belonged in a museum.”
In response to the videos and concerns about the failed company’s assets, an Aptera spokesman says that they are “safely under the control of a liquidation company that plans to dispose of them”
This video was posted with the following description: “Now I know what it was like to watch Roman soldiers burn down the library of Alexandria for fun.”
Towards the end of the video, you can hear one of the employees say, “None of this sh*t ends up on YouTube.” Why not? If these were really just the failed prototypes, and not actual company assets, what’s the problem with posting these videos to YouTube?
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Comments (132)
inferno
Posted on December 8, 2011 at 9:28pmAny monies Obama rasies for his reelection, are not contributions, they are given to buy protection. If anyone dares to go against Obama, or not support his reelection, they will pay a price. No Republican will be able to promote a project in his or her district, and look for any support from Obama. This is Chicago politics at it’s best. The Mafia in it’s best days, looks like rank amatuers compared to Obama. FDR started the ball rolling. Obama learned to play the game from him !
Report Post »TXPilot
Posted on December 8, 2011 at 9:41pmSoon, it will be people that are disappearing, when they dare to speak out against Fuhrer Obama and his cronies.
Report Post »TXPilot
Posted on December 8, 2011 at 9:44pmJust for the record, I detest seeing our tax dollars wasted in such a manner, but as far as the car itself, I think Id rather walk, than be seen zipping around town in a car that looks like a giant sperm.
Report Post »Anti_Spock
Posted on December 8, 2011 at 10:03pmIssa wanted 150 million for this crap? The design is terrible. We should all be happy they destroyed these. Just saved the taxpayer boo coo money.
Issa…. you’re fired bud.
Report Post »Alky
Posted on December 8, 2011 at 10:16pmIf it had been a Demoncrat trying to help them out, it would have been a done deal!
Report Post »ShyLow
Posted on December 8, 2011 at 11:45pmStanderized batteries that can be changed-out at truck-stops and other places,along with service trucks that can carry and change-out these batteries,is the most practical way to go about an electric car future…Everything else that runs on batteries is done that way
Report Post »THE TRUTH SHALL MAKE YOU FREE
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 12:44amThey would have got the loan if an obama fundraiser was involved, that chu idiot is the lackey that gave solyndra the loan on the furors orders.
Report Post »Chuck Stein
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 12:58am@ Anti-spock and Txpilot
Report Post »The design is actually a very good one: very “slippery” (streamlined to maximize laminar airflow) and the “tadpole” trike arrangement of the wheels is excellent for efficient vehicles. The big problem, though, is the “selling” point of the thing: electric powered. Given the state-of-the-art for electric storage (lithium batteries), the only practical application for electric cars is for low speed (30-35 mph max) and low range (20 miles) things that you use to go get groceries, go to the commuter train station, etc. Electric cars on highways are a very poor fit.
SgtB
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 10:30am@ chuck stein,
The problem was not the ability of this company to sell its’ vehicle. There has been a back order for these vehicles since before they ever had the first model available for sale. Also, they were supposed to have a hybrid version coming that would be for people who didn’t want the limited range. And as for your assumption that this car was not capable of highway speeds, it was. The top speed is 90 mph and it has a 0-60 time of ~10 sec. A prius is about 3 seconds slower in a 0-60 race and I’ve yet to see one top 80 on the road. Oh, but the prius had huge gov‘t incentives and the backing of a gov’t loans both here and in Japan. Should I mention that 90% of this car’s parts were American made and that they were assembled in America?
Report Post »Chuck Stein
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 12:31pm@ sgtb
Report Post »My negativity about electric powered cars was a generality. Yes, some electrics can go at highway speeds (e.g., Tesla & Fisker). The Aptera design is one of them. Also, electrics are famous for accelleration. The big thing that limits an electric is the amount of energy that it can carry around with it. The power density of a battery is much less than liquid hydrocarbons. A small, sleek, three-wheel one-seater is the best design that you can get for transporting people over any distance. The design at issue fits the bill AS BEST AS AN ELECTRIC CAN — but it will always have limitations that a car with an identical body, but powered with a gasoline-fuelled engine, would not have.
JMorcan
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 1:14pmI’ll bet an enthusiastic garage mechanic could put a small diesel in that and get 60-70 MPG. Such a shame to see morons crushing them to pieces.
Report Post »koyettsu
Posted on December 8, 2011 at 9:25pmlol electric cars are a joke, maybe some day but right now they are awful. If I can’t drive across the country in an electric car without having to stop for 8 hours to recharge the thing every 50 miles it is pointless to me.
Report Post »SgtB
Posted on December 8, 2011 at 10:27pmThis was actually a good car. They had scheduled a hybrid version of it to come out later as well as the electric. Whats crazy about this is that this company had these cars on backorder for years and they were selling as fast as they could build them. Why did a company such as this fail? I’ll tell you why, overbearing gov’t regulations. If you want to sell a single car you have to submit several to be crashed and tested by the USDOT and other agencies. Then you have to get EPA certification, that takes several cars to establish a baseline, and then you have do redo all of that testing and production if they find a single fault or you make a design change. It is killing us. I would’ve bought one of these cars no doubt.
Report Post »Chuck Stein
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 4:08pm@ sgtb
Report Post »I like a lot about the little car, too. Make mine gasoline powered, and I would order one as well. Maybe they could come in CNG, diesel, E85, and M85 as well. M85 — now THERE is a fuel with great potential. Methanol has only half of the power density as diesel, but it is very cheap to make from natural gas — and we (USA) now have a lot of natual gas.
BONETRAUMA
Posted on December 8, 2011 at 9:21pmA golf cart with no ball washer? How can it be a golf cart with no ball washer?
Report Post »liberalescheisskopf
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 2:56pmDepends on the mood of your passenger…….
Report Post »OlefromMN
Posted on December 8, 2011 at 9:14pmThe story mentions a failed electric car company, is there a successful one?
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on December 8, 2011 at 9:17pmRight now or when a government is invovled -=- NOPE.
Report Post »idarusskie
Posted on December 8, 2011 at 10:06pmyes there is. Smith electric trucks have been made for 80 years.
http://smithelectric.com
Report Post »idarusskie
Posted on December 8, 2011 at 10:08pmyes there is. Smith trucks have been made for 80 years.
Report Post »smithelectric.com
idarusskie
Posted on December 8, 2011 at 10:09pmyes there is smith electric has made electric trucks for 80 years.
Report Post »Bobj_1960
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 12:37amCheck out Tesla Cars
Report Post »SgtB
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 10:21amLet me ask you how a company with a backorder of vehicles could fail. The simple and correct answer is that we live under a tyrannous gov’t with burdensome regulations. Aptera was selling every car that it produced and was on the way to producing a hybrid sedan that would put a prius to shame in every way. >100mpg and quicker and more nimble than any other hybrid. The main reason for their failure despite a valiant effort is excessive gov’t regulation.
Report Post »1947
Posted on December 8, 2011 at 9:14pmThe employees are COMMIES
Report Post »trueblueday
Posted on December 8, 2011 at 9:11pmOur dear government needs to get out of the car business. The government needs to get out of our lives. Period.
Report Post »Issa, Shame on you.
Wyle E Coyote
Posted on December 8, 2011 at 9:09pmI’m not a tree hugger type, not in the least, but I kinda liked the car myself. For me, it would work great for my commuting to work and errands, even as an electric. I would love to have seen them come out with one powered with a small diesel motor, such as those used on the refrigerators on truck trailers. Probably get 100 mpg. Of all of the electric cars I’ve seen, probably the most promising IMHO. If they would restructure and offer them as kit cars, I’d consider buying one.
The shame in this article is that those body shells are company assets, and investors would (or at least should) look at this as increasing their potential losses. It’s amazing to me how vindictive people can be.
Report Post »whoisjohngalt11
Posted on December 8, 2011 at 9:28pmSad to see this , i really liked that also, guess they should have courted the Big O instead of Issa :-) well i hope mine does better although i have no such aspirations of starting that big..but a small diesel possibly turbo charged is the way to go also,a company out of Davis California makes those Wankel ( Rotary engines) you are thinking of… Also Diesels can be made to burn natural gas etc..
Report Post »oriondma05
Posted on December 8, 2011 at 9:04pmI say shame on Darrell Issa. I have a lot of respect for him the way he is holding the DOJ and Eric Holder accountable. But this just shows that both sides of the aisle pander to the government for $$$ for pet projects in their districts. The Federal government should only collect enough money to pay the military and a few other essential government agencies and let the tax payers keep the rest to invest how they see fit.
Shame on you Congressman Issa.
Report Post »wildturkeywatcher
Posted on December 8, 2011 at 9:18pmIssa did not ask that the loan be granted; he asked that a DECISION BE MADE because it had been so long since the loan application had been submitted that a decision should have been made. Read carefully and listen to other news.
Report Post »oriondma05
Posted on December 8, 2011 at 9:25pmYeah, but instead he could have told the company to go to a group of investors rather than advocating for them in Congress.
And I get my news from many sources, don’t make assumptions.
Report Post »oriondma05
Posted on December 8, 2011 at 9:27pmIssa said the loan would “greatly assist a leading developer of electric vehicles in my district.
I believe Limbaugh refers to this as “greasing the skids”…
Don’t get me wrong, I like Issa, I think he’s fighting hard against a corrupt government right now, but this is more crap that we don’t need government shelling out tax payer money for.
Report Post »Al J Zira
Posted on December 8, 2011 at 9:02pmLooks like a bunch of crash tests to me. This is what you do when you don;t get government money, you use a fork lift to test your product. Makes you feel real safe knowing the car has been tested to be safe. A forklift could kill you!
Report Post »Outlaw_Josey_Wales
Posted on December 8, 2011 at 9:19pmNeed to put some OWS crash test dummies in car body.
Report Post »SgtB
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 10:42amI’d say that these cars did pretty well. That fork lift hit them at ~ 8-10 mph with >3,000 pounds behind it while the car was backed up to a concrete wall and missing all of its‘ road gear including its’ nose cone bumper that was designed to absorb such impacts so that the firewall area didn’t have to do the job alone. I’d like to see how a civic or prius body without any front end or running gear would do in a sililar situation. I‘d think that they’d do about the same or worse. Especially once you remove the doors and the structure that is supposed to hold up the dash and provide rigidity to the body across the front end.
Report Post »Mahakala
Posted on December 8, 2011 at 9:00pmNot sure what is the big deal. The company went under and they were going to be destroyed anyway. Might was well have a little fun doing it.
Report Post »ehbardin
Posted on December 8, 2011 at 8:59pmObviously the reasons that Aptera Motors did not get a DOE loan are;
A) They did not grease Obama’s palm.
B) Darrell Issa is being punished for going after Holder.
C) If it’s not good for Dictator Obama, he will screw America, well no matter what, he will screw America.
LIBERTEA
Report Post »Patriot Z
Posted on December 8, 2011 at 8:59pmof course they dont care. libs lie. this is noting more than more limo lib nonsense about “saving the pwanet” If libturds actually cared they could have found other uses for the shell.. mabye a small bike or recreational vehicle. mabye sell them to anothyer company and attempt a new line. iThats the difference btw CONSERVatives who actually care and limo libs who are ‘green for fashion and power. Conservatives make the most out of what they have. limo greens only tell others to conserve and waste more than anyone
Report Post »Shasta
Posted on December 8, 2011 at 8:57pmNothing more than Occupy Aptera Motors.
Report Post »Outlaw_Josey_Wales
Posted on December 8, 2011 at 8:57pmGM Volt needs the forklift treatment.
Report Post »dealer@678
Posted on December 8, 2011 at 8:52pmAnother loser from California. What else is new
Report Post »ConservativeCharlie
Posted on December 8, 2011 at 8:51pmWhat a waste, im sure people would of bought those bodys. They should of auctioned them. What a stupid call to just destroy them.
Report Post »chips1
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 12:27pmDrop an S&S engine in it and off to Sturgis. It will be destroyed by Harley riders, but what the heck. It was worth the try.
Report Post »abbygirl1994
Posted on December 8, 2011 at 8:47pmAhhhhhhhhhhhhhh another failed green company.. is Obama’s world getting smaller and smaller.. how many does that make now.. and at our expense.. These employees are as frustrated as the rest of America, only difference is. we don’t act on it. Yet!!
Report Post »SanDiego
Posted on December 8, 2011 at 8:45pmThis has been done before. How many good cars were destroyed by “Cash for Clunkers?”
Report Post »Patrick Henry II
Posted on December 8, 2011 at 8:44pmI would kind of like to have one and install an oil smoking 2 stroke gasoline engine in it. Maybe an old large chainsaw engine and mix the oil a little rich and drive it all over a liberal bastion somewhere.
Report Post »dsind
Posted on December 8, 2011 at 8:52pmlove the idea
Report Post »Baddoggy
Posted on December 8, 2011 at 9:15pmI piss people off with my go cart like that..Love it
Report Post »tooksdad
Posted on December 8, 2011 at 8:41pmHey! someone tell Glenn that Wal Mart is selling 16 packs of 100w light bulbs for $3.75 and 60w available also. I just bought 10 boxes.
Report Post »hi
Posted on December 8, 2011 at 8:57pmThank you!! . I can’t stand the poisonous ones!!
Report Post »Although, could there be a quality control problem with the standard bulb since they knew they were going out of business?
ehbardin
Posted on December 8, 2011 at 9:01pmif they are GE stuff them where the sud doesn’t shine…
Report Post »Mattyboy
Posted on December 8, 2011 at 8:37pmWhat a piece of crap. Waste money-see what you get!I call those little cars Obama Mobiles. Yeah, I could really put a ladder rack on that piece of crap along with all my other painting gear. I would end up being broke like everyone else. Yeah BS!!
Report Post »t00nces2
Posted on December 8, 2011 at 8:42pmShould have burned them.
Report Post »dealer@678
Posted on December 8, 2011 at 8:47pmAnd this POS was almost financed by me and you
Report Post »sgtstubbs
Posted on December 8, 2011 at 9:14pmSave the bases you can build your own.
Report Post »BrianA
Posted on December 8, 2011 at 8:36pmThis is to bad. This was a good company who was obviously mismanaged. I know a number of fuel economy nerds who love their apteras.
Report Post »TROONORTH
Posted on December 8, 2011 at 8:36pmThe problem with all electric vehicles is that they HAVE NO HEATERS! Unless an axillary source of heat is used ( a gasoline engine for example) these vehicles are of no use to anyone living where the temperatures drop below 70*F. Running an engine or other fossil fueled heater for much of the year ( ten months in northern United States) reduces the effectiveness of these vehicles as pollution fighters to almost zero. An electric heat source would consume all of the battery power in mere minutes. Until the heater ( and defroster) problem is solved then electric cars are little more than a novelty limited to the extreme southern United States.
Report Post »majorsco
Posted on December 8, 2011 at 8:31pmThese saboteurs are probably auto workers union thugs that are upset. If they’re not actual card carrying members, they’re using the same tactics. They need to be prosecuted fully and be made to pay back the firm, even if the company is defunct. At least then the investors may get their due.
Report Post »NOBALONEY
Posted on December 8, 2011 at 8:27pmBack to the drawing board! This time develope something that the people would like, not what the government wants.
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