Fisker to launch Atlantic in two years

Clouded by recalls and controversy, the skies over Fisker Automotive are not too clear as the company sets out to raise $US350 million to quicken development of its second nameplate – the Atlantic – and the Nina platform.

Fisker plans to launch the four-door Atlantic sedan in mid-2014, and plans to build 40,000 examples in 2015, its first full year of production.

The Nina platform confirms Fisker Automotive’s dedication to a hybrid drivetrain for the Atlantic and a future SUV expected in 2016. Both will be built at the ex-GM factory in Wilmington, Delaware - a plant Fisker bought for $US20 million and is investing an additional $125 million of improvements in.

The Atlantic and sister SUV will use a BMW petrol engine or plug-in facility to recharge its battery pack. Henrik Fisker claims the Atlantic offers a guilt-free zero-emissions driving range of about 80km before the BMW engine kicks in to extend driving range by another 450km. He’s talking 0-100km/h acceleration in six seconds, making it much slower than Tesla’s all-electric Model S sedan - a direct competitor at an expected starting price of less than $70,000.

The Delaware plant on the eastern seaboard is a logical fit, says Fisker, who predicts 60 per cent of Atlantic sales will be exported mainly to European markets. China, Russia and Gulf markets are also expected to fill large coloured chunks of the sales pie chart.

The money matters. Accepting more than $US500million in US Department of Energy grants fattened Fisker’s chequebook, and also made the young start-up brand the poster child for the green industry gone gangrenous by using US taxpayer DOE money to build the Karma (pictured) at Valmet in Finland.

So some of that $US350 million Fisker hopes to raise in the latest investment round will go to repay the DOE. To date Fisker has sold 1100 Karmas and has 1700 in dealerships.

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