CARLSBAD - Like thousands of North County residents who commute to San Diego, Steve Fambro got frustrated when stuck in traffic. He dreamed of driving a high mpg vehicle that would let him use the car-pool lane.

That was about three year ago. Today, Fambro's dream is materializing in the workshop of Carlsbad-based Aptera Motors. It's a prototype called the Aptera. Made out of strong, lightweight composite materials such as fiberglass, the Aptera is a three-wheeled, hybrid diesel/electric vehicle that looks like something out of the Jetsons. The Aptera weighs 850 pounds, seats two, and the company says, gets 300 mpg.

Sunday night, the company threw a launch party for the Aptera as a way to reward its15 employees who turned the Aptera from a concept to creation, Fambro said. And it was also a way to woo potential investors.

Because it has been classified as a motorcycle by California, the Aptera can legally use the car-pool lane -- even if there's only one passenger. It would indeed be a low-stress way for Fambro to drive to Illumina Inc., the biotech company in the Golden Triangle area where he worked when he had his epiphany. The Aptera goes from zero to 60 mph in 11 seconds, he said, with a top speed of 95 mph.

Now for the biggest challenge: Getting investors to share his dream and put up enough cash to begin mass production. Pronounced ap-TEAR-uh, the name means "wingless" in Greek.

Apteras can roll off the manufacturing line in about a year, said Fambro, a resident of Carlsbad, and business partner Chris Anthony of Mira Mesa -- if the company can raise $20 million to $40 million. Their goal is to make 30 Apteras a day, selling for less than $30,000 each. (There is also an electric-only model that Fambro said can travel 120 miles on a full charge, but the hybrid model is expected to be most in demand.)

Fambro, chief executive of the company, said he left Illumina in 2005 because he had risen about as far as he could there.

"We had all engineered ourselves out of a job," Fambro said of himself and colleagues, who made a particularly effective machine that synthesizes DNA. That machine can produce all the high-quality DNA Illumina will ever need, he said.

Trained in electrical engineering, Fambro didn't have biotech expertise, and wanted the challenge of working at a company where his skills would be more central. So he founded Aptera, then known as Accelerated Composites, in 2006.

Fambro said he jump-started the company with about $100,000 of his own money. Shortly after he founded Aptera, Fambro hired Anthony as chief operating officer. Anthony had design and composite-materials experience gained at his own company, Epic Wake Boats that makes watercraft that tow beach wakeboarders.

Over the last two years, Aptera Motors received two more cash infusions, Fambro says. It got about $1 million from Idealab, a Pasadena-based venture capital firm. That funding was followed by more than $1 million from another investor, Esenjay Explorations, an oil and gas drilling company based in Corpus Christi, Texas.

Most investors dismiss the idea out of hand, Fambro said: They think it's impossible for a tiny startup to compete with multibillion dollar automakers from Detroit, Tokyo and Seoul. Fambro's response is that the company isn't competing with the big automakers.

They have huge investments in existing automaking plants and technology.

Making the deadline for the Sunday night premiere was a close call, Fambro said, because the display prototype wasn't completed until 45 minutes before the launch. The company also has a well-used test vehicle that wasn't suitable for display.

The technical side of the job is just about done, said Fambro. The company has overcome the engineering and development hurdles, including computer design, finding sources for the parts and making sure the Aptera is safe.

The Aptera provides 360-degree visibility with the help of three rear-mounted cameras, and its composite shell is reinforced with beams that absorb and deflect the force of an impact. Two of the three wheels are in front, for greater stability when turning.

Key to the Aptera's mileage, its drag is far less than that of conventional cars, Fambro said. Even the windshield wipers are recessed to reduce drag. Other features include satellite radio and air conditioning augmented by solar power that turns on when the car is parked in the sun. That way, you'll never return to a hot vehicle, Fambro said.

Fambro said he and Anthony have also planned for the logistics of production. Aptera Motors has been licensed as a vehicle manufacturer, so it can issue vehicle identification numbers. The company has identified sources of components, and is preparing to streamline the manufacturing process to make it suitable for mass production. And it has secured the rental of a test center from Ford Motor Co.

"We can rent the whole test facility," Fambro said. "We have access to the high-speed oval, to the bumpy roads, the salt water bath … "

Even the slowing economy makes it easier for this startup to grow, Fambro said.

High vacancy rates mean there's a good selection of manufacturing sites around Carlsbad and Vista at low leasing rates. The company now occupies 15,000 square feet on Loker Avenue, Fambro said; about 100,000 square feet will be needed for manufacturing. And slackening demand for workers means more highly qualified employees are on the market.

- Contact staff writer Bradley J. Fikes at (760) 739-6641 or bfikes@nctimes.com.