2012 Fisker Karma on 2040-cars

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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.

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

Fisker electric SUV named Ocean, and it'll have an app-based lease

Veteran car designer and Fisker chairman and CEO Henrik Fisker has done much teasing of his new electric crossover, and now it has a name: the Fisker Ocean. We like it, if we’re being honest. In the Fisker brandÂ’s previous iteration, during the era of the Karma, it had at one point planned a vehicle called the Atlantic, and we dig the marine theme. WeÂ’ve also got a few clear photos of the Fisker Ocean showing off its front and rear, as well as a look at its solar roof. On the tailgate, we can now see the “Ocean” badge beneath the Fisker logo. Fisker also announced that the Ocean will get an app-based leasing program, which Henrik Fisker himself has promised will be priced “way, way, way lower” than the electric Volvo XC40 under the Care by Volvo program (which starts at $700 a month), with “way, way, way more miles per year” and “no minimum term.” “The future of mobility is about enjoying an electric vehicle without hassle, long-term commitment and the prohibitive high cost of ownership,” Henrik Fisker said in a statement. “Driving the Fisker Ocean will be easy: through a flexible lease via a mobile app. And we take care of all the service and maintenance. Simply put, weÂ’re introducing the future of hassle-free, fun and easy e-mobility.” Reservations of for the Ocean open through the app on November 27. We wonÂ’t see the full reveal of the Fisker Ocean until January 4, 2020, but Fisker has offered a number of details about what it claims is “the worldÂ’s most sustainable vehicle.” The EV will come standard with an 80-kWh battery pack, with Fisker targeting about 250 to 300 miles of driving range on a charge. It features a solar roof, which could provide 1,000 miles of free range per year, with eventual hardware improvements increasing those efficiencies. Fisker has also put a lot of thought into the materials going into the Ocean. In lieu of leather, the crossover will feature a vegan interior. The carpet is made from recycled nylon, sourced from abandoned fishing line pulled from the oceans and other aquatic habitats. Eco-suede materials are recycled from recycled polyester and other recycled plastics. The car will also use rubber repurposed from tire manufacturing waste. Fisker will unveil the working, production-spec prototype during a livestream on January 4, but donÂ’t be surprised if we got more teasers between now and then, especially around the launch of the lease app.