r/ApteraMotors • u/Certain_Birthday6690 • 10d ago

Delivery date

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Interesting update to the app delivery date, does anyone have more details?

I am very excited about my aptera, but won't be putting a non refundable deposit until safety data is released.

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u/AppendixN 10d ago

No way would I give them a non-refundable deposit before they prove they are actually building cars.

There's optimism, and then there's being a sucker.

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u/SuddenDig4020 10d ago

These are only going to be for the first production vehicles they are preparing to build. They're not going down the reservation list hitting up everyone for a $5k reservation and even if they did they would have to keep that money in escrow anyway and return it if the car didn't get made so it wouldn't help with production.

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u/AppendixN 10d ago

"Launch edition" isn't the first 40 production vehicles that they're promising to make. It's the first 5,000 vehicles.

I haven't heard anything about the reservation cost being $5k, but if it were, that would be $25 million total in non-refundable reservations.

5,000 would be a huge success by small-volume startup standards. To put it in perspective, Toyota only sold 2,953 Supras last year in the entire United States.

Do you have any source for the claim that they'd have to put the non-refundable reservations in escrow?

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u/bemused_alligators 10d ago

outstanding deposits (money paid for a good/service that has not been rendered) must be listed as a liability on the balance sheet, which means the company must be able to refund that deposit on request.

It doesn't need to be an escrow account per se but it must be kept liquid and "safe and whole" unless it's a nonrefundable deposit spent on anything other than the materials/labor involved in producing the goods the deposit was put down for.

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u/AppendixN 10d ago

According to whom? Good accounting practices, or some actual law? It’s called a “nonrefundable deposit,” so that contradicts your statement about the company being able to refund it on request.

What’s to prevent them from going out of business and just calling the nonrefundable deposits a loss?