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Fisker has filed patents for solid-state batteries

It seems that we're on the cusp of a solid-state battery revolution. The latest company to announce progress in developing the new type of battery is Fisker. It has filed patents for solid-state batteries and it expects the batteries to be produced on a mass scale around 2023. Though Fisker is a very small car company that is currently taking deposits for its upcoming EMotion electric sedan, there are reasons to believe that the company could fulfill this promise. One of the members of the battery-development team was a co-founder of Sakti3, a company that formed to develop new batteries and announced its research into solid-state technology back in 2011. That company was purchased by Dyson, the vacuum cleaner company, which also intends on producing electric cars that AutoExpress reports will feature solid-state batteries in 2020. Toyota is also expected to have solid-state batteries just ahead of Fisker around 2022. The reason all these companies are working on developing solid-state batteries is because they present a whole host of advantages over what you'll find in today's phones, computers and cars. The two big ones are greater energy density and rapid charging times. Fisker claims the batteries it's developing have an energy density 2.5 times that of current batteries, and they should be capable of providing a 500-mile driving range. The company also says the batteries could be recharged in as little as a minute. Both claims are similar to past claims from others, including Sakti3. Other benefits include lower estimated cost than conventional lithium-ion batteries as well as very little risk of fires or explosions. Fisker also announced that it will display the new battery technology at the Consumer Electronics Show in January. It will be on display along with a close-to-production EMotion, which will be using more conventional lithium-ion batteries from LG Chem. That car has its own impressive claims with a range of more than 400 miles and the ability to regain around 125 miles of range in about 9 minutes. It will also retail for around $130,000, and the company is taking $2,000 reservations now. Fisker intends for it to go into production in 2019. Related Video: Featured Gallery Fisker EMotion View 14 Photos News Source: Fisker, AutoExpress Green Fisker Technology Emerging Technologies Electric Future Vehicles Sedan solid-state battery

Henrik Fisker: No 'final conclusion' yet in Foxconn deal

Two years ago, EV startup Fisker seemed to have hooked a giant when it announced a deal with Taiwanese iPhone maker Foxconn to build a sub-$30,000 crossover in the United States. It turns out that deal hasn't been finalized, according to comments Fisker founder and CEO Henrik Fisker made during an interview with TechCrunch. "In the Foxconn deal specifically, we don't yet have a final conclusion to this deal," Fisker told TechCrunch on the sidelines of an event in Huntington Beach, California, to showcase its future EV portfolio. While Henrik Fisker is still confident it will come together, his comments show just how precarious and complex automotive manufacturing deals can be. And considering Foxconn's history of backing out of other factory agreements, there's reason for some caution. The Foxconn-Fisker deal Foxconn and Fisker signed in February 2021 a memorandum of understanding agreement, with the goal of producing 250,000 vehicles annually. While it wasn't clear which vehicle Fisker might build with Foxconn, the automaker had said that it was working on the Personal Automotive Electric Revolution (PEAR) — an EV built for cities and urban environments that would cost less than $30,000. The Fisker-Foxconn deal came together relatively quickly following the announcement of the memorandum, and by May 2021, Foxconn and Fisker had a signed agreement, setting those expectations in writing. A few months later, Foxconn made a separate deal with EV maker Lordstown Motors that included buying its factory in Ohio and helping the struggling company manufacture its Endurance electric pickup truck. Fisker became a beneficiary of the deal when, in May 2022, the company announced it reached an agreement with Foxconn to build its PEAR EV at the Lordstown factory. But cracks soon formed in Foxconn's agreement with Lordstown Motors. Lordstown Motors filed for bankruptcy and has sued Foxconn for "fraudulent conduct," stating that the Taiwanese company had made a litany of "broken promises." Foxconn currently still owns the manufacturing plant in Lordstown, Ohio, and Fisker says that plans to build the PEAR in the Lordstown plant are still on track. Foxconn is no stranger to scuttling done deals. The company withdrew from a $19.5 billion agreement with Indian company Vedanta last month. It also famously received a $3 billion incentives package to build a factory in Wisconsin that was supposed to create 13,000 jobs.

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.