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Fisker, Quantum pairing up to relaunch Karma PHEV

The upcoming relaunched Fisker Karma will look a lot like the old one. Turns out, the brains of the car will share a lot with the old Karma as well. Fisker (and its new owner, Wanxiang) and Quantum Technologies have announced a deal worth over $5 million. Quantum is going to license its plug-in hybrid control software to Fisker in exchange for $2 million this month and another $2 million a year from now. The first payment will be used to get the software into the relaunched Karma and the next payment is for "Fisker Auto Group's planned Atlantic vehicle line." Fisker has the option to pay more by October 27, 2016 to "acquire joint-ownership of the hybrid control software for the Karma, Atlantic and future platforms." There's another part of the deal worth "approximately $1.35 million" for software development services over the coming year. If this all has a somewhat familiar ring to you, you might be thinking about the $10.2 million that Fisker gave Quantum five years ago to develop the PHEV powertrain when it was still called the "Q-Drive plug-in hybrid system." The fact that we're talking about a relaunch now tells us something about how that all turned out. Maybe it'll be better this time, if those 250 bugs get squashed. Quantum Technologies Enters into License Agreement with Fisker Automotive and Technologies Group LLC to provide Plug-In Hybrid Control Software to Support Re-Launch of the Fisker Karma Vehicle - Control Software Agreement to provide Quantum with more than $5.0 million over the coming year - Control software license to cover Fisker Karma and Atlantic series with option for joint-ownership for these and other future platforms LAKE FOREST, Calif., Nov. 3, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide, Inc. ("Quantum") (NASDAQ: QTWW), a global leader in natural gas storage systems, integration, and vehicle system technologies, today announced it has entered into an agreement with Fisker Automotive and Technologies Group LLC ("Fisker Auto Group") pursuant to which Quantum will license its plug-in hybrid control software to Fisker Auto Group and, in return, will receive an initial payment of $2.0 million on or before November 27, 2014, and a second payment of $2.0 million on or before October 27, 2015.

Karma's new China plant will revive Fisker Atlantic

Karma Automotive, the successor to high-end extended-range plug-in vehicle maker Fisker Automotive, is planning a factory in China that will make as many as 50,000 vehicles a year. The company is owned by China-based Wanxiang Group and has also reached agreements for 10 North American dealerships. Most impressively, there appear to be plans to revive the two-door "Atlantic" model that was planned by Fisker but never saw the light of day. Wanxiang Group will invest $375 million to build the factory in Hangzhou, Bloomberg News reports. No completion date has been set by Wanxiang, which Bloomberg said last year was China's biggest corporate investor in US real estate. Wanxiang acquired the former Fisker out of bankruptcy in 2014 for about $149 million, and renamed the company Karma. The four-door vehicle model that was previously known as the Karma will be relaunched as the Revero later this year. Karma Automotive also has a 550,000-square-foot factory in Moreno Valley, California, near Los Angeles. The wrinkle to the new factory, though, is that most of the cars produced there will be the two-door Atlantic. That model was unveiled in 2012, but Fisker never made good on its plans to start selling it to the public, and went bankrupt the following year. Karma said Monday that it reached agreements to relaunch its automobile line with 10 dealerships throughout North America, where it will sell the four-door Revero. The North American markets will be Atlanta, Chicago, Ft. Worth, Miami, Palm Beach, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Detroit, Montreal, and Toronto. Karma is also planning to build an Orange County Brand Experience Center in Southern California, but it didn't reveal further details about that facility. Related Video: Featured Gallery Fisker Atlantic: New York 2012 News Source: Bloomberg News, Karma Automotive Green Plants/Manufacturing Fisker wanxiang atlantic fisker atlantic extended-range plug-in karma karma automotive

Recharge Wrap-up: Fisker owner Wanxiang owns a lot of US real estate, carmakers gaming EU emissions system

Wanxiang Group says it might now be China's largest corporate investor in American real estate. The owner of both Fisker Automotive and battery company A123 Systems, and parts supplier to Mazda and Chrysler, Wanxiang has invested in over 60 projects in the US since 2010. Returns on those investments have been "very, very, very" high, according to Wanxiang America President Pin Ni. "We can invest in clean energy, auto, real estate or anything, but the key is pegging it well to the economic cycle," says Ni. Read more at Bloomberg. Cars sold in 2014 in Europe are exceeding 2015 targets for emissions, but not necessarily for the right reasons. The cars produce 2.6 percent (or 123.4 g/km) less CO2 than cars sold in 2013, which is nearly 7 g/km less than 2015 targets. Unfortunately, these results are influenced in part by manufacturers taking advantage of flaws in the EU testing procedures for better results. Real-world fuel economy is about 31 percent less than official ratings. "These figures need to be treated with extreme caution," says Greg Archer, clean vehicles manager at Transport & Environment. Most of the measured improvement is being delivered through manipulating tests, not delivering real-world improvements. We need the new test to be introduced without further delay." Read more at DieselNet, or from Transport & Environment. Ballard will supply fuel cell modules for eight hydrogen-powered buses in China. Shipping later this year, the FCvelocityTM-HD7 power modules will power buses in multiple Chinese for cities. "We are now beginning to see meaningful evidence of growing demand for clean energy mass transportation alternatives in China, including both buses and trams," says Ballard President and CEO Randy MacEwen. "This demand is being driven by a pressing need to address China's challenging air quality issues, for which fuel cell technology is seen as an emerging option." Read more from Ballard in the press release below. Ballard Inks Deal to Supply Next-Generation Fuel Cell Power Product For Eight Buses in China April 15, 2015 Vancouver, Canada – Ballard Power Systems (NASDAQ: BLDP; TSX: BLD) today announced that it has received an order from a Chinese customer to supply its next-generation FCvelocityTM-HD7 power modules for 8 buses to be deployed in a number of Chinese cities. Ballard expects to ship all of the modules in 2015.