APTERA UPDATE: Another Electric-Car Company Officially Closes Its Doors. I’m sad about that, as their car looked promising. But the market didn’t agree: “President and CEO Paul Wilbur explained in a statement that the company couldn’t find private investors to match a proposed $150 million loan from the Department of Energy. In an effort to attract that investment, the company had switched focus from that interesting three wheeler to a more conventional four-wheeled electric car.”