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Most electric car startups can build a luxurious, 6-figure vehicle that does a little bit of everything. The more complicated trick is to create something more people can afford.
If you play your cards right, the pricey one pays for research and development. That lets you build a mass-market car for less.
Tesla pulled it off. Its Model S has always worn a luxury car price (its current $78,490 starting price is low – it began this year over $100K). But the Model S helped fund the Model 3 ($40,240 – much lower in some states).
But Tesla has never managed the sub-$30,000 car CEO Elon Musk has promised. Startup rival Fisker has plans to get there first.
The brand this week revealed details of its long-promised Fisker PEAR compact SUV. The PEAR (an acronym for “Personal Electric Automotive Revolution”) will start at $29,900. Fisker’s website doesn’t mention a delivery fee, but it’s standard in the automotive industry to tack a mandatory freight charge onto the list price of most cars, usually between $1,000 and $2,000.
An Evolving Brand Look
The PEAR resembles a miniaturized version of the brand’s Ocean midsize SUV. A “Houdini trunk” means the lid and glass slide down behind the rear bumper beam rather than opening upward like a conventional tailgate. Fisker says that feature allows loading “in tight street parking situations” or low garages.
Photos show what appears to be a solar roof. Press materials don’t explain it. Fisker offers something like it on the Ocean. In that application, it doesn’t provide enough power to stretch the range by much – but a trickle of power, even when you’re not plugged in, isn’t a bad idea.
A drawer-like frunk is optionally insulated to keep food hot or cold. Fisker insists on calling it a “froot” for “front boot.” The company is located in California and run by a Dane, with no British accent in hearing distance.
Flexible Seating, Pivoting Screen
The PEAR seats five or six, depending on seating configuration. A “lounge mode” allows all seats to fold flat, creating a mattress-like surface “for watching a movie or taking a rest.”
An optional 17.1-inch-diagonal screen rotates from portrait to landscape orientation.
Range Up to 320 Miles
Fisker hasn’t provided power figures but says, “the vehicle is projected to deliver a base 0-60-mph time of 6.3 seconds” and be available in rear- and all-wheel drive. “Two battery options will provide an estimated range of either 180 miles, aimed at being the lightest and most sustainable version, or an estimated 320-mile range for longer trips,” according to press materials.
A high-performance PEAR Extreme is planned.
Fisker Is Making a Lot of Promises
The new EV is a compelling-looking package, particularly for Chevrolet Bolt money. Fisker doesn’t say where it will build the PEAR. So, we don’t know if it can qualify for federal EV tax credits available on cars built in North America. Fisker’s only current product, the Ocean, is made in Austria and is ineligible.
The PEAR is one of three new products Fisker has shown off in recent months. It joins the Alaska pickup and Ronin grand touring convertible. The company is one of a spate of new startups attempting to break into the EV space. Analysts doubt all of them can survive, and questions persist about Fisker’s funding.
But, if the company can make it to production with the PEAR, we’ve seen worse ideas than a practical small electric SUV with a sub-$30,000 price tag.
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