Fisker unveils off-road version of its ~$30,000 electric SUV

Fisker, a new electric vehicle startup from the famous car designer Henrik Fisker, has unveiled an off-road version of its $38,000 electric SUV.

Over the last few years, Henrik Fisker has been trying to launch a new EV startup under his own name after his original effort failed in 2013 and other companies took over.

In 2018, the startup unveiled their new EMotion all-electric vehicle with the claim of a 400-mile range on a single charge.

Unlike the first Fisker electric car, which was dependent on a battery system from A123, they are claiming that they developed their own battery technology for their new vehicles.

Fisker claimed a solid-state battery “breakthrough” for electric cars with “500 miles range and 1-minute charging” that would come to market on an aggressive timeline.

Later, they have walked back some of those comments and said that their first production vehicle from the new EV startup would actually be equipped with regular li-ion battery cells.

Earlier this year, the famed car designer unveiled another prototype, the Fisker Ocean, an electric SUV that they claim would be their first production vehicle after unveiling several different prototypes.

Fisker claimed that the electric SUV will have up to 300 miles of range and start at just ~$30,000 after incentives in the US.

The vehicle is supposed to go into production next year, but Fisker has been vague about its manufacturing plans.

Last week, it issued an update on its plans for the Fisker Ocean:

• The Fisker Ocean base price is confirmed at $37,499 and will be offered with 4 different package options, to be detailed in Q4 of 2020. Fisker Ocean will also be offered via a lease option starting at $379 per month with $2,999 down, no fixed lease term, and no time limit on warranty during the lease period.
• Fisker Inc. will announce its manufacturing strategy in Q3 2020. Initially, the Fisker Ocean will be launched in the US and Europe.
• Purchase or lease is done directly through the Fisker App. Available on iOS and Android platforms or through the Fisker Inc. website.
• Fisker Inc. will sell the vehicle direct to our customers and vehicles will be showcased at experience centers and test drives booked through our app. On-board vehicle diagnostics will signal any vehicle faults and all service scheduling will be enabled through an easy to use customer app, where your vehicle will be picked up and delivered directly from your preferred location.
• The Fisker Ocean will have 250-300 mile electric range and an international CCS 2 charging plug.

With the update, the startup also announced an off-road package for the truck.

They said that they “started working on an extreme off-road package for the Fisker Ocean”:

Force-E (Force Electric) is an extreme off-road package option based on the Fisker Ocean electric vehicle. The Electric Powertrain of Force-E will have large amounts of torque — ideal for off-roading. The Force-E package will be available only in AWD configurations with approximately 300 horsepower and subsequently a high-performance version. An upgraded and lifted suspension, off-road spec wheels and tires, extra front lights in the lower bumper, front light protective bar, extra front tow hooks, lower front protective scuff plate, roof rack with integrated lights, a rear hatch tool and power plug box, that can rescue other out of power EV’s will be part of the package.

The startup has released a few renders of the electric vehicle:

They listed a few features that the the Fisker Ocean with the Force-e pacakage would be equipped with:

The “Force-E fortified” Ocean will carry a full-size spare tire in a deep recess in the unique hood panel. By placing the spare tire in this position, no compromises are made to the tailgate, typical of the solutions offered by competitors. This ‘deeply recessed’ placement is only possible in an electric SUV like the Fisker Ocean, because there is more space beneath the hood surface to accommodate the bulk of the tire assembly, without compromising forward vision, versus under the hood, where a large off-road tire would not fit. The vehicle will come equipped with a large drinking water tank under the hood, with a release tap in the lower front bumper, for easy access to clean drinking water in rescue situations. The interior will have certain upgrades with more rugged and durable materials.

Henrik Fisker commented on the announcement:

Our vision for a ‘A clean Future for All’ has become even more relevant during these times of crises. As our development stage was highly dependent on finalizing manufacturing agreements and signing off virtual data, we have not seen a significant impact on our timeline for the Fisker Ocean launch at this point in time. We are still planning to have early built vehicles running off the assembly line end of next year. It’s been amazing to see the enthusiasm from our reservation holders, putting down paid reservations this early and following everything we are doing. For competitive and business reasons, we will have to wait a few more month to announce more news about several business aspects and vehicle details, but I’m eager to share more details as soon as we can!

Fisker said that it plans to unveil a prototype of the Force E off-road electric vehicle next year.

Electrek’s Take

As I stated before, I find it hard to take anything Fisker says seriously for a few reasons that have nothing to do with his first EV startup failing.

The new startup unveiled a bunch of renders and prototypes of different vehicles without ever bringing anything to production, which shows a lack of focus in my opinion.

On top of it, Fisker made outlandish comments about solid-state batteries with timelines far more aggressive than all the leaders in the field.

Also, there’s no indication that the company has a factory or the financing to bring a high-volume EV to market.

With this in mind, it’s hard for me to take the startup seriously at this point. Though I’d love to be proven wrong because despite Fisker’s failures, I still think he is a great car designer, and that electric SUV looks very good to me.

What do you think? Let us know in the comment section below.