2023 Fisker Ocean on 2040-cars

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Fisker plans lineup of four electric vehicles by 2025

Fisker recently declared it wants to secure the rights to use Volkswagen's MEB platform to underpin an electric crossover named Ocean. Although the deal hasn't been finalized yet, it released a preview image that sheds light on some of the other cars it plans to release. Company founder Henrik Fisker envisions a four-car range by 2025. Introduced as a concept at CES 2020, the Ocean takes the form of a battery-powered soft-roader that's about the same size as the Ford Mustang Mach-E. Although we don't know which platform it will be built on yet, it's expected to enter production in early 2021 and land with a base price in the vicinity of $38,000 before local and federal incentives enter the equation. Fisker announced it will also launch a flexible lease program. Fisker described its second vehicle as "a segment-busting super-sports sedan based on the EMotion concept," and its preview image shows the design study it introduced during CES 2018. There's no word yet on how it will evolve as it makes the transition from a show car to a production car, but Fisker explained it delayed the sedan's introduction until 2022 at the very earliest, in part because the solid-state battery technology it hopes to make available isn't ready for production yet. It also anticipates the Ocean will sell in greater numbers than the EMotion. The California-based company's range will also include a "sports crossover," which looks like a fastback on stilts in the vein of the BMW X4. Shown for the first time, it seemingly receives a much sportier design than the Ocean. Finally, it reaffirmed its plans to enter the burgeoning electric pickup segment, but the truck it plans to catapult into this increasingly crowded ring is hidden under a sheet. Fisker added all of the aforementioned models will be built using "platforms, battery packs, and components" sourced from the world's leading manufacturers and suppliers. They'll all be electric — gasoline-, diesel- and hybrid-powered vehicles aren't part of Fisker's plan. Fisker can talk the talk, there's absolutely no doubt about it, but now it needs to prove it can walk the walk. It's in the process of going public by merging with a blank-check company backed by Apollo Global Management. The deal will give it a $2.9 billion value, and provide it with $1 billion in gross proceeds it will use to make the Ocean a reality. Proceeds from that model will presumably be used to develop and launch production of its other cars.

US Senate authorizes DOE green car loan program [UPDATE]

Tesla Motors' crush of Model 3 reservations is fresh in everyone's minds, while Fisker Automotive (or at least its bankruptcy) is a distant memory. That's one explanation for a US Senate with a Republican leadership at one time bashed the Department of Energy's loan program for green-vehicle makers but now, under bipartisan support, the Senate has OK'd about $1.6 billion more to push forward green-vehicle technology, according to Hybrid Cars. The Senate voted to authorize a $1.6-billion federal program. The US Senate voted by about a seven-to-one margin to authorize a $1.6-billion federal program for the DOE's Vehicle Technologies Office program housed under the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). This is a different program from the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing (ATVM) program, which was last funded in 2007. The feds have been green-lit to spend $339 million per year through 2020 to speed up the development of advanced-technology vehicles. The mission: to get the US new light-duty fleet to meet the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) mandate of a 54.5 miles per gallon average (which is a real-world average of around 40 mpg) by 2025. Four automakers received funding from the ATVM program in the first go-round. The list was: Tesla, Fisker, Ford and Nissan. Specifically, Tesla was loaned $465 million in 2010, and paid that loan back in 2013 – about nine years ahead of time, with interest. On the flip side, the Department of Energy was slated to loan extended-range plug-in vehicle maker Fisker $528 million, but Fisker only received $192 million before the spigot got shut off because of missed deadlines. Fisker collected enough cash to pay down some of the debt, but the government still was stuck with $168 million unpaid. And that got washed out in Fisker's 2013 bankruptcy. Nissan was awarded $1.4 billion and Ford got $5.9 billion. Senator Gary Peters (D-Michigan), one of the authors of the new bill, issued a press release about the new funding, which you can read here. The new ATVM program will also target automotive suppliers. UPDATE: This post has been updated. We inaccurately said that the ATVM had been re-authorized. In fact, the ATVM loan program "has $16 billion in remaining loan authority for automotive or component manufacturers for reequipping, expanding, or establishing manufacturing facilities in the U.S.

Henrik Fisker designs a chopper for Lauge Jensen [UPDATE]

UPDATE: An earlier version of this post incorrectly credited Henrik Fisker with designing the Tesla Model S. While Fisker was contracted for design work early in the development of the Model S, Tesla ultimately rejected his design in favor of Franz von Holzhausen's. Mention of the Tesla Model S has been removed from the list of Fisker's designs below. Henrik Fisker has designed some seriously beautiful vehicles over the course of his career thus far. You'd naturally associate his name with the Karma hybrid that shares it, or maybe the reskinned Mercedes SL and BMW 6 Series he crafted as a coachbuilder, but he was also responsible for such beautiful shapes as the BMW Z8, Aston Martin DB9 and V8 Vantage, and Artega GT. And now he's turned his attention to a motorcycle. Called the Viking concept, the Fisker-designed chopper is the product of a collaboration with Lauge Jensen, a Danish custom bike shop owned by Lego scion Anders Kirk Johansen. The 660-pound Viking packs an air-cooled 45-degree V-twin engine (built, incidentally in Wisconsin, we wonder by whom) churning out 100 horsepower with a six-speed transmission to propel it to a 130-mile-per-hour top speed and meeting Euro IV emissions regulations. It's packaged into a rather sleek take on the classic hog, the curve of the fuel tank melding into the seat and the rear fender. The Viking is set to be unveiled this week at the Top Marques show in Monaco where Lauge Jensen will watching to see how it's received. Given a positive reception, it could soon join the Great Dane in the company's lineup. Considering that bike already sells for ˆ42,800 (about $60k), and that the Viking would likely command an even bigger premium, that would make for one very expensive chopper. Still, it might be one of the least expensive ways to get your hands on a Henrik Fisker original. Featured Gallery Lauge Jensen Viking Concept by Henrik Fisker View 10 Photos News Source: Lauge Jensen Misc. Auto Shows Fisker Motorcycle Concept Cars Henrik Fisker