Fisker Inc.’s latest offering is electrifying the automotive industry…
It seems like every automotive brand is now building its version of an electric vehicle or hybrid, but very few consider them to be the core of their businesses. This couldn’t be further from the truth for legendary automotive designer Henrik Fisker and his eponymous company, Fisker Inc., which is on the verge of releasing its firstjaw-dropping creation for consumers, the Fisker EMotion. A four-door, plug-in electric luxury sedan, the EMotion pushes the limits of electricperformance, offering 400-plus miles per charge, thanks to its light-weight construction and next-gen battery technology. “The purpose of the EMotion is to create the world’s most innovative all- electric vehicle,” Fisker explains, “both in terms of packaging the electric power train to create a more spacious interior and integrating new, solid-state battery technology.”
Fisker, a founding father of the EV market, first became associated with electricvehicles via his plug-in hybrid the Fisker Karma, one of the earliest luxury models available when it debuted in 2009 from his former company Fisker Automotive. (His influence can also be seen in some of the iconic vehicles he’s helped design, including the BMW Z8 featured in the James Bond film The World Is Not Enough, as well as the Aston Martin DB9 and V8 Vantage.) While production on the Karmaeventually stopped due to the bankruptcy of its battery supplier, the groundwork was in place for him to push the automotive industry into the future once again.
“I think we built a visionary vehicle that truly showed that an environmentally friendly vehicle can be both innovative and desirable,” Fisker says contemplatively. “I felt there was going to be a growing market for green vehicles which featured pleasing aesthetics andamenities that many of the early electric vehicles lacked.”
Fisker is now the chairman and CEO of a completely newcompany, and the EMotion is his stake in the ground. Formed from carbon fibre and aluminum and featuring all-wheel drive, the EMotionis at the forefront not only of plug-in EVs but of autonomous driving as well, complete with five integrated LiDAR sensors that detect, analyse, and help the driver avoid obstacles or other dangers on the road. Innovative technology is ingrained in the EMotion’s DNA, with multiple curved interior screens for both the driver and passengers, and “butterfly doors” — so complicated from an engineering perspective that Fisker is still working to make them feasible for a production run — that can be opened via your smartphone. The future has arrived, and it looks very bright indeed.
BY KEITH GORDON
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