Fisker (yes, that Fisker) is coming to CES 2018 with a new electric car called the EMotion. The company’s claims are impressive: It will be able to cover a minimum of 400 miles on a single charge, top out at 161 mph and is launching at the very end of 2019.
The news here, however, is the EMotion’s claimed ability to charge to 125 miles of range after only nine minutes of being plugged in. Yes, it’s using lithium-ion battery technology, but Fisker is upping the ante above your typical battery pack.
“What we have done is we have packaged them (battery cells) in a new way, in a unique, proprietary battery module, where we have created a new cooling system. What it does is allow for us to probably have the most energy dense battery pack in the world because we have been able to put these cells very close together and still be to cool them very efficiently,” designer and company namesake Henrik Fisker says.
The doors might turn some people off, but “out there” design elements seem to be the norm when making electric cars.
A 143 kWh battery is utilized to deliver the long 400-mile range, but Fisker says the significant battery weight doesn’t hurt the vehicle tremendously — he was able to take weight out with a simpler cooling system and lightweight construction of the battery case. It’s made out of a material used by the U.S. military, but Fisker isn’t ready to give away his secrets quite yet.
There’s a combination of sports car and GT car styling used on the EMotion, with a bit of Fisker flair as well. The four doors open up and out in an exotic style, and the rear end is distinctly Aston Martin-like. A LIDAR system is housed on the nose of the car to offer something close to autonomous driving — there’s no indication as to the level of autonomy yet though. Fisker says to expect some exotic materials throughout the car like carbon fiber, aluminum and various composites to keep the weight down.
“What we decided to do is — we are really calling it a low-volume car, which allows us to use a lot of exotic materials, we can use low-volume lower-cost tooling. Of course, that limits somewhat the amount of units we can produce, but it gives us a lot of flexibility in adding a lot of exciting new tech into the vehicle,” Fisker says.
The company claims the EMotion will be sold directly to consumers all across the U.S., and it plans to eventually have a network of about 400 service centers, all offering concierge service. No performance numbers are available as of now, but the base price is: $129,900. Of course, you’ll be able to option the EMotion with plenty of extras like carbon fiber wheels, an electro-chromatic roof and other as-yet-announced announced goodies.
Additional Fisker news involves an unannounced second high-volume vehicle that it wants to team up with a large OEM to make, and the solid-state battery tech it claims will allow for a much smaller battery, plus a zero-to-full charge in about a minute. Ambitious, but we look forward to further developments.
Zac Palmer – Editorial Intern Zac Palmer has probably spent more time in a car than any other 21-year old in the country. He likes anything that can go around a corner, and is surely talking about a car wherever he might be.
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