2023 Fisker Ocean on 2040-cars

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Recharge Wrap-up: Karma expands in Michigan, Genovation to attempt another record

Karma Automotive (Fisker's successor) is expanding its engineering and program management team at its new Michigan office as it plans to launch the Revero. "Detroit is the home of some of the top technical resources and leading suppliers in the world," says Karma VP of Engineering Darren Post. Recent hires include former Ford GT engineer Kip Ewing, newly appointed President & Chief Operations Officer Dennis Dougherty, and other employees who "bring with them expertise in many technical areas and deep experience with many great companies such as Aston Martin, Rolls Royce, Tesla, Ford, FCA, and GM," according to Post. Read more in the press release from Karma. Businesses and developers in Phoenix, Arizona are planning their endeavors around the city's light rail project. Mixed use space The Newton, DeSoto Central Market, and Luhrs City Center are all located along the Valley Metro rail line. Not only does the light rail system help bring in customers, it is also a great way for employees to get to work. Valley Metro recently gave a tour of several businesses to highlight how light rail has been an important part of growth and development in the city. Read more at Mass Transit. Genovation is looking to set a new speed record for a street-legal electric car. The company recently set a record of 186.8 miles per hour in its GXE (Genovation eXtreme Electric car), which uses the frame and body of a Chevrolet Corvette. Now, Genovation is looking to push those limits further. We'll update you when we have more details, but for now, read more in the note below. Genovation Looks to Set Second World Speed Record With Proprietary All-Electric Vehicle WHAT: Genovation Cars is looking to make history once again by breaking the top speed world record for a street legal all electric car. Genovation currently holds the world record, achieved on February 23, 2016 by reaching a top speed of 186.8 mph with its GXE (Genovation eXtreme Electric car). Genovation's custom vehicles combine cutting edge green technology with the Corvette's lightweight frame and aerodynamic body that allow the vehicles to reach record-breaking speeds. The record breaking attempt is open to select media with advance security clearance. Join us to learn more about Genovation Cars and the behind-the-scenes work that goes into building the fastest all-electric vehicle on the planet.

Over 40,000 customers reportedly cancel their Fisker Ocean reservation

Fisker's ongoing financial troubles have reportedly scared off a substantial number of the buyers who reserved the electric Ocean crossover with a refundable deposit. The company has lost more than 40,000 reservations that it will need to reimburse, according to a recent report. Citing leaked data and internal metrics, Business Insider wrote that Fisker received between 70 and 80 cancellations per day "in a recent seven-day average." The total number of canceled reservations stands at over 40,000, the report said, which represents a huge chunk of the reported 70,000-plus reservations the firm has collected since it opened the order book in November 2019. Fisker hasn't commented on the report. If this is accurate, the cancellations compound Fisker's problems in several ways. First, the brand's sales forecast has seemingly fallen by over 50%, meaning its revenue forecast has inevitably dropped by the same number. This comes at a time Fisker needs to generate more sales in order to stay afloat; it recently paused production of the Ocean to save money, and it's sitting on a massive inventory of unsold cars. Second, Fisker will need to refund the deposit it collected from every reservation holder who cancels, according to Business Insider and the brand's terms and conditions. It costs $250 to reserve one example of the Ocean and $100 for each additional reservation; both sums are refundable. Fisker keeps the $25 processing fee that's added to every reservation, however. The publication estimates Fisker owes its customer base about $9 million. It adds that "a few thousand" customers have separately canceled an order, though the $5,000 deposit on those isn't fully refundable. It's not far-fetched to assume some of the customers who reportedly canceled a reservation realized they can get a new Ocean right away for much cheaper than initially advertised — Fisker slashed the price of its leftover 2023 models by up to $24,000 in March 2024 to trim its inventory of unsold cars and generate cash. Other customers might have simply lost faith in a company teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. While the Ocean, which is built by Magna in Austria, is the only Fisker model that has reached production, the company has shown three other electric cars that it began taking reservations for and ostensibly planned to sooner or later build. There's a pickup called Alaska, a city car named PEAR, and a four-door convertible known as the Ronin.

Fisker Ronin actually a four-seat convertible

When Fisker Automotive released an image of its planned Ronin battery-electric vehicle, the closed roof, Karma vibes and non-specific press release led everyone to believe it was a four-door sedan targeting an array of impressive specs. Turns out the Ronin is a four-seat convertible, making at least one of those specs even more impressive if Fisker hits it. Instead of the "over 550 miles of range" in the initial release, Henrik Fisker clarified that the Ronin's shooting for 660 miles of range on the WLTP cycle. That would beat anything on sale today even after converting to EPA figures, but the Ronin isn't due for its first deliveries until 2024. We also expect that mileage figure is a top-up number only; in view of all the turbulent air created behind a convertible's windshield, top-down mileage may vary considerably.  Fisker's quote that he wants the Ronin to have "the world's longest range for a production EV, combined with extremely high levels of performance" and be "a showcase for our internal engineering, powertrain and software capabilities" still holds true. Last year, the company opened a development facility in the UK called Magic Works, run by David King, formerly in charge of special vehicles at Aston Martin. King's team is working on making a cabriolet boulevardier that also evokes "a proper British sports car." Special features will include "unique doors for better ingress and egress," necessary because of the lack of a B-pillar. That quote from the automaker boss leads us to suspect the Ronin is the evolution of the Fisker EMotion (pictured above; yes, that's how it's spelled) luxury sedan the company took to CES in 2018. Chop the top off the EMotion, anchor the rear doors in the rear fenders instead of the C-pillar, and voila, a Ronin. That's all just a guess, though. What's not a guess is that Magic Works is working on special features like a battery integrated into the vehicle structure, powering a three-motor drivetrain able to get the Ronin to 60 miles per hour in under three seconds. That sprint would take the same time Wiesmann predicts its two-door, two-seat Thunderball to hit the same mark.