American start-up company Fisker has revealed pricing for its new Ocean electric SUV ahead of an unveiling in production-ready guise on 4 January 2020. The model will be offered primarily to customers through a leasing programme, with prices starting from $379 (£295) per month with a deposit of $2999 (£2335), for the cheapest of five available trim levels. Prospective customers can pay a fully refundable $250 (£194) deposit now via the firm’s bespoke new smartphone app to secure a reservation. Fisker says it will sell a “very limited” number of Ocean models outright at the request of several global customers. The Californian company claims its first series production car is “the world’s most sustainable vehicle”, with recycled, vegan and other natural products used throughout. A full-length solar roof is said to offer 1000 additional zero-emission miles per year, while recycled fishing nets, t-shirts, bottles and tyres feature throughout the interior and exterior to lessen the model’s well-to-wheel carbon footprint. The Ocean is also claimed to offer “the highest five-star safety rating”, with Fisker drawing attention to the prominent side impact protection beams. It is unclear, however, whether the model has yet been tested officially by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which conducts crash tests in the US. Preview images shows that the Tesla Model Y rival rides high and has modern, utilitarian styling. Flared arches hint at its performance potential, while narrow headlights and chrome detailing are a nod to last year’s Fisker Emotion concept. Like the Model Y, the Ocean will be priced from less than $40,000 (£30,200) in the US. It features what the firm calls “captivating design touches that have been traditionally reserved for supercars in the past”. Prominent styling details include a front-mounted radar in place of a grille, a large front air intake, flared wheel arches and a futuristic headlight design. Also featured is a targa-style removable roof section which Fisker says offers the open-air benefits of a convertible “without compromising the rugged and safe structural integrity of an SUV”. The battery is claimed to provide a range of up to 300 miles. The Ocean will be available in four-wheel drive form, with an electric motor mounted on each axle. Fisker also claims that the SUV’s interior will offer class-leading space, a large head-up display and an intelligent user interface. It’s not yet confirmed where the Ocean will be produced, but Fisker says prototype testing will begin before the end of this year. The company is also at work on developing solid-state battery technology, which it says would allow future vehicles to gain 500 miles worth of charge in as little as one minute. Fisker Inc. was formed in 2016, succeeding the bankrupted Fisker Automotive company that launched the Karma range-extender electric luxury saloon – now re-engineered and on sale as the Karma Revero – in
Origin: 2020 Fisker Ocean: order books open for affordable electric SUV
‘affordable’
2020 Fisker Ocean: affordable electric SUV detailed
American start-up company Fisker has revealed that its upcoming electric SUV will be called the Ocean and unveiled in production-ready guise on 4 January 2020. The company is claiming to have designed “the world’s most sustainable vehicle”, with recycled, vegan and other natural products used throughout. Its American-Danish founder, Henrik Fisker, recently confirmed that the production model will only be available via a ‘flexible lease’ plan, with no long-term contract necessary. It’s now emerged that this scheme will operate through a bespoke smartphone app that will also allow owners to book servicing and maintenance visits. Final pricing, specification and performance details will be detailed when order books for the new model open on 27 November 2019, with full-scale production set to get underway at the end of 2021. Preview images shows that the Tesla Model Y rival rides high and has modern, utilitarian styling. Flared arches hint at its performance potential, while narrow headlights and chrome detailing are a nod to last year’s Fisker Emotion concept. Like the Model Y, the Ocean will be priced from less than $40,000 (£30,200) in the US. It features what the firm calls “captivating design touches that have been traditionally reserved for supercars in the past”. Prominent styling details include a front-mounted radar in place of a grille, a large front air intake, flared wheel arches and a futuristic headlight design. The Ocean also features a targa-style removable roof section with an inbuilt solar panel that boosts the capacity of the car’s 80kWh lithium ion battery pack. Fisker states: “With the touch of a button, an extended open-air atmosphere will be made possible without compromising the rugged and safe structural integrity of an SUV.” The battery is claimed to provide of a range of up to 300 miles. The Ocean will be available in four-wheel drive form, with an electric motor mounted on each axle. Fisker also claims that the SUV’s interior will offer class-leading space, a large head-up display and an intelligent user interface. It’s not yet confirmed where the Ocean will be produced, but Fisker says prototype testing will begin before the end of this year. The company is also at work on developing solid-state battery technology, which it says would allow future vehicles to gain 500 miles worth of charge in as little as one minute. Fisker Inc. was formed in 2016, succeeding the bankrupted Fisker Automotive company that launched the Karma range-extender electric luxury saloon – now re-engineered and on sale as the Karma Revero – in
Origin: 2020 Fisker Ocean: affordable electric SUV detailed
The most affordable hybrids that will save you money
2020 Toyota Corolla HybridHandout / Toyota Electrification, thanks to Tesla and Toyota, has become mainstream. What was once futuristic and Jetsonian — i.e. the incredibly awkward Honda Insight of the 1999 — has now become commonplace — as in the goofy, bulbous profile of the Prius. Instead of being asked “Why did you buy a hybrid?” you’re now more likely to be pressed as to why you didn’t. In other words, what was once unique has become conventional.What hasn’t changed is that hybrids still command a premium. Oh, the price bump isn’t as big as it used to be, but with extra electric motors, batteries and gearboxes, it’s little wonder you have to pay more for their fuel-sipping ways.How much of a premium you need to pay then is the question. So Driving.ca investigated the most cost-effective electrified vehicles sold in Canada, taking into account everything from MSRP to long-term fuel cost savings to pricing compared with their non-electrified siblings. Here then are the most cost-effective hybrids (and I don’t think we need to post a spoiler alert regarding the fact that Toyota figures prominently).Overall best valueIt’s hard to go wrong with a Corolla, the world’s best selling car of all time, and it’s equally hard to find serious fault with Toyota hybrids, so the combination of the two would seem pretty hard to beat. At $24,790, the new Corolla Hybrid is the simple grafting of the Prius powertrain to compact Corolla, lending a mainstream look to a futuristic technology. As for a value comparison, conventional Corollas start at $18,990, but that’s hardly a fair contrast since base gas versions — powered by a 132 horsepower, 1.8-litre four — come with a manual transmission. Comparing apples to apples, the Hybrid is a $4,000 uptick from the Corolla L CVT. What one gets from that four grand is a combination of 1.8-litre Atkinson-cycle four and an electric motor that’s good for 121-hp, a combined 4.5L/100 km in highway and urban cycles all of which will cost you, according to Transport Canada, $1,170 a year in fuel. Compare that with the aforementioned Corolla L — 7.1 L/100 km and $1,846 annual fuel costs — and you have a payback period of around six years. If that seems like a long time, it might help being reminded that the Hybrid is actually closer to the LE CVT in trim bits. Said gas-powered LE costs $21,790 and the Hybrid would require a four-and-a-half year payback if you opted for it over the mid-priced conventional version. One thing’s for sure, this electrified Corolla, like other Toyota hybrids, will last a lot longer than that.Quickest payback periodIn terms of smallest increase in price over its conventional gas-powered, or the shortest amount of time needed to payback the premium paid for hybridization, it’s tough to beat Toyota’s RAV4. A 2.5-litre LE AWD RAV4 will set you back some $30,690, for instance, while the Hybrid version of the same LE AWD package costs $32,090. That’s a paltry $1,400, which, considering all the hardware needed to convert from gas to hybrid propulsion, is a pittance. Meanwhile, Natural Resources Canada says you’ll spend $1,693 fueling the gas-powered version but only $1,224 for the hybrid. Do the math and that’s but a three-year payback period, an amazing bargain for any kind of electrification. The electrified RAV4 proves an even more impressive bargain when you consider that Hybrid is actually more powerful — 219 horses versus 203-hp — than the gas car. No wonder Toyota Canada says that they had sold 9,591 RAV4 Hybrids so far in 2019, fully 22 per cent of all its RAV4 sales being electrified. Most cost-effective family of electricsThe reason I like the Kia Niro is that, not only is the Kia’s cute little electrified crossover cheap but it’s offered in three flavours — traditional hybrid, plug-in PHEV and, at the top of the range, a fully battery-powered EV. The base hybrid starts at $25,495 and, for less than a grand more than the Corolla Hybrid, you get a larger cargo area and 139 horses while sipping just 4.8 litres of gas every 100 kilometres. Move up to the plug-in version and Natural resources Canada says the Niro’s annual fuel costs will be but a paltry $753, making it the most frugal of hybrid crossovers. That’s not necessarily a bargain, though, since it starts at $33,965, that’s an $8,500 jump for a $206 annual savings compared with the bare bones Niro Hybrid. However, considering what the competition charges for similar vehicles, that should not be considered so much a slag against the PHEV, but as a compliment to the base Hybrid. And if completely eliminating greenhouse gasses is your foal — and yes, I do remember that this is supposed to be a hybrid comparison — the Niro EV offer 385 kilometres of electric-only range for $44,495, still competitive amongst battery-powered offerings.The people’s choiceNow, considering its $43,498 base price, Mitsubishi’s Outlander PHEV may seem an odd choice for an “affordable” hybrid. But the electrified SUV is
Origin: The most affordable hybrids that will save you money
News Roundup: Europe’s thing for classic American cars, a new affordable electric SUV, and Patrick Dempsey’s custom Mustang
Muscle cars at the Classic Remise Berlin. Welcome to our weekly round-up of the biggest breaking stories on Driving.ca from this past week. Get caught up and ready to get on with the weekend, because it’s hard keeping pace in a digital traffic jam.Here’s what you missed while you were away.Europeans are buying tens of thousands of American classics every yearThanks to a certain orange loudmouth, America does not have the best reputation overseas in Europe and the U.K. right now, but according to a Hagerty report, Europeans can’t get enough of their classic cars. Data gathered from shipping companies indicates around 30,000 classic cars are shipped from America to Europe each year, with muscle cars and Corvettes being the most commonly imported. One shipper believes it’s the quality of cars from rust-averse U.S. climates as well as the variety to choose from that has been enticing overseas buyers, even if they’re shopping for vintage European vehicles. Fisker released a photo of its upcoming electric SUVEV company Fisker pulled back a part of the sheets covering its forthcoming US$40,000 electric SUV this week. CEO Henrik Fisker posted a partial sidelong shot to Facebook, highlighting the D-pillar and the LED turn signal embedded therein, saying the lamp “will provide extra safety when you change lanes.” The company is allegedly “moving fast” to develop the Tesla Model Y competitor, and currently shopping around for a manufacturing plant.Supposedly ‘abandoned’ Plymouth GTX put up for sale despite owner’s objectionsEarlier this week, Hagerty reported a 1969 Plymouth GTX that had been forgotten in a Michigan storage facility with fees accumulating was going up for auction, despite the fact that its owner had come forward to legally claim it. Initially, the person wasn’t able to prove ownership to the authorities and the auction was allowed to continue. Since then, however – and just in the knick of time really – his ownership was proven, a legal motion filed and the sale of the rare GTX stopped. Watch our editors try to justify the 797-horsepower 2019 Hellcat Redeye 2019 Dodge Challenger Hellcat Redeye Nick Tragianis / Driving Adding another 80 horses to an already 717-horsepower engine is like putting Nutella on top on an Oreo: entirely unnecessary and probably quite dangerous, but, hey, since it’s just sitting there, you might as well eat it. As Driving’s Clayton Seams and Nick Tragianis note in their joint review, the Hellcat Redeye may be a bit of a “stupid car” with way too much power for most situations, but for the kind of person who lives life by the quarter-mile and appreciates machinery with real personality (even the obnoxious kind), there’s nothing quite like it. You can buy Patrick Dempsey’s 1965 Mustang fastbackHow much do you love Grey’s Anatomy? Even if your answer to that is negative fifty, you may still appreciate this custom Mustang build commissioned by actor Patrick Dempsey, who played Dr. Derek Shepherd, a.k.a. McDreamy, on the popular medical drama. A little over a decade ago, Dempsey hired Panoz Custom Sports Cars in Georgia to inject some modern style (to the tune of US$300,000) into this 1965 Mustang fastback, using a 2004 SN95 Cobra SVT as a donor. The result is a black-on-black 420-horsepower custom build with a six-speed manual transmission. And you can own it. Dempsey’s former baby is up for sale at a garage in Utah. Canadians can’t get enough of these seven aging vehiclesIf it ain’t broke, don’t update it. We went through some figures from manufacturers and other online sources to put together a list of seven aging cars Canadians can’t seem to quit. There’s the Dodge Grand Caravan that hasn’t been significantly updated since 2011 but remains the best-selling minivan in the country. Or the Toyota Tundra, which was last majorly overhauled in 2007 but had its best year for Canadian sales in 2018. Or the most ancient on the list, the Nissan Frontier, which has been playing the same song for 15 years, and we’re still giving it a standing ovation!Too many crossovers could kill the market, report saysIt’s called “market saturation,” and according to a new report, that’s where we’re headed if automakers don’t make a course-correction away from the concentrated production of SUVs and crossovers. The “Car Wars” report produced by the Bank of America Merrill Lynch suggests that the market could experience a 30-per-cent decline in auto sales by 2022. It’s projected that SUVs, crossovers and light trucks will make up 70 per cent of the 246 new or significantly updated models expected to arrive between 2020 and 2023.
Origin: News Roundup: Europe’s thing for classic American cars, a new affordable electric SUV, and Patrick Dempsey’s custom Mustang
Fisker teases new photo of its ‘affordable’ all-electric SUV
Electric car company Fisker has teased a new photo of its upcoming battery-powered SUV, which it says will unveil this coming December, and which will cost US$40,000 when it goes on sale. Company founder and CEO Henrik Fisker didn’t go the traditional route of leaking the photo to the press; instead, he posted it on his Facebook page. The focus was on the D-pillar – where a recessed LED turn signal alongside the conventional rear-mounted signals “will provide extra safety when you change lanes,” he said – and on the wide, sculptured rear fender. The picture also shows a sunroof over the rear of the cabin, and pop-out door handles with LED strips in them. Two hours prior, Fisker posted that the company is “moving fast” on the electric SUV prototype, and that he’s in the final stages of selecting a plant to manufacture it. The Fisker SUV is targeting the upcoming Tesla Model Y, which is expected to go into production in late 2020. Tesla plans to sell the top-line versions first, advertising US$66,290 for a long-range model with rear-wheel drive. In all-wheel-drive trim, the long-range is $72,290, and the performance model is $84,290. A standard-range model, expected to cost around US$48,000, will go on sale in 2021. Fisker earlier said its electric sport-ute will have two electric motors, one for each axle, to provide all-wheel drive; and a range of 482 kilometres with an 80-kWh lithium-ion battery. It’s expected to go into production late in 2021. Fisker says it will be the first of three “affordable” electric vehicles the company is planning to produce. In January 2018, it showed off its EMotion flagship luxury car, which it said will use solid-state batteries, have a range of 640 kilometres, offer Level 4 autonomous driving features and retail for around
Origin: Fisker teases new photo of its ‘affordable’ all-electric SUV
Ford will introduce a new ‘affordable’ product by 2022
Ford today introduces the all-new Focus car for global customers, featuring the latest advanced and affordable technology with more comfort and space and a better fun-to-drive experience.Handout Ford is letting its drivers know that just because the stories of entry-level Ford vehicles like the Fiesta, Focus and Fusion, are coming to a close, those seeking a bargain won’t be left in the cold waiting for the bus. On Wednesday, the VP of enterprise product line management for Ford, Jim Baumbick, said the Blue Oval would be adding a new “affordable” nameplate to its lineup, providing an alternative to the receding sedans, Automotive News reports. It’s unclear what body style it’ll be built around, or how large or small it’ll be, but things are apparently moving quickly over in Ford’s development HQ. It’s an example of how we’re moving faster, working together differently and leveraging our five all-new flexible vehicle architectures, Ford said in a statement. We came up with the concept in just 12 weeks using our new product creation process. Previous all-new vehicles could have taken years of research before receiving approval. Will it be a sedan? Given that all four of the aforementioned culled Ford vehicles are, that which is meant to fulfill those missing them would make sense as a sedan. But the push toward larger vehicles like SUVs and pickups is undeniable, so we could definitely see the “affordable” option being a crossover. There’s also the news of a more affordable compact pickup on the way, which could be the sedan substitute Ford is speaking of. Time, and Ford, will tell.
Origin: Ford will introduce a new ‘affordable’ product by 2022
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