2023 Fisker Ocean on 2040-cars

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Recharge Wrap-up: NextEV raises $500M, A123 execs beat fraud claims

Scientists at Cardiff University's Catalysis Institute have developed a new method to improve biodiesel yields. Using a new catalytic process, the team is able to use the glycerol left over from biodiesel production and make more methanol to produce more biodiesel. Using magnesium oxide and cerium oxide is simpler than other methods, requiring only one step at room temperature with normal atmospheric pressure. "We set out to establish ways in which the waste product glycerol could be used to form other useful compounds, but we were surprised when we found that feeding glycerol and water over such a simple catalyst gave such valuable products and interesting chemistry," says Professor Stuart Taylor. The system could increase biodiesel yields by as much as 10 percent. Read more at Gizmag, or from Cardiff University. A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit claiming A123 Systems hid problems with Fisker from investors. The plaintiffs accused four A123 executives of failing to report Fisker's impending bankruptcy and issues with battery quality. US District Judge Laura Taylor Swain says there is not enough evidence showing that the defendants knew about problems with their batteries or about Fisker's financial difficulties. Read more at Reuters, or at Law360. Chinese startup NextEV is raising funds to build a Tesla-fighting electric car. The company, which plans to launch a supercar to match the acceleration of Tesla's Ludicrous Mode next year, has raised about half of its $1 billion goal thanks in part to investments from Sequoia Capital and Joy Capital. NextEV also plans to produce mass market electric vehicles at about half the price of a Model S. "Talking big is pointless," says NextEV cofounder William Li. "We develop the car purely from the angle of consumers. We most value what they would like the car to be. We want them to experience sheer pleasure of driving our car." Read more at Bloomberg. Featured Gallery 2012 Fisker Karma: First Drive View 23 Photos Related Gallery News Source: Gizmag, Cardiff University, Law360, Reuters, BloombergImage Credit: Copyright 2015 Drew Phillips / AOL Earnings/Financials Green Fisker Automakers Tesla Biodiesel Green Automakers Electric recharge wrapup

Fisker Pear interior teased, shows airy, minimal cabin

Henrik Fisker is back on Instagram, this time with his Pear. The CEO teased the interior of the coming compact electric vehicle that will double Fisker Automotive's lineup after the Ocean goes on sale later this year. The Pear, an acronym for Personal Electric Automotive Revolution, wants to melt the hearts and open the wallets of city dwellers looking for minimalist urban transport with elevated design at minimal cost. Based on the interior rendering, such buyers will get a good look at their cities out of the Pear thanks to tall, wraparound windows. The curved A-pillar intrigues us. Aerodynamic necessity has made EV windshields terrifically narrow because they're raked so steeply, and the tops of instrument panels shockingly lengthy. An upright-looking windshield on a curt IP would be a novelty in an EV. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Elsewhere, there's the SolarSky panoramic roof that's expected to contribute to range. The Pear could drop the Ocean's second gauge cluster screen, putting everything on the central infotainment monitor held aloft from the dash. There seems to be heaps of ambient lighting, notably on the declining forward edge of the center tunnel. It's all simple and bold. What we can't see is the "Houdini trunk" behind the back bench, claimed to be a new concept in storage that will "offer a new level of storage for its segment." We could begin to find out how this looks in real life later this year. Fisker said prototypes might hit the road ahead of schedule, before 2022 is out. The retail version isn't slated for production until 2024 at this point, in the Lordstown, Ohio plant that Foxconn owns. When that happens, we've been promised two battery sizes powering single- and dual-motor powertrains. The larger battery is called the Hyper Range unit, aiming at more than 300 miles on a charge. Fisker's caption said, "We are currently working full speed on re-defining how to make an inexpensive car. Reducing parts, make them simpler." If all goes to plan, the entry-level version will cost $29,000 before incentives. That's a shockingly low price right now, never mind in two years. The company says it as 3,200 reservations so far for the Pear, and more than 50,000 for the Ocean. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Fisker looking to hire 37 at career fair this week

Fisker Automotive appears to be kicking off its first round of hiring in Southern California since the high-end extended-range plug-in vehicle company went belly-up two years ago. The company, which is based in Costa Mesa, CA, says it wants to hire about three-dozen people at a job fair in California's Riverside County this week, according to local paper the Press-Enterprise. Fisker is building a 556,000-square-foot plant in the city of Moreno Valley, which is about 60 miles east of Los Angeles. The hirings are part of a job fair that is being put on by the Moreno Valley Employment Resource Center. Fisker will pay as much as $26 an hour for positions in the factory's body shop as well as some mechanical and quality-assurance positions. Fisker is looking to eventually bring in 150 full-time workers as early as next year. The company is said to already employ about 200 people at its home offices. Those interested in the factory positions can find job descriptions at rivcoworkforce.com. Reports about the new Fisker factory started surfacing in June. The company, which is now owned by China-based Wanxiang, is believed to be working on a revised Karma model called the Elux. Fisker built about 2,600 of its Karma plug-in vehicles before halting production in 2012 and going bankrupt a year later. Wanxiang acquired Fisker out of bankruptcy in early 2014 for $149.2 million. Since then, the company has launched a site called thenewfisker.com. The site is designed to offer parts and service of the Karma vehicles. Related Video: Featured Gallery 2012 Fisker Karma: First Drive View 23 Photos News Source: Press-Enterprise Green Plants/Manufacturing Fisker Hybrid California wanxiang karma employment job