Fisker shows off its new $37,499 electric crossover, due in 2022

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  A cool feature of the forthcoming Fisker Ocean electric crossover is an optional full-length solar roof, which should add some extra watt-hours throughout the course of the year. [credit: Fisker ]

Do you remember Fisker? The brainchild of designer Henrik Fisker, the company was a very high-profile electric vehicle startup that benefited from a $529 million Department of Energy loan in 2010 before it all came tumbling down in 2013. Well, it’s back. On the eve of this year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Fisker unveiled its new battery EV, the Fisker Ocean, which is slated for production in 2022.

The car is aimed squarely at the mainstream—Fisker says the Ocean starts at $37,499 (before the $7,500 IRS tax credit), with flexible leases from $379 per month for terms as short as a single month with no long-term contract. (Leases will also require $2,999 down before delivery, but Fisker says it will have a “$0 drive-off” option that finances that $2,999 deposit.) Other improvements to the ownership (or leasing) experience will include having your vehicle picked up and dropped off when it needs maintenance, which is scheduled through a smartphone app, as is (or will be) “hassle-free” insurance.

In common with just about every recent EV that isn’t a Tesla, there’s a DC fast charging system with Electrify America for those long road trips that everyone cites as a reason they can’t have an electric car. By the time the Ocean reaches those chargers, the ISO 15118 “plug-and-charge” protocol should be up and running, meaning the car will handle authentication and payment at the charging station without the user having to swipe a credit card or wave an RFID fob at anything. Although the press kit doesn’t say anything about the Ocean’s electrical architecture, there’s a possibility that it may use an 800V approach like the Porsche Taycan, as Fisker states that the Ocean should be able to use Electrify America’s 350kW chargers, which it says will take the battery from a 15 percent state of charge to 80 percent in 30 minutes.