Boutique American EV maker Fisker has revealed that its next car will be called the “Ocean” - an all-electric SUV that it boldly touts as “the world’s most sustainable vehicle”.
Set to rival the Tesla Model Y and the Audi E-tron, the Fisker Ocean has been designed from the ground up to make use of recycled materials, vegan products and other natural resources, Autocar reports.
Not only is the Ocean’s construction unconventional, the California-based firm won’t sell the car through fixed-term finance plans. Buyers will instead pay for the car through “a ‘flexible lease’ plan”, so customers have no long-term commitments to the vehicle, the magazine says.
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The Ocean isn’t just a concept, either. Fisker says it will reveal the electric SUV in full at the end of the month, before focusing its attention on releasing a working prototype on 4 January.
As time ticks down to its release in a few weeks’ time, here’s everything we know so far about the Fisker Ocean:
Price and release
As reported by Engadget, the Ocean is expected to cost less than $40,000 (£30,900), making it a “relatively affordable” electric car.
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Fisker will open orders on 27 November, the same day it intends to reveal the car in full. Buyers will have a long wait on their hands, though, as production won’t kick off until the end of 2021, after which deliveries will commence in early 2022.
Design
The Ocean has a traditional SUV silhouette. The front end is tall and flat, with an ultra-thin LED headlight bar running below the leading edge of the bonnet. It’s positioned high above the front bumper, which should add to the car’s aggressive stance.
The side profile looks similar to the Range Rover Velar, with a low roofline that seemingly slopes down towards the back of the car. Like the Fisker Karma saloon from 2007, the roof is one large solar panel that tops up the car’s battery when the sun’s out.
Fisker pledges to use discarded rubber waste from the car’s tyre production “for several components”, Auto Express reports, preventing leftover pieces from going to a landfill and ultimately lowering the vehicle’s carbon footprint.
The company has also sealed the bonnet shut to “save money and weight”, the motoring magazine notes. The space that would be occupied by an engine in a conventional car will instead house the Ocean’s “ultra-efficient air-conditioning unit” and electronics, opening up more room in the cabin for occupants.
Battery range and motor specs
Fisker will equip the Ocean with an 80kWh battery system, which it claims can deliver a range of around 250 to 300 miles on a single charge, CNet’s Roadshow reports.
The battery will be connected to two electric motors, one on each axle, sending power to all four wheels, according to Autocar.
Performance details and the power output of the motors will be revealed when the covers come off in late November.
