The infamous automotive designer Henrik Fisker has launched a new company bearing his name (recall the earlier Fisker Automotive, which is now Karma Automotive), going by comments made by Fisker in an interview with Bloomberg.
The new company will reportedly be showcasing a new all-electric vehicle with at least 400 miles of range per full charge sometime in late 2017, as well as an “unparalleled” battery lifespan, owing to a new packaging method and use of lightweight materials in the battery pack.
The company also will reportedly be unveiling an affordable, mass-market electric vehicle sometime in the coming years, which will supposedly sell for under $40,000 while still possessing a range greater than that possessed by the offerings from competitors.
So, what’s the name of the new firm? Fisker, Inc. — based out of northern California. The name of the firm’s new battery division is Fisker Nanotech. Chairman and CEO of Fisker Inc. is of course Henrik Fisker himself, and the Chairman of Fisker Nanotech is Jack Kavanaugh.
The first model will be the “spiritual successor” to the Fisker Karma launched back in 2012, Fisker noted in the phone conversation with Bloomberg.
“We have really been working in stealth mode,” Fisker stated. “For the last two years, I have been looking at battery technologies and wanted to see if there was something that could really give us a new paradigm. We had the strategy of developing the technology as fast as possible without getting tied down to a large organization, which would hold us back. Now we have the technology that nobody else has. And there is nobody even close to what we are doing out there.”
“The technology emanates from several professors from UCLA who have been working on energy storage,” Kavanaugh commented, while also stating that the batteries used won’t be “conventional” lithium-ion batteries, such as those found in the Tesla Model S. “We have already developed prototypes that you won’t see anywhere else.”
“It will definitely be something that when you see it, it will look completely different,” Fisker continued. “It will be sporty and spacious. And you’ve got to make something look beautiful — there is no excuse for making an ugly car, even with new technology — so it will definitely have some of my signature elements.”
That sounds like a clear swipe at some of the electric vehicle offerings out there now. The Fisker Karma certainly had some faults, but the look and style of the vehicle wasn’t one of them, in most people’s opinions.
Fisker apparently has big plans for this new ventures. “Fisker will be doing all of the testing, and that gives us a huge advantage, but that doesn’t mean we will be sitting on (the technology) alone,” he stated. “We will also be looking at selling this technology to other OEMs because if you want to reach true mass-market potential, we need probably, eventually, an OEM. We are having very superficial discussions right now with a couple of them.”
I guess that Fisker just can’t stay away from the EV industry. With all of the opportunities appearing in the sector, who can blame him?
Image by Eric Graciano
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