Electric vehicle (EV) startup Fisker is building hype with some extraordinary claims about an ultra-luxury EV that looks beautiful and sounds too good to be true.
You may have seen this movie before.
The Fisker Ronin
CEO Henrik Fisker started the buzz with an Instagram post Wednesday. In it, he promised a new “all electric [sic] super GT!” with a “reveal August 3rd!” with an “anticipated range of 600 miles!” And believe it or not, we left out at least one exclamation point.
Called the Fisker Ronin, it’s set to be the highlight of the company’s first Investor Day. A new page on the Fisker website says it “will be the world’s first all-electric, four-door convertible, GT Sports Car.”
It’s undeniably gorgeous. But there are reasons to reserve your excitement.
The Fisker Karma
Fisker Inc. is the second company to carry the name of automotive designer Henrik Fisker. The CEO is an automotive designer whose credits include the original BMZ Z8 and the Aston Martin DB9. Depending on whom you ask, he may also have penned the Tesla Model S.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk doesn’t deny employing Fisker on the Model S project, but frequently downplays the Danish designer’s role.
Around the same time Fisker did his work for Tesla, he launched his own EV builder, Fisker Automotive. It lasted seven years and closed in 2014 after selling about 2,000 sporty Fisker Karma luxury cars. For most of its history, the company was locked in a legal struggle with Tesla over accusations that Fisker borrowed Tesla technologies for the Karma.
Tesla ultimately settled the suit in Fisker’s favor. But Fisker Automotive spent lavishly, never grew profitable, and folded, leaving no support for Karma owners.
The Fisker Ocean and Pear
Fisker (the man) relaunched Fisker (the company) two years later. Advocates say the new company learned from the old one and has spent more cautiously developing new products.
It is now delivering its first product to customers. The Fisker Ocean has an EPA-certified range of up to 360 miles and a price tag of just $37,499. Fisker hasn’t provided cars to anyone in the press for testing, so KBB editors haven’t been behind the wheel yet (though we’re in regular communication about it).
On paper, though, it’s an exceptional car, with the kind of dramatic styling that made Henrik Fisker famous and touting clever ideas like an available range-stretching solar roof.
The company has plans for a more affordable, smaller vehicle called the Fisker Pear as well.
The Fisker Healthy Skepticism
There are, however, plenty of reasons to hold back on the Ronin hype.
Launching a new automaker is one of the most challenging prospects in all of American business. Automakers must spend incredible amounts of money on design and development, build a factory or form an expensive partnership with one, and build a nationwide network to sell and service cars.
Once those costly things are in place, a new automaker can start trying to build a reputation and take market share from companies established in the space for a century.
If it works, it’s worth it. But it usually doesn’t.
Tesla is today the world’s most profitable automaker and America’s best-selling luxury car brand. But the company saw its first profitable quarter selling cars 18 years after its founding.
The company had sustained itself in the meantime by selling regulatory credits to other automakers. But that option isn’t available to newer rivals. Now that almost every company builds an EV, traditional automakers no longer buy credits.
The advent of electric cars has led to a spate of EV startups, but many analysts predict that a culling is coming.
Other companies have successfully delivered cars and failed.
Rival Lordstown Motors, for instance, filed for bankruptcy less than two weeks ago – after successfully delivering some trucks to buyers.
The Ronin is undeniably a beautiful car. But it comes just as Fisker is attempting to attract investors and is wrapped in outlandish promises. We’d advise you to reserve judgment and watch whether the Ocean proves more sustainable than the Karma before believing the claims.
