Posted on 06/19/2015 2:46:39 PM PDT by Red Badger
No Word On When New Owner Wanxiang Will Start Making Cars
We've reported extensively about Tesla Motors developing its massive Gigafactory in the hinterlands near Reno, Nevada. Now, reports are coming out that the most recent incarnation of Fisker Automotive will build a factory about halfway between Los Angeles and Palm Springs. There's lots of land left out there for any other aspiring plug-in automakers.
Fisker, which is now owned by China-based Wanxiang, already has offices in Costa Mesa, CA, and employs about 200 people there, according to the Orange County Register. Now, Fisker will build a 556,000-square-foot plant in Moreno Valley, CA, which is about 60 miles east of Los Angeles proper. The factory will employ about 150 people who will restart the brand with a model said to be called the Elux. The Register didn't get any details on when we could expect to see new Fiskers on the road.
As for the old ones, Fisker last month debuted thenewfisker.com, a support site parts and service for owners to "elevate" the expensive and sporty extended-range Fisker Karma electric vehicles. Wanxiang bought Fisker out of bankruptcy early last year for $149.2 million. Fisker went bankrupt in 2013, a year after halting production on the Karma. In all, about 2,600 of those plug-ins were produced.
Hope they do
Those cars are so damn nice looking up close, could care less if electric or gas
Really beautiful
Fisker’s troubles are ordinary startup screwups, the guy is still a great designer - hope something comes of it
Nice looking car but—it doesn’t look like—The Future or the past. It looks rather ordinary.
The Tesla S is *such* a nice car. It’s really so nice, I have trouble envisioning the Fisker competing. In fairness, I have driven the Tesla, but never even ridden in a Fisker.
Elux errr Electrolux sucks according to chinese spokesman wang....
is this new owner iNsane? California is one of the worst states in which to do business. What deal did Moonbeam give Fiskar?
2600 made. Be interesting to see what those go for on Barrett-Jackson in about 20 years.
Apparently it didn't include sufficient "refueling" stations to support much growth in plug-in cars. There are slots in many parking lots but hardly all and not so much in places where you'd leave your car overnight.
Not to mention that water isn't the only necessity in short supply to California. When the choice comes down to nifty super-car versus air conditioning I'd park the car.
PS: Moreno Valley has been trying to define itself out of failure since they bulldozed Riverside Raceway to build a too distant (but cheap) desert suburbia.
I’ve hear and seen Fisker cars ever since I attend every LA Auto Shows 6 straight years. Even when I was still in canada. I just don’t like buying stuff that’s owned by the Chicoms.
Are they self-igniting?
Beautiful.
Technology along the lines of the Volt, BMW i3, etc. IOW driven by electric at all times, with gasoline engine to recharge battery to extend range when underway.
I think they lag behind Tesla for technology, unless there has been progress while they have sort of lay dormant.
“I’ve hear and seen Fisker cars ever since I attend every LA Auto Shows 6 straight years. Even when I was still in canada. I just don’t like buying stuff that’s owned by the Chicoms.”
That was my instinct, too. But looking at Volvo (also Chinese owned) it seems their Chinese owner has given them freedom to add new vehicles, etc.
Volvo is profitable according to published reports.
Snazzy and huge, but classified as a SUB-COMPACT in the USA:
As it has a full gas AND ALSO electric engine, those take up space, right..?
Fisker couldn’t bite the bullet and cut the baby in two, i.e. decide which way to go.
An amphibian can go in either water or land but is super good at neither, right..?
It’s cramped. Also:
While the designer is amazing, I think he should have been more honest about his intended path at the outset of his designing for Tesla.
He kept mum about it and sprung it on his partners, sorta like a designer’s Pearl Harbor.
My first car after graduation from college was a Volvo..station wagon. Years later, I asked my first landlord how come she gave me the apartment when a lot of people were being interviewed and she said “because you drove a Volvo”. The funny part was that the car was the last in a dealership that was being shut down due to bankruptcy. The bad part it still had a tape deck when I should have a CD/DVD player combo in it so having dates was a challenge..
I forgot to add:
Once the battery is depleted, the gas engine has to contend not only with the weight of the passengers, frame, engine, but also the not inconsiderable weight of the battery, which at that point of course is not making the car go at all.
The battery is dead weight at that point, meaning that the gas engine ends up surprisingly anemic, given it’s size.
More about my “cramped” comment:
I was talking STRICTLY about the interior cabin, not the overall car size.
A TRUE BEAUTY, I must concede, though.
“My first car after graduation from college was a Volvo..station wagon. Years later, I asked my first landlord how come she gave me the apartment when a lot of people were being interviewed and she said “because you drove a Volvo”. The funny part was that the car was the last in a dealership that was being shut down due to bankruptcy. The bad part it still had a tape deck when I should have a CD/DVD player combo in it so having dates was a challenge.”
Have had two Volvos. Built like tanks. Not so good mileage.
First was early 70s wagon. Later a 2006 XC90 SUV V8.
Drove Saabs for years. Finally bought a Volvo in 2011. Was amazed at the gas mileage. My old ‘55 Chrysler Imperial achieved 21 mpg waaaaaaaaaay back when, and this Volvo V-50 wagon with the Turbo Five cylinder engine gets exactly the same mileage as the old Hemi Chrysler did, and the Volvo is very uncomfortable also. We prefer to drive our sixteen year old Saab for most of our shopping etc.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.