Solar cars: Aptera, the electric car that “runs with the sun” is about to hit the streets

The Californian start-up Aptera attracted the attention of fans and media during the 2025 edition of Consumer Electronics Show (CES)held last week in Las Vegas, United States. The reason? The official presentation of the series version of its innovative solar electric vehicle, a vehicle that promises to work without the need to be connected to a charging socket. Although the model has already been available for pre-order for a few years, the company has not yet announced a definitive launch date. However, the debut at CES 2025 marks a promising step, also supported by the recent tests carried out on the prototype P12.

According to the co-founder of Aptera Motors, Chris Anthonythe vehicle represents years of innovation and the relentless commitment to more energy-efficient mobility. During CES, Anthony said:

CES is the ideal platform to share our vision and invite the world to join us in creating a cleaner future, powered by solar energy.

Despite high expectations, the availability of this revolutionary electric vehicle has been postponed several times. Initially scheduled for 2021 and subsequently for 2023, the commercial launch was further postponed despite a significant investment of $33 million in 2024.

Mass production could be close

During CES 2025, Aptera Motors announced that it had collected 135 million dollars to finally start mass production of the vehicle. However, the company has not provided precise information on when this phase will begin. The same confidentiality has been maintained on the official release date of the product, still leaving potential buyers in suspense.

Despite these uncertainties, interest in the solar vehicle seems to be growing rapidly: Aptera has already recorded approx 50,000 pre-orderstranslatable into $1.7 billion in potential revenue.

Technical specifications and price

With a curb weight of less than 820kgthe Aptera stands out for its aerodynamic bodywork that integrates 3 m² of solar panels with a total power of 700 watts. This system allows the vehicle to travel up to 60 km per day using exclusively solar energy, equal to over 18,000 km per year.

The total autonomy, however, exceeds 1000kmthanks to the rechargeable battery also via a normal charging station. The performance of the vehicle is equally surprising: the maximum speed exceeds 160 km/hwith acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h in just 4 seconds.

The starting price for the Aptera electric vehicle, available for pre-order on the company’s official website, is $32,000equivalent to approximately 31,300 euros.