Today, the automaker Aptera announced that it is ceasing operations, effective immediately. Essentially, the company ran out of money, which isn't a huge surprise: It has yet to sell a product even though it's been four years since we first took a spin in the company's futuristic three-wheeled EV.

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.

More signs of trouble came back in August, when Aptera returned deposits to many of the customers in line to buy a vehicle when they finally rolled off the line. Aptera leaders vowed then to keep trying to secure the loan and shore up its finances, but the end came today.

Starting a car company is extremely tough task, which is why more fail than succeed.

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io