Steve Fambro, co-founder of solar EV startup Aptera Motors, explains the biomimicry and aerodynamic principles behind the three-wheeled vehicle's exterior design.
Assertion Open · timeframe Aug 2026
Fambro: Aptera yields 11,000 miles of free solar charge yearly in SoCal
“You plug it in like normal if you want, but most people won't ever have to because here in Southern California, you'll probably get about 11,000 miles a year of free charge, so.”
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Fambro: 1,000-mile range EVs are imminent, led by Aptera's aerodynamic design
“I definitely think so. I think Aptera is going to show the way because of the way technology is right now, there's no other way it's achievable without this extreme obsession with efficiency. There's no other platform out there that can do it. So the vehicles,…”
Opinion
Fambro: US side mirror mandates are vestigial "buggy whip" regulations
“It's vestigial. It's like saying, you know, you must have a clip for your whip on your buggy. You know, you can't have your whip laying around in the buggy. Like, there's no whip, there's no buggy. You know, we don't need that. But it is a vestigial requiremen…”
Disclosure
Fambro: Aptera originally aimed to build a 300-MPG diesel vehicle
“And once we determine what that was through our research, you know, we believe that with a diesel engine at the time, we could achieve over 300 miles per gallon. And so we just, we built the company around that, and we started fundraising and got our first inv…”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Fambro: Adding solar panels to large, traditional EVs barely improves driving range
“And if you try to do this, you know, to any large electric vehicle, it's barely going to budge, you know, the needle.”
Assertion Open · timeframe Aug 2026
Fambro: Aptera yields 10 to 12 miles of daily solar charge overcast
“It'll, it'll still charge. It might only charge, you know, 10 miles worth or 12 miles worth or something like that if it's overcast or in a northern latitude, you know.”