Remember Fisker? The reborn EV brand rose that sort of rose from the ashes of the Karma and is currently shipping the Ocean compact crossover? It turns out, the Magna-built Ocean is just the start of a serious product offensive, and it’s going in a whole different direction from Tesla’s product plans. Last night, Fisker released new details on three upcoming products, and they couldn’t be more different. One is a dirt-cheap crossover, one is a high-end grand tourer, and one is a small pickup truck — the Fisker Pear, Ronin, and Alaska, respectively. Shall we dive in and see what’s what?
Cheap And Cheerful
While the Ocean is a great start for Fisker, the Pear is the product we’ve all been waiting for — a fully-fledged EV with an MSRP of $29,990. Oh, and the theoretical deal gets even sweeter. Fisker says it will build the Pear in America to qualify for the federal $7,500 tax credit, resulting in a theoretical net price of $22,400, plus to-be-announced freight costs and all that jazz. So, what does a $29,900 EV crossover look like? Well, it’s definitely weird, but in a good way.
One of the Pear’s biggest exterior features is its GM wagon-style motorized hideaway tailgate. Fisker calls this the Houdini Trunk, and while it seems cool, I do have some concerns about rearward visibility. For the rear glass to drop down into the tailgate, it needs to be relatively narrow, resulting in large pillars. Still, it should offer convenient tight-space access to the rear cargo area, and that’s not the only place you can put things in a Pear. Fisker also claims that the Pear has a proper frunk, and the dashboard is built like a shelving unit.
Speaking of the interior, the Pear offers unusual seating for up to six thanks to the option of a bench front seat, and those seats turn into a bed. Given how electric cars usually don’t have driveshafts to create humps in their floors, bringing back the front bench makes a great deal of sense. However, if that doesn’t tickle your fancy, Fisker will sell the Pear with individual front seats and a large storage console.
Henrik Fisker touts that the Pear contains 35 percent fewer parts than rival EVs, and it’s easy to see where some of the cost savings are coming from. For instance, all four armrests are exactly the same part, simplifying the number of unique components. Likewise, a new 5G-capable in-house computer called Fisker Blade lets two modules run everything, a massive change from the litany of electronic modules running most new cars today.
Fisker claims it’ll have the Pear on sale in mid-2025, at which point it might not be the only cheap EV on the market. Chevrolet has recently committed to bringing back the popular Bolt EV, and given the purported $30,000 starting price of the Equinox EV crossover, the second-generation Bolt should continue to fill a cheap-and-cheerful niche. Oh yeah, and then there’s that $30,000 Equinox EV going toe-to-toe with the Pear on base price and form factor. Could the affordable EV era finally be on the horizon?
License To Thrill
Next up is the Fisker Ronin, a four-door convertible with a carbon fiber hardtop named after the Frankenheimer film. Wait, four-door convertible? Indeed, Fisker has bestowed this thing with rear-hinged rear doors like a Mazda RX-8 for easier rear seat access, an unorthodox yet shrewd move for a grand tourer.
Speaking of grand touring, Fisker expects a 600-mile range thanks to body-integrated cells. Total capacity hasn’t been stated, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s absolutely huge. Since power is often a product of range, the Ronin features a tri-motor AWD cranking out a claimed 1,000-plus horsepower. It’s expected to rocket the Ronin to 60 mph in around two seconds, right up there with some of the quickest electric road cars on the market. Each Ronin will be hand-built and have a price tag to match, so considering this flagship as a true Karma successor isn’t farfetched. Fisker claims the Ronin will come to market in late 2025, potentially breathing new life into Childish Gambino’s “Fiskers don’t make noise when they start up, just so you know” line.
Pick-Me-Up
Finally, Fisker surprised everyone with the Fisker Alaska, a compact electric pickup truck based on the Ocean crossover. As it stands, it’s a running, driving prototype, and although it’s not shown driving very quickly, I wouldn’t be surprised if development is far along. With canted C-pillars and unibody construction, it feels like an electric competitor to the Hyundai Santa Cruz, a lifestyle pickup primarily aimed at hobbyists. However, it features something that neither the Santa Cruz nor the Ford Maverick can match.
See, the Alaska has a powered midgate similar to the Houdini Trunk on the Pear, a game-changer for the small truck segment. While the short beds of existing competitors are useful, longer beds are even more practical. The Fisker Alaska sports a 4.5-foot bed with the midgate up, a 7.5-foot bed length with the midgate down, and 9.6 feet of cargo area length with the tailgate down. Huge figures, small truck, and the sort of thing that makes you wonder why nobody’s done this in a compact truck before.
Electric vehicle startups often lean on eye-catching features, and early signs point toward the Alaska not being short on gimmicks. During Fisker’s presentation, Henrik Fisker showed off what is claimed to be the “world’s largest cupholder” and a cowboy hat holder, because yee-haw.
Fisker is targeting a range of 230 to 340 miles depending on powertrain configuration, which seems alright for this sort of duty and price. The Alaska is said to carry a $45,400 starting MSRP, which is extremely competitive, and it will be built in America to qualify for IRA tax incentives. Because it’s based on the existing Ocean model, Henrik Fisker predicts a launch in late 2024 or early 2025, roughly 18 months away. If you’ve been wishing for a plug-in hybrid or electric Ford Maverick, this could shape up to be the next-best thing.
Rubber, Meet Road
Now, Fisker has stacked the deck to some degree by utilizing contract manufacturing, but there are still supplier deals to be worked out, pre-production units to be built, and certification to undergo. In short, a lot needs to happen before these vehicles can get into customer hands. Maybe we need some sort of EV startup reality litmus test? Something like a non-employee has to drive an example on roads outside of company property, or something of that sort. Either way, I’m hopeful that all three make production before the next World Cup. The Alaska looks seriously fun and the Pear sits in a price bracket that people need EVs to exist in. I guess we’ll just have to set our clocks for 2025 and see what happens.
(Photo credits: Fisker, Inc.)
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Might have to rename the truck
https://mediacloud.carbuyer.co.uk/image/private/s–S7a1gtfG–/v1584464309/carbuyer/car_images/renault-alaskan-pickup-2017-cutout_1.jpg
LOL! The Ronin is $385K according to their website.
https://www.fiskerinc.com/ronin
Nice prototypes. But the question is whether they’ll be able to deliver in volume
I’m not gonna lie, when I saw the announcement, I checked their site. If this does come to fruition, they’re offering a lot of bang for the buck. Magna is involved as well and that’s a very GOOD thing.
The Houdini tailgate on the Pear seems to directly contradict with the simple and affordable message that the car is supposedly based on
I can only imagine the dirt, mud, and small rocks that are going to end up down in that mechanism. A traditional hatch is better and offers some shelter from the rain while loading items.
I was thinking the same thing – why build a cheap and affordable crossover with an unnecessarily complex and expensive novelty door?
It does make a bit more sense though to see essentially the same mechanism forming the midgate for the Alaska pickup, so clearly there’s some parts sharing going on between the two to make both make more sense financially. Still, the weird hatch shenanigans are a cause for concern.
Ok, I have a 3 that we are getting ready to sell because we have 4 kids and really NEED to be able to carry the whole family in a pinch. If they ACTUALLY bring this to market, I’ll buy it.
Foxconn has more than Lordstown Motors going at the Lordstown plant. Electric tractors for one.
This fits with Foxconn’s plan to leverage its experience doing contract manufacturing for Apple and other companies into the EV space. They want to be the Asian Magna. If they can work with Apple and churn out millions of iPhones reliably, they may have a fighting chance at doing the same with EV’s.
Denso is already the Asian Magna. The contract manufacturing the Magna does is a pretty small part of their business.
I will totally snag the Alaska in 2025. By then my last century fleet will be mostly tired or gone. I def will need the pickup bed for our expedition tent currently residing on the RX. Also bench seats! Snuggle like it is 1969, I love it.