Fisker, the automaker best known for the Karma electric sedan, will reveal details about an EV next week that is planned for production in 2021. Company founder Henrik Fisker tweeted out a shadowy image of the model, which is expected to be a compact crossover priced "'close' to $40,000" and to serve as a volume model for the brand. The yet-unnamed ute will likely target the likes of the Tesla Model Y, which will be revealed just a few days ahead of Fisker's planned re-entry into the EV fray.
Why a Model Y competitor? Fisker will aim for the sweet spot of the EV market at the moment, which appears to have ditched its hatchback roots and is settling squarely over the midsize and compact crossover segment, with models planned by just about every EV player at the moment. Fisker envisions sales of several hundred thousand units per year in the next decade — north of current Tesla levels.
The crossover is expected to be followed shortly by yet another EV previewed by the EMotion concept and revealed in January of last year, setting its sights on the Tesla Model S. At the time, the EMotion promised 400 miles of range, a top speed of 161 mph and a launch in late 2019. Obviously, that date has been pushed back a bit even though the company has been accepting deposits for the sedan, with Fisker now aiming to launch it closer to the debut of the crossover.
That's not all: Fisker is now also a battery research company. Fisker is working on its own solid-state battery design, which promises much faster recharge times and an internal structure free of expensive and heavy acids and metals, as well as much greater energy density. The company is hard at work on prototypes at the moment, which it eventually plans to offer in its two new models. These are ambitious goals — the majority of leading battery makers are also independently inching toward solid state batteries, the holy grail of EVs that will make them much lighter and as quick to charge as a fill-up at a gas station. The very first solid state batteries are expected on the market by early next decade in a best-case scenario, so Fisker will first have to rely on batteries from a supplier for its next electric models.
We'll learn more about Fisker's new crossover on March 18, just after the Tesla Model Y rolls out on March 14.
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