Yet another Electric Vehicle ‘manufacturer’ files for bankruptcy without building a single car:
Aspiring electric car company Aptera Motors has announced that it is going out of business.
In a letter to supporters, Aptera CEO Paul Wilbur said that the company had obtained conditional approval for a $150 million loan from the Department of Energy, but was unable to raise the matching private investment required to tap into the loan. As a result, it had run out of resources and was forced to shut down.
While government backed (and leftist approved) EV’s are not selling, one of the most storied sports car manufactures, Lotus Cars, is making a push to expand its sales in the United States. Not only are they are staffing up US operations, they are making a push into IndyCar racing in a big way:
Lotus, after dabbling in IndyCar racing this year, returns in a big way in 2012 when it starts providing engines and aerodynamic kits to the teams. The storied British automaker joins General Motors in breaking the monopoly Honda has held on the Izod IndyCar series since 2006.
The automaker, which sponsored Japanese driver Takuma Sato (pictured above) for KV Racing this year, signed the deal with IndyCar just before the deadline for the 2012 season. It was announced Thursday afternoon to great fanfare by IndyCar, which had become something of a spec series in recent years.
“Lotus is a renowned name in racing, with a long association with some of the greatest names of motorsports,” IndyCar boss Randy Bernard said. “We’re honored Lotus has chosen to serve as an engine manufacturer for the first time with us. We are excited about the future of Indy car racing with the addition of Chevrolet and Lotus as well as the continued involvement of our longtime engine supplier Honda.”
This is good news, since I’ve always had a soft spot for British sports cars.
Ah, yes, the whole Lotus thing in Indycar.
First, the “Lotus” engine (and that’s all it is, since all the cars will run a new spec Dallara chassis) is really made by Judd. (The new Chevy Indy engine will be made in Detroit, by Ilmore).
Second, the Lotus relationship with KV Racing ended at the end of the season, when Lotus decided to buy their motors from Judd instead of Cosworth. BTW, the “K” in “KV Racing” is Kevin Kalkhoven, who owns Cosworth, and I’m pretty sure that Kalkhoven was counting on selling motors to Lotus.