Objective: Motive was first tasked with completing the CAD development for the Body and Interior of the Aptera Typ 1 prototype. Following that Motive was brought on to complete the body and interior CAD development for the 2e.
Strategy: Moving the initial MK0 prototype into a production-ready vehicle was no simple task. We were able to package all of the necessary components and structural requirements into a form that mirrored the original design intent and with the design skill of Jason Hill were able to improve on the aesthetic and performance of the original prototype vehicle. The total development time was five months to data release and four months for pre-production vehicle manufacturing.
Results: The first vehicles assembled successfully passed all Federal safety requirements for 3-wheeled vehicles and exceeded many required for 4-wheeled vehicles.
“I’ve worked with Nathan and his firm Motive Industries for over three years when I was CEO of Aptera. Without any doubt, Aptera’s successful launch of the typ-I electric vehicle in Sep 2007 was due in large part to Nathan and Motive’s honesty, work ethic, ingenuity, resourcefulness and diligence. Above all, Nathan consistently met and exceeded our requests, deadlines and expectations, saving our skin so many times. So demanding was his task, he relocated on site (from Canada!) and fully integrated himself with our CAD team, work directing our engineers and acting as an executive liaison to the management.
Nathan and his team are cut from a different cloth. He can listen to the customer’s high level requirements and capture their needs perfectly, working with arduous budgetary and timing constraints. He can then find his way around a machine shop and ensure the technicians and engineers are building what is designed. If they are not, he can gracefully show them how it’s done on the lathe or milling machine, for example.
One of Nathan’s and Motive specialties is transitioning their clients from concept to prototype to low volume construction, to higher volume. Along the way, they secure vendors and perform or develop unique manufacturing principles to minimize tooling cost. They then develop actionable plans to move the process to a higher volume showing the tradeoffs and capitalization required along the way. And more often than not, they consistently do things that people steeped in the industry say ‘can’t be done’. Nathan and his team are simply extraordinary. Whether it’s structural, composites, stampings, or castings, Nathan and Motive can deliver designs plans and products quicker, cheaper and better than the ‘experts’ say can be done. In my mind, Nathan and Motive are the experts.” - Steve Fambro, Former CEO and Founder, Aptera Motors
