2023 Fisker Ocean Ultra Sport Utility 4d on 2040-cars

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Henrik Fisker says he's developing EVs in 'stealth mode'

VLF Automotive added a second model to their small lineup earlier this year. While the Force 1 sports car continued the company's tradition of cars with big displacement gas engines, a story by The Detroit News reveals that corporate partner Henrik Fisker isn't done with electric cars. The story is basically an inside look at how the company operates along with some insight on the company from Bob Lutz, one of the founders, and Henrik Fisker. However, among general comments about the company, Fisker told Detroit News that he's "definitely working in stealth mode on electric cars of the future." The news outlet also reported that Fisker said he's nearing a battery breakthrough and there might be a future electric VLF bearing his name. His interest in continuing with EVs is consistent with past statements, but this is the first we've heard of him actively working on electric car technology. Fisker wanting to stay under the radar in regards to electric car development is also understandable. His previous self-titled car company showed promise with the beautiful Karma plug-in hybrid, but it went bankrupt and was sold off to a Chinese car company. The Chinese company renamed itself Karma and is planning on selling cars again soon. Fisker's other interim automotive ventures have been met with mixed success. He teamed up with Galpin Auto Sport to create a custom Aston Martin Vanquish and Ford Mustang. The former resulted in a lawsuit from Aston, and the latter had polarizing styling. Setbacks clearly don't discourage Fisker though, and he even has plenty of things outside of VLF to keep him busy. He's currently working on a yacht for boat-builder Benetti, and he told The Detroit News he even has an idea for a TV show about building cars. For more on Fisker and VLF, check out the whole Detroit News story here. Related Video: Featured Gallery VLF Force 1 V10: Detroit 2016 View 17 Photos News Source: The Detroit NewsImage Credit: Drew Phillips Green Fisker Automakers Electric Future Vehicles Henrik Fisker karma karma automotive vlf automotive vlf

Fisker fills in more details on the electric Ocean crossover

With two years go to before Fisker commences deliveries of the all-electric Ocean crossover, we're in for many months of piecemeal updates. The fledgling California automaker has released another smattering of details after debuting the Ocean at this month's Consumer Electronics Show, helping to fill in some functional aspects. At 182.7 inches long, 76 inches wide, and 63.6 inches high, the Fisker is 0.6 inches taller than the Ford Mustang Mach-E, 3.3 inches shorter in overall length, and two inches wider. The dimensions translate into 20 cubic feet of cargo room with the rear seats up and the parcel shelf installed, 25 cu. ft. without the parcel shelf, and 45 cu. ft. with the shelf out and rear seats down. At the other end of the interior, the instrument cluster is 9.8 inches, and the infotainment screen is a 16-inch vertically-oriented unit with haptic feedback. In between, designers did their best to source eco-friendly materials to create a "vegan interior." The Dinamica seating surfaces are derived from old T-shirts, polyester fibers, and recycled plastic, with reinforced rayon backing. The carpet comes from recycled nylon taken from discarded fishing gear. Fisker also says it will recycle rubber waste created during the Ocean's production. The standard wheels come in 20-inch sizes, with 22-inchers on the options sheet. Roof rails and a tow hitch will be options, too, but we'll need to wait another year to find out towing capacity. Turns out the announced entry price for $37,499 is for a base model that doesn't benefit from all-wheel drive, meaning it also doesn't get the more-than-300-horsepower powertrain. When we covered the reveal, we wrote, "Fisker quoted between 250 and 300 miles of driving range depending on driving conditions," so it's possible the base model notches 300 miles while the AWD version comes in closer to 250 miles. The Ocean gets an 80-kWh battery pack. For comparison, there's a 20-mile range delta between RWD and AWD versions of the Mach-E with the Standard Range 75.7-kWh battery pack. A high-performance Ocean will get a larger pack, targeting acceleration to 60 miles per hour in under three seconds, a fair chunk faster than the 3.5-second sprint for the Tesla Model Y Performance. Details on that model won't come until 2021. At some point this year, tire kickers will be able to explore the Ocean in person at Fisker experience centers, and set up test drives through a mobile app due next year.

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.