Fisker Ocean deliveries are now days away in Europe, but US customers will have to wait
Fisker Inc. has just confirmed regulatory certification in Europe that will allow sales and deliveries of the first Ocean SUVs to reservation holders. Fisker has taken a unique dual homologation process for both Europe and the US simultaneously, and while deliveries overseas appear just over a week away, reservation holders in the US might have a wait quite a bit longer.
After a multi-year journey that felt like a public drawing board of design tweaks and strategy changes, Fisker Inc. inevitably honed-in on the final iteration of its flagship EV – the Ocean SUV. As promised, the Ocean officially kicked off production on schedule in Europe in November, under the watch of veteran contract manufacturer Magna Steyr in Austria.
As of December 31, 2022 Fisker reported it had built 56 Ocean SUVs, including 15 fleet vehicles delivered to Magna for testing, data collection, and additional validation.
Still, the American automaker relayed optimism to produce (up to) 42,400 EVs in 2023, provided its supply chain holds steady and it receives homologation “in a timely manner.” Fisker sought certification in both the US and Europe simultaneously, anticipating testing would be completed in March, followed by the respective regulatory approval processes in each region.
Well, reservation holders in Europe can rejoice, especially those awaiting an Ocean One Launch Edition, because your shiny new SUVs have been certified overseas and deliveries are expected in ten days.
Fisker Ocean deliveries begin in Europe May 5
According to news directly from Fisker this evening, the Ocean SUV has been certified by regulators in Europe and deliveries are expected to begin shortly. Company chairman and CEO Henrik Fisker spoke to the milestone and shared a quick update:
The entire Fisker team is excited to get the Fisker Ocean One launch edition to our reservation holders. Our first delivery is expected for May 5. After that, we intend to deliver all Ocean Ones by the end of September while also initiating some deliveries of the Fisker Ocean Extreme, starting in Europe with the US to follow.
When exactly the US deliveries will follow remains unclear. For now, Fisker’s focus is on deliveries of the top-tier trims of the Ocean in Europe, although the company has already built some of the Ultra and Sport trims of the incoming SUV. Fisker says deliveries of those trims will begin in September, assumedly after a majority of the One and and Extreme trims have found their homes.
Fisker recently announced a WLTP certified range of 707 km (439 miles) for the Fisker Ocean Extreme (20″ wheels), which the company said has led to an influx of new reservations in Europe. It will be interesting to see where that range lands on the US market’s much stricter EPA scale, but even 400 miles of EPA range should be quite appealing for SUV-loving consumers in the states.
While many readers would probably prefer news of US Ocean deliveries before Europe, the SUV reaching reservation holders anywhere is encouraging news. We are quite curious where Fisker and Magna currently stand on production output for 2023, as well as how many reservations the Ocean has now tallied.
We are certain to learn more during Fisker’s Q1 2023 financial report, scheduled for May 9.
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In a joint statement, French and German economists have called on governments to adopt “a common approach” to decarbonize European trucking fleets – and they’re calling for a focus on fully electric trucks, not hydrogen.
France and Germany are the two largest economies in the EU, and they share similar challenges when it comes to freight decarbonization. The two countries also share a border, and the traffic between the two nations generates major cross-border flows that create common externalities between the two countries.
At the same time, the EU’s transport sector has struggled to reduce emissions at the same rate as other industries – and road freight in particular is a major contributor to harmful carbon emissions issue due to that industry’s heavy reliance on diesel-powered trucks.
And for once, it seems like rail isn’t a viable option:
While rail remains competitive mainly for heavy, homogeneous goods over long distances. Most freight in Europe is indeed transported over distances of less than 200 km and involves consignment weights of up to 30 tonnes (GCEE, 2024) In most such cases, transportation by rail instead of truck is not possible or not competitive. Moreover, taking into account the goods currently transported in intermodal transport units over distances of more than 300 km, the modal shift potential from road to rail would be only 6% in Germany and less than 2% in France.
That leaves trucks – and, while numerous government incentives currently exist to promote the parallel development of both hydrogen and battery electric vehicle infrastructures, the study is clear in picking a winner.
“Policies should focus on battery-electric trucks (BET) as these represent the most mature and market-ready technology for road freight transport,” reads the the FGCEE statement. “Hence, to ramp-up usage of BET public funding should be used to accelerate the roll-out of fast-charging networks along major corridors and in private depots.”
The appeal was signed by the co-chair of the advisory body on the German side is the chairwoman of the German Council of Economic Experts, Monika Schnitzer. Camille Landais co-chairs the French side. On the German side, the appeal was signed by four of the five experts; Nuremberg-based energy economist Veronika Grimm (who also sits on the National Hydrogen Council, which is committed to promoting H2 trucks and filling stations) did not sign.
You can read an English version of the CAE FGCEE joint statement here.
Electrek’s Take
MAN Trucks’ CEO famously said that it was “impossible” for hydrogen to compete with BEVs, and even committed to building 200 hydrogen-powered semi truck to prove out that hypothesis.
He’s not alone. MAN’s board member for research and development, Frederik Zohm, said that the company is the one saying hydrogen still has years to go. “(MAN) continues to research fuel cell technology based on battery electrics,” he said, in a statement quoted by Hydrogen Insight, before another board member added that, “we (MAN) expect that, in the future, we will be able to best serve the vast majority of our customers’ transport applications with battery-electric trucks.”
With companies like Volvo and Renault and now Mercedes racking up millions of miles on their respective battery electric semi truck fleets, it’s no longer even close. EV is the way.
SOURCE | IMAGES: CAE FGCEE; via Electrive.
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GE Vernova has produced over half the turbines needed for SunZia Wind, which will be the largest wind farm in the Western Hemisphere when it comes online in 2026.
GE Vernova has manufactured enough turbines at its Pensacola, Florida, factory to supply over 1.2 gigawatts (GW) of the turbines needed for the $5 billion, 2.4 GW SunZia Wind, a project milestone. The wind farm will be sited in Lincoln, Torrance, and San Miguel counties in New Mexico.
At a ribbon-cutting event for Pensacola’s new customer experience center, GE Vernova CEO Scott Strazik noted that since 2023, the company has invested around $70 million in the Pensacola factory.
The Pensacola investments are part of the announcement GE Vernova made in January that it will invest nearly $600 million in its US factories and facilities over the next two years to help meet the surging electricity demands globally. GE Vernova says it’s expecting its investments to create more than 1,500 new US jobs.
Vic Abate, CEO of GE Vernova Wind, said, “Our dedicated employees in Pensacola are working to address increasing energy demands for the US. The workhorse turbines manufactured at this world-class factory are engineered for reliability and scalability, ensuring our customers can meet growing energy demand.”
SunZia Wind and Transmission will create US history’s largest clean energy infrastructure project.
Read more: The largest clean energy project in US history closes $11B, starts full construction
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