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Hybrid Tech just made $65 million from bankrupt Fisker loan

We can now see at least one possible reason for why Hybrid Tech Holdings LLC bought the US Department of Energy's loan to Fisker Automotive last year for $25 million. The purchase is apparently worth $90 million today. The number is part of a settlement agreement that has come out of the company's asset auction which was won by China's Wanxiang Group Corporation in February for $149.2 million. Hybrid Tech said that the secured DOE loan it owned was worth all of that $149.2 million, but the new agreement says that Richard Li's company is due $90 million instead. The rest of the money will be divvied up between the unsecured creditors (who will split $20 million plus $15 million in equity in Wanxiang affiliates) and "priority claim holders" ($8 million). Delaware media has been interested in the case since Fisker bought an old General Motors plant near Newport and now reports that the state does not expect to get a whole lot back from its $20-million investment. Fisker filed for bankruptcy in late 2012. The asset auction is officially known as "In re Fisker Automotive Holdings Inc., 13-bk-13087, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Delaware (Wilmington)."

Fisker Magic Works to develop two new luxury EVs in the U.K.

Fisker Automotive is laying the groundwork for its third and fourth acts, to be led by a new division in the U.K. The first act is the Ocean crossover, due in production form at next month's L.A. Auto Show and due to enter production in November 2022. The Fisker Pear, whose model name stands for Personal Electric Automotive Revolution, is expected to arrive at the end of 2023. Following a year after that will be two new projects coming from the company's new Fisker Magic Works, set up earlier this month in the U.K. Former Aston Martin engineer David King, whose resume includes everything from the DB7 V12 to the Q by Aston Martin customization department, was hired as the SVP of engineering to lead development at the Magic Works.   Henrik Fisker said the overseas division "provides us with an opportunity to create sustainable and fantastic vehicles outside the confines of established industry segments," adding that he has already tasked King with shepherding "two exciting projects which will showcase our capability in highly specialized materials and technologies designed especially for the eco-conscious automotive enthusiast." He believes one of the coming electric vehicles will be a fringe member of its segment, but "the other one doesn't exist at all" yet. The new specialty models are planned to enter the market at the luxury end, one costing more than $100,000, one costing less. That's the other side of the buying pool from the Ocean, which will start at about $37,500, and the Pear, said to start at under $30,000. The products King is developing in England will be "serious production vehicles," but built at lower volumes than the Ocean and Pear. Before then, Fisker will be working to get the Ocean running down production lines at Magna's plant in Graz, Austria, and could be working with Foxconn to get Pear assembly going at the Chinese company's new facility in Lordstown, Ohio. Once we can get behind the wheel of the Ocean and drive it, then we'll know how much we can believe of what Fisker says will follow. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Wanxiang approved to build new Karma, Atlantic EVs in China

Ever since buying the remnants of Fisker back in 2014, Wanxiang's plan has always included building new vehicles in China. We're one step closer to that, with the approval this month of Wanxiang's request to build electric vehicles in the country. The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) says Wanxiang can build a new factory that can make up to 50,000 EVs a year. As we noted back in August, the new Karma Automotive factory will not only build the revived model that used to be known as the Fisker Karma (now the Karma Revero) but also the never-made Atlantic. The Atlantic did exist in concept form in 2012, but Wanxiang's new factory might make it real. This makes sense, since the Valmet machines that built the Karma the first time around have been shipped from Finland to California for Wanxiang's new plant there. When Wanxiang relaunched the Karma website in 2014, it did so with the slogan, "Hello Future. Meet the Atlantic." Maybe it should have said, "Hello China," instead. Related Video: Featured Gallery Fisker Atlantic News Source: Reuters Government/Legal Green Plants/Manufacturing Fisker Electric Hybrid wanxiang karma revero