2023 Fisker Ocean One on 2040-cars

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Fisker introduces the $37,499 Ocean EV crossover ahead of CES 2020

Fisker unveiled an electric crossover named Ocean during a private event held before the model's official debut at CES 2020. Due out in 2022, the Ocean will compete in the same growing segment of the market as the upcoming Tesla Model Y and the recently-unveiled Ford Mustang Mach-E. The Ocean is the latest brainchild of designer Henrik Fisker, the same man responsible for the Karma (which is now known as the Revero) and the EMotion unveiled at CES 2018. It doesn't look like either of those cars, and it's more SUV-like than its aforementioned rivals. Fisker instructed his team to find ways to make the Ocean stand out in a rising tide of crossovers. Stylists came up with a handful of interesting features, like turn signal repeaters integrated into D-pillars, and solar panels integrated into the roof. Fisker explained motorists who live somewhere with good weather can generate about 1,000 miles of driving range annually by parking in the sun. Naturally, Seattleites need not apply. A thousand miles of range isn't much, but the firm argued it's a start. "We know this thing is improving, and we can then update it because we've already got the hardware," Fisker said during the unveiling.  While safety advocates celebrate the head-up display as a way to keep drivers focused on the road ahead, Fisker found a way to make the feature distracting by adding a karaoke function that presumably shows song lyrics next to the car's speed and navigation directions. We haven't seen the full interior yet, though we know it's made using sustainable materials like discarded fishing nets. There's also a California mode which lowers the six side windows, drops the rear window (like on an old American station wagon), and opens the sunroof at the push of a button to let the breeze in. The Ocean's powertrain consists of a lithium-ion battery pack with a capacity of about 80 kilowatt-hours, and an electric motor mounted over each axle for through-the-road all-wheel drive. Fisker quoted between 250 and 300 miles of driving range depending on driving conditions. Volkswagen-owned Electrify America will open its growing nationwide charging network to Ocean owners. Fisker expects to start Ocean production in late 2021, and deliveries are tentatively scheduled to begin in early 2022. Motorists who want to secure an early build slot still have time to send the company a $250 deposit.

Fisker Pear to get 'see-through' A-pillar and hopped-up Extreme trim

Fisker put a Pear on display at the L.A. Auto show in production spec. The latest display came with a few more updates on the urban EV planned to enter production at the end of next year at Foxconn's plant in Lordstown, Ohio. The first new bit is what's being called a "see-through A-pillar." The only car we've ever seen with an actual see-through A-pillar was the 2001 Volvo Safety Car Concept, the feature not making it to production on the C30 hatchback, regrettably. On the Pear, the see-through bit is performed by cameras projecting the view obscured by the A-pillars onto small screens located inside the cabin where the instrument panel meets the doors. These screens would also help explain Fisker's desire to sell the Pear with side-view cameras in the U.S., since the screens are already there. The displays weren't shown in the photos Fisker released in August, but they were in the auto show car. The automaker again noted there will be two battery options, the smaller with an urban-centric estimated range of 180 miles, the larger Hyper Range pack aiming at an estimated 320 miles. The press release says the little crossover targets "a base 0-60 mph time of 6.3 seconds." We don't know if "base" in this case means the quickest time among the two trims, two drivetrains — RWD and AWD, and 20-inch wheels on all-season tires or 22-inch wheels on high-performance tires, or if it refers to the base model's smaller battery pack. Either way, seems there's a quicker option coming, Fisker mentioning a high-performance trim called the Pear Extreme.  We're treated to some tech specs on the Blade computer that's the brains of the Pear, but we're still waiting to find out what the promised processing and wireless data speeds will mean for the user experience. When introducing the Alaska pickup and the Pear to the audience, Henrik Fisker seems to have described the Blade as being two computers and called it "the latest, newest standard of the world." One aspect not mentioned in the PR is what looks like a projected gauge cluster. The Pear in the photos from August fitted a slightly different instrument panel than the car at the show. At 1:22 in a walkaround video Fiskerati shot at the L.A. show, the Pear's dashboard appears to show vehicle information projected onto the instrument panel behind the steering wheel.

As Fisker heads toward liquidation, creditors fight over assets

NEW YORK — Electric vehicle startup Fisker is headed towards a liquidation, attorneys said in U.S. bankruptcy court on Friday, as two creditor factions previewed a battle over which group will be paid first.  Fisker filed for bankruptcy protection in Delaware on Monday after burning through cash in an attempt to ramp up production of its Ocean SUVs. The company initially said it would seek additional financing and continue "reduced operations," but Fisker's attorney Brian Resnick said at the hearing in Wilmington the company does "not currently anticipate being able to obtain financing."  Resnick told U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Thomas Horan that the company planned to liquidate its assets, and it has reached a tentative deal with a single buyer for all of its 4,300 vehicles.  The California-based company, founded by automotive designer Henrik Fisker, was never profitable, with about $273 million in revenue in 2023 and a net loss of $940 million.  Fisker owes over $850 million to two groups of bondholders, and attorneys for the larger group accused a minority faction led by Heights Capital Management of seizing control of Fisker's debt in November through a "suspect" transaction with Fisker.  At the time, Fisker was late in providing audited financial statements due under its debt agreements, and Heights used that "minor, technical default" to claim all of Fisker's assets as collateral on its bonds, Alex Lees, an attorney for other bondholders, said.  "They basically handed the whole business over to Heights," Lees told Horan. "Fisker has been liquidating outside of this court's supervision, basically for one creditor's sole benefit."  Lees said that Fisker should have filed for bankruptcy in November. His group intends to challenge the November agreement that put Heights at the front of the line for repayment in Fisker's bankruptcy, Lees said.  Heights' attorney Scott Greissman said Lees' claim was "outrageous" and that Heights tried to help Fisker survive.  "There may be a lot of disappointed creditors, but none more than Heights," Greissman said.  Greissman said the expected sale of Fisker's fleet would pay only a "fraction" of Heights' $185 million in debt. That would leave little hope of repayment for other creditors.  Linda Richenderfer, an attorney for the U.S.