2023 Fisker Ocean on 2040-cars

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Fisker-Foxconn EV partnership 'moving faster than expected'

U.S. electric automaker Fisker expects operating expenses to reach between $490 million and $530 million this year, a slight increase in its business outlook for the year that is driven by R&D spending on prototypes for its Ocean SUV, testing and validation of advanced technology, hiring and its "accelerating" partnership with Foxconn. The company, which reported its second-quarter earnings Thursday after market close, raised its business outlook for expectations for key non-GAAP operating expenses and capital expenditures for the full year up from its previous guidance of $450 million to $510 million. The earnings report pointed to R&D spending on prototype activities in 2021 driven by testing and validation on advanced driver assistance systems, powertrain and user interface. The company also noted an increase in spending on in-house costs, such as virtual validation software tools, hiring and virtual and physical testing to account for recently tightened Euro NCAP and IIHS safety regulations. Co-founder, CFO and COO Geeta Gupta Fisker added during an investor call that the company made a strategic decision to develop internal capabilities to test and validate, instead of relying solely on third parties. Co-founder and CEO Henrik Fisker said in an interview Thursday its partnership with Foxconn, which is "moving faster than expected," also is contributing to an increase in spending. "We were really aligned," Fisker said in an interview Thursday. "I mean it's a very unique business deal because we are both investing into this program; it's not like we just hired Foxconn to make a car." Fisker has two vehicle programs in the works. Its first electric vehicle, the Fisker Ocean SUV, will be assembled by automotive contract manufacturer Magna Steyr in Europe. The start of production is still on track to begin in November 2022, the company reiterated Thursday. Deliveries will begin in Europe and the United States in late 2022, with a plan to reach production capacity of more than 5,000 vehicles per month during 2023. Deliveries to customers in China are also expected to begin in 2023. Fisker Ocean at the track View 6 Photos In May, Fisker signed an agreement with Foxconn, the Taiwanese company that assembles iPhones, to co-develop and manufacture a new electric vehicle.

Karma Automotive's next vehicle won't be the Atlantic, a coupe or a convertible, but it will be muscular

It's been a few months since we've gotten an update on what's happening at Karma Automotive. Since the car is here at the Detroit Auto Show, we stopped by and talked to Karma's TIm Oleston about where the company is and what's coming soon. Last fall, Karma was saying that its 550,000-square-foot factory in Moreno Valley, California would be up and running about now. But the timeline has turned into a more vague "some time in 2017," so we'll just have to wait for new about the start of actual production. Karma has run a few pre-production prototypes through the machines, and took 8-10 of them on a tour for prospective buyers in all the cities where the car will be sold (see the list here). On that tour, interested buyers were able to take the cars on test drives. "We wrung these cars out, in all kinds of weather," Oleston said, and none of them had a problem. We expect a spokesperson to give us the positive side of the story, but we'll take him at his word when he says that Karma engineers were expecting lots of problems, and were instead pleasantly surprised. The car itself remains pretty much the same as we're seen before, with 981 foot-pounds of torque and a top speed of about 128 miles an hour. Twenty-two-inch wheels are standard. The whole thing weighs about 5,400 pounds, so it's not going to win awards at the drag strip, but the more rigid chassis makes the Revero an excellent long-distance tourer, Oleston said, saying that he's spent thousands of miles behind the wheel. Oleston said that while the upcoming factory will be able to make more, if Karma sells about 2,000 Reveros, maybe 1,000 of them in the first year, that'd meet the company's expectations. As for the Karma model that's coming after the Revero, it will not be the Atlantic. Oleston said that the designers are working on "quite a few project," including ideas that take the "feline muscularity" of the Revero and crank it up a notch. Other than that, he would only hint at Karma's next model: "It's not a coupe, it's not a convertible. That's all I should say right now." More information will be coming in a few years, he said. The Revero's infotainment is getting a major overhaul. We knew this, and that it will have Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. You can see more in the video below. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

New Fisker owner ready to go broke building EVs, challenging Tesla

Now this is the kind of fighting spirit we like to see. Lu Guanqiu is a Chinese billionaire who has visited the White House alongside Chinese president Hu Jintao in 2011. He's worth an estimated $3.1 billion. And he wants to take on Tesla Motors and other EV makers with his newly purchased company, Fisker Automotive. Lu is the chairman and founder of China's Wanxiang Group Corp., which bought Fisker for just under $150 million earlier this year. It also purchased battery supplier A123 Systems last year. Speaking to Bloomberg recently, Lu said that EV technology is at the top of his list of ways to go broke. "I'll put every cent that Wanxiang earns into making electric vehicles. I'll burn as much cash as it takes to succeed, or until Wanxiang goes bust," he said. Ahhh, inspiring. "I'll burn as much cash as it takes to succeed, or until Wanxiang goes bust" – Lu Guanqiu Exactly how and when new Fisker vehicles come to market - or if they'll even be Fiskers when they do – has been the subject of some debate. As part of the Fisker bankruptcy auction, Lu and Wanxiang now own an old, empty General Motors plant in Wilmington, DE. Lu told Bloomberg that Wanxiang has plans to first start building EVs, including the Karma plug-in hybrid, in the US (which suggests that restarting Karma production at Valmet is not going to happen) and to later build them in China. Right now, Lu's company only makes one type of electric vehicle: buses. Lu told Bloomberg he knows it will take a while to get his electric cars to market: "The road is still very long. We want to concentrate for now on manufacturing in the US. If I don't succeed, my son will continue with it. If he doesn't make it, my grandson will." Currently, emails sent to the "New Fisker" website are met with an automated response that promises a more personal touch later. It also says that the company is "very well funded and have a great plan to create a world class automotive company." That the new owner is ready to go broke doing so is not mentioned. You can read the New Fisker email and see a Bloomberg video on Lu below. Dear Fisker enthusiast, We at 'The New Fisker' would like to sincerely thank you for the email you sent via the website and greatly appreciate the time you have taken to reach out to the new company. The details of your correspondence are being reviewed by members of our devoted team, who are truly passionate about responding to you individually and personally.