I was surprised when I heard the company that makes scissors at my kid's school had made the jump to automobiles. Then I realized that Fisker and Fiskars are different.
It'll be interesting to see if Americans would ever go for a "City Car". I believe Citreon are bringing the ami to the USA and I'd be tempted to get one a second car - it's certainly well under that pricepoint.
I've owned a first gen Leaf for about 6 years and it's my daily. I bought it for very cheap. My commute is about 25 miles total on surface streets and I've put about 40k miles on it. The usable range is probably 40 miles if you want to take care of this style battery, which I do because a new one is the value of the car.
It's been a good experience but I need to have a 2nd car or a rental if I want to leave town. It's worked for me, but there's no way anyone else I know would accept this.
IMO, the experience of "refilling" the car will need to be much quicker for wide adoption in the US, especially for those who are not able to charge at home. You'd also have to convince people that going electric is better for some reason, be it a feeling that you're saving the earth(which is debatable depending on all kinds of factors) or that the performance of some models is pretty awesome.
The issue with the Ami is that it is closer to a fast golf buggy than a standard car (even a "city car" in the standard sense can keep up at highway speeds, like Japans Kei class) if it were available in a country like the US, it could really only be targeted at the few small communities where NEVs are encouraged. Technically they can be legal in most of the country to drive on roads up to a certain speed, but only a few areas have specific incentives and laws for them.
If more US states incentivised small, low to mid speed short range EVs as second cars for short local trips, made them the budget option for the many, many families that don't need multiple full sized cars would take one on as their first EV.
I mean the real way forward would be walkable towns, mixed zoning in suburbs, disincentivize large vehicles, hell disincentivize driving in general, expand bike lanes, dedicated bus lanes, invest in other options like light rail, remove "stroads", shut down the false narratives that every car needs 1000miles of range, every house needs a multi car garage, every shop needs a theme park sized car park, etc etc etc...
To be honest I don’t see much use for this vehicle in the US. Even in most cities, you will likely need to drive on the highway sometimes, which this can’t do. And if I’m not on high speed roads, why wouldn’t I just use a bicycle? Particularly as e-bikes are now widely available and far more affordable than this thing.
With shades of Lotus circa 2010, it seems there's something for most tastes, with a powerful four-door GT, a versatile pickup truck, and an affordable electric city car.
"We want the world to know that we have big plans and intend to move into several different segments, redefining each with our unique blend of design, innovation, and sustainability," said CEO Henrik Fisker.
Starting with the cheapest, the Fisker PEAR—a cutesy acronym for "Personal Electric Automotive Revolution"—is said to use 35 percent fewer parts than other small EVs.
Oh, and it has a frunk, which the company is calling the "froot," something that will satisfy some British English speakers like Ars' friend and motoring journalist Jonny Smith.
Fisker plans to contract with Foxconn to build the PEAR in Lordstown, Ohio, meaning it would be eligible for federal tax incentives.
There's no price for this one, but Fisker says its all-wheel drive powertrain will boast 1,000 hp (745 kW) and will hit 60 mph from a standing start in two seconds—just about as fast as modern tires will allow.
Hard to imagine there being another Fisker electric car company that has delivered vehicles. I've seen a few FIskers on the road and they always have looked pretty nice. No idea what it's like to ride in one.
Knowing that it will be assembled by Foxconn gives me pause. They have been able to achieve reasonable levels of quality, but I don't put much trust in a company run by con men.
I am not buying an EV until they are using LFP batteries. LiFePo4 have so much more life...I really don't want to be replacing huge banks of lithium ion in 5 years.
Some manufacturers seem to be getting on board with this. Disappointing that hedge clipper (what I know Fisker for) here isn't one of them. Sorry..that is Fiskar, a totally different company.
My 8yo Outlander still has ~80% of original range on lithium batteries.
You might be one of those people keeping cars for 20 years, but majority swap cars much more frequently so lithium battery degradation is not really an issue.
LiFePo4 batteries have lower energy density than other Lithium Ion batteries and they're more expensive. So while they have much longer life your EV running LiFePo4 is going to have shorter range.