Fisker shows its upcoming PEAR small SUV, at optimistic $30k base price
Fisker has been teasing us about its upcoming PEAR SUV for over a year now, and we finally got a chance to see the upcoming small SUV in the flesh today.
Fisker held its “Product Vision Day” today in Huntington Beach, California, and showed us prototypes of some upcoming vehicles, and we got to see the PEAR in the flesh for the first time.
The PEAR is Fisker’s second SUV, a little smaller than the Ocean, but intended to have a much lower base price – $29,900, before tax credits. This means $22,400 after tax credits, which is about as low a price anyone can ask for from a small SUV these days.
And Fisker does plan to produce the vehicle in the USA, at the old Lordstown plant, which will enable it to qualify for tax credits from the Inflation Reduction Act.
To enable this low price, Fisker says that the PEAR will have 35% fewer parts than the Ocean, making for simpler production and therefore lower costs. It’s calling the platform “SLV1,” which stands for “Simple, Light, Volume.”
As one example, Fisker CEO Henrik Fisker stated that all four seats will use the same armrest design, so instead of making four different parts, Fisker only needs to make one.
The PEAR will be made of steel, which is cheaper (but heavier) than aluminum, and Fisker would like to eventually hit 1 million vehicles annually – but that aspiration is obviously way off in the future.
Fisker still says that every vehicle it makes must have at least a few unique features, and one of PEAR’s highlights is its unique “Houdini door.”
This is the company’s name for its rear hatch which vanishes into the car body, leaving a big opening that won’t swing out and hit anything or cause you to bonk your head on it. You can see it in action in this portion of Fisker’s video (timestamped at 1:03:20).
In addition to rear storage, the PEAR will have a front drawer-like storage area, which Fisker is trying to call a “froot,” a portmanteau of front + boot, and which everyone else is just going to call a frunk anyway. You’re too late on that one, Fisker.
But it is different than a lot of frunks we’ve seen – instead of being under the hood, it slides out from behind the front grille area, potentially providing a flatter space than most frunks do. Fisker said that it was insulated, and thus could be used for transporting hot or cold items – though we didn’t hear whether it has its own HVAC. We didn’t get to see it in action, but you can see a glimpse of it in this part of Fisker’s video (timestamp 1:01:03).
The interior of the PEAR we saw today is nothing like initial interior images, with a much more spartan feel to it. Of course, this is still a prototype (which, as we overheard at the event, was finished this morning), so nothing is final, but we would imagine that a spartan interior might be necessary to get a price under $30k.
And frankly, from what we saw, it looked pretty cool. It gave off Honda Element vibes, a vehicle that was famous for having a simple and usable interior that you didn’t mind getting a little dirty, a feature which owners really liked. More focused on utilitarianism than cushiness.
But Fisker also wanted to highlight just how much interior space the PEAR has. It will have both 5- and 6-seat options, with the 6-seat option coming with a bench seat in the front. To demonstrate the PEAR’s capacity, Fisker had 6 employees pile out of the car at the beginning of the presentation:
The PEAR will have a feature Fisker calls “Lounge mode,” which will reconfigure the seats (including the front seats) to create a flat space within the car for lounging around, and which will be large enough to lay down in. Should be great for car camping.
And all of this is supposedly coming in 2025. Between this car, the Alaska, and the Ronin, Fisker will go from having one car which just started shipping in 2023, to four cars in just two years time. Quite a big ask, particularly from a company with 1,000 employees, so we wouldn’t be surprised if we see some delays.
But if you want to get in line for whichever year the PEAR comes, reservations are open now on Fisker’s website, at $250 a pop.
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Fueled by incentives from the Illinois EPA and the state’s largest utility company, new EV registrations nearly quadrupled the 12% first-quarter increase in EV registrations nationally – and there are no signs the state is slowing down.
Despite the dramatic slowdown of Tesla’s US deliveries, sales of electric vehicles overall have perked up in recent months, with Illinois’ EV adoption rate well above the Q1 uptick nationally. Crain’s Chicago Business reports that the number of new EVs registered across the state totaled 9,821 January through March, compared with “just” 6,535 EVs registered in the state during the same period in 2024.
Those numbers represent more than 50% growth in EV registrations – far beyond the expected 12% first-quarter increase nationally being projected by Cox Automotive. (!)
What’s going on in Illinois?
While President Trump and Elmo were running for re-election, they campaigned on the threat promise of canceling the $7,500 federal tax credit for EVs. Along with California Governor Gavin Newsom, Illinois’ Governor JB Pritzker made countermoves – launching a $4,000 rebate for new electric cars and up to $1,500 for the purchase of a new electric motorcycle.
At the same time, the state’s largest utility, ComEd, launched a $90 million EV incentive program featuring a new Point of Purchase initiative to deliver instant discounts to qualifying business and public sector customers who make the switch to electric vehicles. That program has driven a surge in Class 3-6 medium duty commercial EVs, which are eligible fro $20-30,000 in utility rebates on top of federal tax credits and other incentives (Class 1-2 EVs are eligible for up to $7,500).
We covered the launch of those incentives when the program was announced at Chicago Drives Electric last year, but the message here is simple: incentives work.
SOURCES: Chicago Business, Ray Cunningham; featured image by the author.
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The electric construction equipment experts at XCMG just released a new, 25 ton electric crawler excavator ahead of bauma 2025 – and they have their eye on the global urban construction, mine operations, and logistical material handling markets.
Powered by a high-capacity 400 kWh lithium iron phosphate battery capable of delivering up to 8 hours of continuous operation, the XE215EV electric excavator promises uninterrupted operation at a lower cost of ownership and with even less downtime than its diesel counterparts.
XCMG is delivering on part of that reduced downtime promise with the lower maintenance and easier repair needs of electric equipment, and delivering on the rest of it with lickety-quick DC fast charging that can recharge the machine’s massive battery in 1.5-2 hours … but that’s not the slick bit. The XCMG XE125EV can be powered up without leaving the job site thanks to its BYD battery swap technology.
We first covered XCMG and its battery swap technology back in January, and covered similar battery-swap tech being developed by MOOG Construction offshoot ZQUIP, as well – but while XCMG’s battery tech has been in production for several years, it’s still not widely known about in the West (even within the industry).
XCMG showed off its latest electric equipment at the December 2024 bauma China, including an updated version of its of its 85-ton autonomous electric mining truck that features a fully cab-less design – meaning there isn’t even a place for an operator to sit, let alone operate. And that’s too bad, because what operator wouldn’t want to experience an electric truck putting down 1070 hp more than 16,000 lb-ft of torque!?
Easy in, easy out
The best part? All of the company’s heavy equipment assets – from excavators to terminal tractors to dump trucks and wheel loaders – all use the same 400 kWh BYD battery packs, Milwaukee tool style. That means an equipment fleet can utilize x number of vehicles with a fraction of the total battery capacity and material needs of other asset brands. That’s not just a smart use of limited materials, it’s a smarter use of energy.
You can check out all the XE215EV’s specs at this tear sheet, and get an in-person look at the Chinese company’s latest electric excavator this week in Munich, Germany.
SOURCE | IMAGES: XCMG.
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As “extreme” weather events become more commonplace, the demand for reliable and portable energy continues to rise. In response to that growing demand for dependable off-grid power, Volvo has developed the new PU500 Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) designed to take electrical power when it’s needed most.
Designed to be deployable in a number of environments at a moment’s notice, the Volvo Energy PU500 BESS is equipped with approximately 500 kWh of usable battery capacity (up to 540 kWh total). More than enough juice, in other words, to power a remote construction site, disaster response effort, or even a music festival – anything that needs access to reliable electricity beyond a grid connection.
That’s great, but what sets the PU500 apart from other battery storage solutions is its integrated 240 kW DC fast charger.
“With an integrated CCS2 charger, the PU500 is designed to work with all brands of electric equipment, trucks, and passenger cars,” says Niklas Thulin, Head of BESS Product Offer at Volvo Energy. “This ensures that no matter what type of electric vehicle or machinery you rely on, the PU500 can provide the power you need, making it a truly flexible solution for any grid constrained site or location.”
The integrated charger in the PU500 has the impressive ability to charge a heavy equipment asset (be that an electric semi truck or something like a wheel loader) in under two hours. Its on-board capacity allows to fully recharge up to 3 electric HD trucks or 20 electric cars per day, making it an incredibly versatile disaster response asset.
Electrek’s Take
As we often say over at The Heavy Equipment Podcast, “just because you’re working for the power company doesn’t mean you have power,” and there are hundreds of scenarios where the extra power provided by something like the new PU500 would be useful. Its ability to be palletized and easily moved or swapped out of a larger BESS array, too, just add to its flexibility.
SOURCE | IMAGES: Volvo.
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