2023 Fisker Ocean One on 2040-cars

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Fisker talking to 5 automakers, seeks production: 'We have 2 cars that are almost ready'

  BERLIN — U.S. electric vehicle startup Fisker is negotiating with five carmakers over a partnership to secure additional production capacity for its vehicles, its Chief Executive Henrik Fisker said on Thursday. "We have two cars that are almost ready. We can bring them to market fast — we just need the capacity," Fisker said, speaking to Reuters in Berlin. The CEO told Reuters in May he was exploring partnerships with everyone from suppliers to tech companies to scale up production. On Thursday, he said he was in negotiations with five "traditional car companies" and hoped to pick a partner in the coming months. The California-based startup has one vehicle on the market — an SUV called Ocean, being launched from a factory in Austria operated by a unit of Magna International. Two further models, a pickup and a smaller SUV, are due to be released by 2025. The SUV, called PEAR, will be built with Foxconn in Ohio, but further capacity is needed for both models. Production Fisker Pear View 26 Photos It has so far produced 5,000 units of the Ocean car, according to a September update. Still, it cut its annual production target in August and adjusted pricing in October as it grappled with a slowdown in electric-vehicle demand. The chief executive was confident the company was still on the road to profit, and said it would report a double-digit margin this year, in line with its annual forecast of an 8-12% gross margin for 2023. It is due to release third-quarter results on Monday, after reporting a loss of 25 cents per share in the second quarter.    

Fisker teases Ronin GT four-door before August 3 investor day

Fisker feels it's far enough along in the automaking process and has enough product in the near-term pipeline to hold an investor day. That will come on August 3. Whetting appetites, the CEO teased the Ronin GT that's been in the works for years. We believe this is an evolution of the Fisker EMotion that Fisker talked about in 2018, then a coupe with novel butterfly rear doors, a 400-mile estimated range, and a price around $129,000. What we're seeing now has come out of the Magic Works outpost set up in England and run by Aston Martin's former head of special projects David King. Henrik's caption with the Instagram tease was, "Fisker Ronin, All Electric super GT! Reveal August 3rd! Super fast & space for 5! The ultimate long distance Grand Touring car with an anticipated range of 600 miles!" This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Fyi, that's 600 miles of range on the WLTP cycle. Plenty of distance still, although it's a small climb down from the targeted 660 miles of range we heard about in May 2022.  Fisker only calls this an electric grand tourer in the Insta post. On the Fisker site, the car is called "the world's first all-electric, four-door convertible, GT Sports Car." There's a shut line across the roof, placed where the absent B-pillar would otherwise make itself known. Another shutline separates the center panel from the C-pillar, just where one would expect a three-piece hardtop to separate so that it can fold into the trunk. Assuming this comes to pass, the Ronin will be the first and last entry in the four-door convertible GT market in the U.S., and the only genuine hardtop convertible on sale here (as opposed to the targa setups on cars like the Chevrolet Corvette and McLaren 750S).   In terms of specifications, all that's been announced is that the Ronin will offer "extremely high levels of performance" and serve as "a showcase for [Fisker's] internal engineering, powertrain and software capabilities." The vehicle battery's been integrated into the structure, and active aero is going to play a part. The company's promised to keep the price below $200,000.     Investor Day will also show the production Fisker Pear city vehicle, and we hear the Alaska pickup, based on the Ocean, might make a cameo. Fiskerati reports Fisker having said of the pickup, "that’s really our take on a very unique super sporty pickup truck.

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