2023 Fisker Ocean One on 2040-cars

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Fisker trying to secure Volkswagen's MEB platform for the Ocean

Henrik Fisker took his beating, stayed in the ring, and appears to be getting on top of the fight to be an electric vehicle automaker. At the beginning of the week, Fisker Inc. announced a merger with special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Spartan Energy Acquisition Corp, backed by private equity firm Apollo Global Management. The merger would value Fisker at $2.9 billion in preparation for a listing on the New York Stock Exchange. This is the same maneuver Nikola Motors recently employed in order to go public. Spartan filed a trove of documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission in advance of the filing, one of them an investor presentation that explained some backstory and hoped-for production path for Fisker's Ocean electric crossover. One key piece of info is that Fisker is in talks with Volkswagen about using VW's MEB modular electric platform and ancillary components for the Ocean. The agreement would include battery packs as well. One slide asserted that "anticipated access to Volkswagen’s industry-leading EV component quality, pricing, and supply chain ... accelerates time to market and dramatically reduces vehicle development costs." Furthermore, this attempt at deeper collaboration with VW is part of a two-year growing partnership. The Verge went through the presentation, noting that Fisker and VW entered a memorandum of understanding in 2017, upgrading that to a "collaboration agreement" in 2018. Audi subsidiary Italdesign built the Ocean crossover Fisker debuted at this year's Consumer Electronics Show, the prototype described as a "near-series prototype" and sitting an MEB platform. This month, the two companies could sign a "cornerstone agreement" to formalize "costs, production capacity, and a timeline." If that happens, a contract covering supply and manufacturing would be consummated before the end of 2020. The timeline in the presentation notes earnest prototype testing next year, with production planned for late 2022. Separately, however, Fisker has said, "Prototype vehicles are expected to start durability testing by the end of this year, and we continue to make significant progress on the development of our sales and service proposition." If the IPO clears all hurdles, Fisker Inc. could receive $1 billion to put toward Ocean development and production. Meanwhile, a recent funding round secured $50 million from Moore Strategic Ventures.

Recharge Wrap-up: BMW tests AdBlue pumps, Drivr is a Tesla taxi service

BMW is testing AdBlue pumps in Germany. AdBlue fluid is used to remove NOx from diesel exhaust, and it is stored in its own tank within the vehicle. Filling AdBlue is easy enough for drivers to do it themselves, and with the proliferation of diesel vehicles in Europe, a pump filling system could make more sense than using the current hand-held containers. BMW is testing AdBlue pumps at three fueling stations in Munich and Berlin to help develop further AdBlue dispenser technology. Read more at Green Car Congress. Drivr Green Personal Transportation is a Tesla taxi service in Cincinnati. Two former employees of Tesla Motors founded the startup, which bills itself alongside ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft. Customers book a ride online, and are picked up by a Tesla Model S. The ride costs $2.50 per mile with a $15 minimum. Drivr currently operates three cars with seven drivers, with plans to lease another 10 Teslas and employ up to 30 drivers. The service will also be expanding to Denver soon, according to the website. Learn more at the Drivr website, or read more at Clean Technica. Ford is opening a research and development facility in Silicon Valley. The Ford Research & Innovation Center, which will be located less than three miles from Tesla Motors headquarters in Palo Alto, California, is expected to be one of the automotive industry's largest R&D facilities. "We're driving to be both a product and a mobility company, and ultimately to change the way the world moves," says Ford CEO Mark Fields. Read more at Automotive News. Law firms advising Fisker Automotive have been denied a $2.50-million fee enhancement in the car company's bankruptcy. Brown Rudnick LLP and Saul Ewing LLP were denied the extra fees, as a Delaware bankruptcy judge ruled there is "no evidence" that the firms provided anything more than what they originally expected. In denying the fee enhancement, the judge cited a "very high bar" for such awards. Read more at Law360. Featured Gallery BMW Tests AdBlue Pumps in Germany Related Gallery Tesla Factory News Source: Green Car Congress, BMW, Clean Technica, Drivr, Automotive News Green BMW Fisker Ford Tesla Transportation Alternatives Diesel Vehicles Electric recharge wrapup

2017 Karma Revero starts at $130,000, and more new details about the reborn Fisker

It was not obvious that the eyes of the automotive world would focus on Huntington Beach, California today for the launch (sort of a relaunch) of the Karma Revero. The unlikely rebirth of the Fisker Karma has taken a long while, and you'll be forgiven if you thought that Fisker's bankruptcy filing in 2013 signaled the end of the swoopy plug-in hybrid. Sure, at the time there was talk of the Karma returning some day, but in the era of plug-in vehicle pioneers like Aptera, Bright Automotive, and Phoenix Motorcars fading away in the figurative pages of Chapter 11 filings, who really thought it would happen? Wanxiang, that's who. Based in China, Wanxiang bought the rights to the Fisker assests back in February 2014 for $149.2 million. As we learned today in Huntington Beach, there were only 22 Fisker employees left at that time. A year later, in March 2015, the new Karma Automotive had 203 employees. There were 697 in August 2016 and the plan calls for 967 by the end of 2016. That's just one example of the intentional and dramatic growth that Karma is putting into bringing the Revero to market. Or back to market. Whatever. Here are seven things we learned about the Revero and Karma Automotive. The MSRP will be $130,000. The Fisker Karma started at $103,000, so the Revero's new $130,000 starting price tag is a bit of a jump. Aside from colors, wheels, and calipers, there won't be many options, either. Of course, there's a lot that's new and different about the car, and that costs money, but if you couldn't afford a Fisker, don't bother shopping for a Revero. The gas engine and most of the remains the same, but there have been upgrades. Just like the Fisker, the Revero uses a 260-horsepower, turbocharged four-cylinder engine from General Motors. But on the electrical side, things have gotten better. DC fast-charging at 40 kW is now available and the on-board charger has been upgraded from 3.3 kW to 6.6 kW. The battery is similar (it still uses A123 cells, which isn't a surprise), but the capacity has been increased from 20.4 kWh to 21.4 kWh, which will be good for 50 miles or range. The 0-60 time has been dropped by a second to 5.4 seconds in Sport mode. Nothing has been finalized yet, but apparently Karma expects the EPA fuel efficiency numbers to be roughly the same as before. The infotainment system has been totally redone.