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Electric car maker Aptera Motors is closing after failing to woo enough investors to bring a new sedan to market. Aptera CEO Paul Wilbur said the Carlsbad, Calif.-based company closed its doors Friday and laid off all 30 of its employees. The company was hoping to get a $150 million loan from the Department of Energy but needed to raise matching funds, Wilbur said. He said Aptera had trouble drumming up interest from investors, who have been spooked by the difficulties other small electric car makers have had. Palo Alto, Calif.-based Tesla Motors Inc., for example, has racked up millions...

I just discovered this and since the MSM hasn't picked it up yet I thought I'd break it here. Anyone who knows me here knows that I'm a electric car nut. I've been following Aptera for a while. Aptera Motors is a company in Vista, CA that's making the "google car", the Aptera 2e. It looks like an wheeled iPod and uses almost no energy; the gasoline version gets 130 mpg and the electric version goes 100 miles. But there's trouble in California. Last fall they handed control of the company over to Paul Wilbur. Paul's greatest fame was running...

Aptera has officially introduced the all-electric and plug-in gasoline series hybrid (extended range electric vehicle, EREV) versions of its Typ-1 three-wheeled vehicle. (Earlier post). Both versions will be priced at less than $30,000. The all-electric model has a range of 120 miles. The plug-in series hybrid has achieved more than 300 miles per gallon with a total range of more than 600 miles. All-electric range is between 40 and 60 miles. The electric version is slated for delivery in 2008, with the EREV model to follow. Since the Typ-1e (electric) and the Typ-1h (plug-in series hybrid) have different battery...