Fisker Inc. has offered an update to its recently announced deal with Foxconn to develop an affordable EV together. Although the original news surfaced months ago, Fisker and Foxconn have now shared that they anticipate this EV to cost under $30,000 before tax incentives.
Fisker Inc. is an EV startup based in the South Bay of Los Angeles and the second iteration of Founder and CEO Henrik Fisker. Henrik’s original company, Fisker Automotive, went bankrupt, and its assets were purchased by a Chinese auto parts conglomerate called Wanxiang Group, who quickly relaunched the company as Karma Automotive.
Henrik Fisker retained the trademark and the Fisker logo and launched a new, separate company with a more original name — Fisker Inc. Since then, Fisker Inc. has unveiled an EMotion EV concept with a 400-mile range on a single charge and has even claimed a “breakthrough” in solid-state batteries that would provide its EVs with “500 miles range and 1-minute charging.”
Fisker quickly backtracked on these bold promises and even admitted that the company’s upcoming vehicles would, in fact, feature traditional lithium-ion batteries instead. Fisker Inc. has yet to deliver a production EV, although it did ink a deal with Magna International to produce its upcoming Ocean SUV.
With today’s update, Fisker hopes to add an additional EV to its pipeline with the help of Foxconn.
Fisker and Foxconn’s “Project PEAR”
Last February, Electrek‘s own Fred Lambert reported that Fisker had announced a deal to develop an EV with Foxconn under the code name “Project PEAR” (Personal Electric Automotive Revolution). While today’s press release offers a lot of the same information as if it were new, Fred reported this months ago. Here are some of the noteworthy terms of the original framework agreement:
- Fisker and Foxconn to jointly develop a breakthrough new segment vehicle.
- Global market scope includes North America, Europe, China, and India.
- Foxconn to manufacture the vehicle at projected annual volumes of more than 250,000.
- Projected start of production is Q4 2023; this will be the second vehicle introduced by
the Fisker brand, following the launch of the Ocean SUV in Q4 2022.
New details arise, including price
With today’s announcement, Fisker and Foxconn have provided new details surrounding “Project PEAR,” including initial rollout and pricing:
- Manufacturing to commence in the US first, with several locations under consideration.
- Program milestones already achieved including exterior design freeze.
- Program critical sourcing underway, including chipset and semiconductor contracts through Foxconn.
- Project PEAR will enter the market with a starting price of less than $30,000, before incentives.
While Fisker once again has high hopes for another EV, a lot of its production success will depend on Foxconn, which is essentially handling most of the supply chain and manufacturing. The company seems up for the challenge, though. Foxconn Technology Group Chairman, Young-way Liu said:
Foxconn is excited that our partnership with Fisker continues to trend in the right direction
with exciting speed. Our work with Fisker aligns with our corporate 3+3 platform, and thanks to our MIH Alliance, Foxconn will be able to work with suppliers from across the world for Project PEAR. We have world-class supply chains in place to support Project PEAR – in particular, securing the reliable delivery of chipsets and semiconductors.
For now, Fisker Inc. remains focused on bringing its flagship Ocean EV to production in Europe in Q4 of 2022. It also plans to unveil a production-intent prototype at this year’s Los Angeles Auto Show.
Electrek‘s take
Under $30K is a bold promise for an automotive startup that has yet to bring a vehicle to production. In fact, since founding the original Fisker Automotive in 2007, Henrik Fisker has only delivered one production vehicle and only manufactured about 2,500 of them. So far, smoke and mirror manufacturing has been Fisker’s most successful venture.
So forgive us for being negative, but after the bankruptcies, the various concepts promising exorbitant range, and the empty promise of solid-state batteries, we’re a bit skeptical. Foxconn could prove a vital ally to Fisker in getting this PEAR over the finish line, but they’re going to be doing a lot of the heavy lifting.
Given their supply chain and infrastructure, they can likely handle it and thus could reap the benefits of such an EV. But getting scalable production in most of the major markets, while keeping that price below $30,000 will be a sight to see. Foxconn currently has a factory in Wisconsin essentially sitting empty, so that might be a perfect place to start.
For now, it’s best to keep a close eye on Magna to see if they can help get Fisker’s Ocean SUV into production next year.
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