Fisker reveals all-electric Alaska pickup, 3 different EV prototypes | TechCrunch

Fisker, the automotive startup-turned publicly traded firm based by famed automotive designer Henrik Fisker, revealed Thursday night time a dizzying array of EV prototypes from a beefy pickup truck with an expandable mattress, and grand tourer sports activities automotive with as much as 600 miles of vary to a souped-up, off-road model of its Ocean SUV and the mysterious PEAR car that it plans to construct with Foxconn.

The showcase, which was a part of an occasion in Huntington Seashore, California for buyers and media, was the primary time that Fisker has proven off all of its future automobiles in prototype kind and laid out its expansive and impressive future product plan. And Fisker is taking reservations for all of them.

“I feel the standard automotive business actually preferred this concept about developing with a brand new automotive yearly or each second 12 months, however I feel we’re in a totally totally different time proper now. You already know, popping out of the COVID hangover,” Henrik Fisker advised TechCrunch. “My technique is, I form of wish to seize the second. And moderately than taking a look at COVID as one thing that’s gonna cease us or gradual us down. I form of wish to speed up. And the reason being that I imagine that your complete pie of the market is up for grabs, in all probability within the subsequent three years.”

Whereas the EVs proven Thursday are solely prototypes and the specifics are scarce, the corporate did share some new particulars that present a clearer image of what highway — or roads — Fisker is taking.

Luxurious pickup truck: Fisker Alaska

CEO Henrik Fisker has known as the pickup the “Ferrari of pickups,” concentrating on different profitable all-electric luxurious pickups within the area, together with Rivian’s extremely widespread Rivian R1T, the still-vaporware Tesla Cybertruck and the Ford F-150 Lightning.

The Alaska is constructed on the same platform because the Ocean, however it’s been stretched barely. Fisker calls the platform beneath the Alaska, the FT31. The corporate stated the EV pickup shall be constructed by automotive contract producer Magna Steyr in Europe on the similar plant because the Ocean.

Fisker stated Thursday that the Alaska will stand up to 340 miles of all-electric vary together with some distinctive options, together with a “large gulp” cupholder and water bottle, an extendable mattress that goes from a 4.5 ft to 7.5 ft with the push of a button, and varied cubbies and storage bins, together with one for a cowboy hat.

The extendable mattress has an attention-grabbing function that could be engaging to campers. The again window of the cab and rear wall may be dropped, permitting the cabin to confide in the truck mattress and lengthening your complete space (when the tailgate is down) to 9 ft, 6 inches. This function, which Fisker calls the Houdini Trunk, would provide a type of sleeping platform for homeowners or may very well be used to hold longer objects.

Henrik Fisker famous in an interview with TechCrunch that the corporate is contemplating including “every kind of enjoyable stuff” for the Alaska truck to go head-to-head with the Rivian R1T, a pickup identified for its considerate equipment just like the hidden flashlight, Bluetooth speaker and since discontinued camp kitchen.

Fisker stated that the Alaska will come to market in 2024 and have a beginning value of $45,400 earlier than incentives. With incentives, Fisker says that the Alaska will price $37,900. Reservations for the Fisker Alaska opened this night with deliveries going down someday in 2025, in response to the corporate.

The PEAR

Alongside the Alaska, Fisker confirmed off the PEAR for the primary time.

The PEAR, which stands for Personal Electric Automotive Revolution, was going to be in-built conjunction with Foxconn on the Lordstown Motors plant in Ohio. Lordstown Motors has since filed for bankruptcy and sued in opposition to Foxconn. It’s unclear if the PEAR will nonetheless be constructed at that location.

Fisker says that the $29,900 (earlier than incentives) PEAR will get as much as 300 miles of vary in its twin motor, all-wheel drive kind and calls the car a “totally linked mobility gadget” full with on-board supercomputers that reportedly deal with as a lot as 6.2 teraflops of information. The supercomputers have been constructed in-house by Fisker and are known as Fiskerblades.

The vary for the Pear is roughly 50 miles lower than different high-volume EVs just like the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and 6, each of that are priced within the $40,000 range, however no automaker has but been capable of construct and provide an EV for beneath $30,000.

To maintain the worth of the PEAR low, Fisker goes for the amount play, noting that after the Lordstown plant ramps up manufacturing, the corporate plans to construct 250,000 PEARs per 12 months at that location. At tonight’s occasion, Henrik Fisker stated that he ultimately hopes to construct 1 million Pears per 12 months at factories all over the world, together with these within the U.S., China, Europe and India.

The Pear is constructed on what Fisker calls the SLV1, or Easy Gentle Quantity platform, and may have an all-steel physique and body. The corporate stated it has used an inner growth course of to make manufacturing extra environment friendly and decrease prices. As an example, most of the components contained in the smaller EV crossover are interchangeable and the armrests on the doorways are precisely the identical.

Fisker stated it was capable of take out 35% of the components in an effort to decrease price and make it simpler and quicker to assemble.

Henrik Fisker confirmed that the Pear is completed when it comes to design and the corporate is at the moment going out to suppliers to get it constructed. Fisker stated that the Pear shall be coming in mid-2025.

One distinctive function of the Pear is the rear tailgate which neither opens up or down like conventional tailgates. As a substitute, it slides down into the rear bumper and disappears. The corporate additionally refers to this because the “Houdini Trunk,” the identical title it makes use of for a considerably comparable disappearing act within the pickup.

The Pear additionally comes with an choice for a bench seat within the entrance, providing non-compulsory seating for 3 individuals, moderately than two, rising the compact passenger automotive capability to as many as six individuals. The Pear additionally will get a lounge seating choice, the place the entrance seats can lay again and other people can watch a film on the middle display screen (the 5-passenger model will get the identical 17-inch display screen because the Ocean) from the rear when charging.

Reservations for the “city EV,” which is concerning the dimension of a Subaru Crosstrek, opened in February of final 12 months, The corporate says that they’ve greater than 70,000 reservations for the Ocean and the PEAR, mixed.

A sports activities convertible: Fisker Ronin

The all-electric Ronin, which was additionally proven in prototype kind, marks Henrik Fisker’s return to the high-end luxurious sports activities automotive market.

The car — named after the film Ronin that’s well-known for its a number of automotive chase scenes — is supposed to showcase Fisker’s imaginative and prescient of the longer term supercar and serves because the expertise “service” for all the opposite automobiles within the lineup.

To the CEO, meaning a four-door, grand tourer with butterfly-winged doorways, a coupe-like sloping roofline and tri-motor powertrain that produces greater than 1,000 horsepower and may journey 0 to 60 miles per hour in round two seconds. The car shall be geared up with a retractable carbon fiber roof that may slot in its trunk.

If that’s not wild sufficient, Fisker says it’ll nonetheless be spacious sufficient to suit as much as 5 individuals and their baggage.

The Ronin shall be geared up with a brand new sort of battery pack built-in into the physique of the grand tourer with a focused 600-mile vary, Fisker stated Thursday. If profitable, that may put the Ronin’s vary far forward of another EV available on the market.

Manufacturing begins within the second half of 2024, in response to the corporate.

Luxurious off roader: Drive E

 

The large shock Thursday was the Drive E, an off-roader model of the Ocean SUV — its solely EV at the moment available on the market.

Fisker widened the Ocean SUV with fenders, added a skid plate and crowd pleasing 33-inch wheels. The corporate, which known as the Drive E a “hardcore off-road bundle,” shall be accessible within the first quarter of 2024.