2023 Fisker Ocean One on 2040-cars

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Almost $1 billion in claims filed against bankrupt Fisker

You may have scoffed when the US Department of Energy sold the rights to its $168 million outstanding Fisker Automotive loan to Hybrid Tech Holdings last December for just $25 million, or about 15 cents on the dollar. It turns out that might be the going rate for anyone with claims against the bankrupt extended-range plug-in maker, though. That's because Fisker, which declared bankruptcy in November, has generated $985.4 million in claims from 618 not-so-happy parties, Delaware Online says, citing a bankruptcy filing from last week. Fisker stopped making its sporty but troubled Karma in mid-2012. Wanxiang America won an auction for Fisker's assets, including its Delaware factory, for $149.2 million. That leaves $836 million, or about 85 percent of the collective value of the claims against the company. Naturally, Hybrid Tech Holdings, which was beaten out by Wanxiang in the bidding for the assets, has jumped in line to see if it can make good on what was formerly that DOE loan. The state of Delaware, where Fisker had acquired an old General Motors factory, is seeking $20 million stemming from some incentives it provided up front. And Finland's Valmet Automotive wants $8.5 million for its work with the company. Former Fisker employees say the company is on the hook for another $6 million, and none other than General Motors itself is claiming it is owed the same amount. Then there is the lawsuit we first heard about in December that was filed against Fisker and some of its executives who were collecting hefty paychecks while no cars were being produced. Add it all up and you get almost a billion dollars. Good times.

Fisker abandons solid-state EV batteries

Henrik Fisker's eponymous electric car startup has abandoned plans to develop solid-state battery technology, citing its lack of near-term viability (among other complications) in an interview with The Verge.  Fisker said the company felt it was "90 percent there" on solid state tech, but that the final 10% proved too challenging given the constraints of current technology. He feels the move to solid state battery composition will require a significant breakthrough followed by years of development.  "I think personally, they’re at least seven years out, if not more, in terms of any sort of high-volume format," he said. "... once you have a breakthrough in that technology, you need probably three years to set up high-volume manufacturing, and then you need another three years to do durability testing. So even if somebody invented it today, it would be at least probably six years out." "[W]e have completely dropped solid-state batteries at this point in time because we just donÂ’t see it materializing," Fisker said. "Would we do something in the future? If we do, it would be something completely new, and we obviously have a battery team thatÂ’s looking at the current technology thatÂ’s here. But the solid-state battery that we worked on, that just doesn't have a future at this point in time in the near future." As to whether Fisker's abandonment of solid-state tech had anything to do with the company settling a lawsuit brought by QuantumScape, Fisker cited the settlement's non-disclosure clause and nothing more. Fisker has shied away from promoting solid state battery development since the introduction of its production-intent Ocean electric SUV, which is going to be produced in partnership with automotive supplier Magna.  Meanwhile, others in the industry remain committed to solid-state battery tech, at least for the time being. Toyota said just months ago that it intends to introduce a solid-state prototype some time in 2021, with production viability coming as soon as 2025. That would be sooner than Fisker predicted, but not outrageously so, and if anybody has the resources to rapidly develop next-generation automotive powertrains, it's Toyota.  Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Fisker Emotion | CES 2018

Fisker adds dealerships to direct sales model to boost EV sales

Electric vehicle company Fisker said on Thursday that it would add dealerships alongside its direct-to-customer distribution model to expand its sales and delivery network. The California-based company, which sells its vehicles across the United States and Canada apart from other markets in Europe, has only two showrooms or Fisker Lounges in North America — one in Los Angeles and the other in New York. In other locations, it has retail stores called Fisker Center+. Fisker said, in Europe, it will continue to offer direct sales but will bring onboard partners for sales and distribution. While the EV startup made more than 10,000 vehicles in 2023, it delivered only about 4,700 units of the Ocean sport utility vehicles due to distribution constraints. "We are evolving our business model and intend to add as many as 50 dealer partners in the US and Canada and a similar number of dealer locations in Europe this year," CEO Henrik Fisker said. The company expects to send its first Ocean vehicles to new dealers by the end of the first quarter, Fisker said, adding that it has been in talks with dealer partners since November 2023. Lucid, Rivian and Fisker have followed an online and direct-to-consumer model that was started by Elon Musk-led Tesla, in their efforts to cut out middlemen that dealership models have. Earlier this week, Vietnamese electric car maker VinFast Auto said that it had signed its first five dealerships in Texas, New York, Kansas and North Carolina. Swedish EV maker Polestar also uses a dealership model.