Fisker is talking to Nissan for a lifeline and electric pickup partnership
Nissan has been revealed as the potential savior of Fisker. The Japanese automaker is reportedly talking with Fisker to invest in the company and partner on electric pickup trucks.
Earlier today, we reported on Fisker’s disastrous fourth-quarter results showing that the electric vehicle startup lost $400 million in 2023 and it now has less than $400 million of cash on hands.
The automaker had to admit that it wouldn’t be able to continue operations past next year without a big cash injection.
It did reveal that it was talking to a “large automaker” about an investment that could save the company.
Now, Reuters reported that the automaker in question is Nissan:
Nissan is in advanced talks to invest in electric vehicle maker Fisker (FSR.N), in a deal that could provide the Japanese automaker with access to an electric pickup truck while giving the struggling startup a financial lifeline, according to two people familiar with the negotiations.
The deal would reportedly involve Nissan investing $400 million in Fisker. It would also involve Nissan building the Alaska pickup truck unveiled by Fisker last year at one of its US plants.
On top of it, Nissan could use the Alaska platform to build its own electric pickup truck.
Neither Nissan nor Fisker commented on the report.
Fisker’s stock dropped by more than 50% today after the release of its earnings, but the stock recovered a bit after the report that Nissan is considering investing.
The stock currently trades at a valuation of $295 million.
Electrek’s Take
I’m not sure what to think about it. I’ve never been a big fan of Fisker, and I’ve warned people about investing in the company before.
If the report is true, I don’t know what Nissan sees in this. If they are behind on developing electric pickup trucks, it might be worth it for them, but I think that any significant investment would be a takeover the company.
It is now worth less than $300 million and that might be an attractive investment as a company that had $200 million in revenue last quarter in the growing EV market, but the looks are deceiving.
As I’ve highlighted before, Fisker was desperate in its previous fundraising efforts and took big convertible notes, which now add up to $1.2 billion, according to its last SEC filing.
Currently, there’s just no way Fisker can manage to pay that back and therefore, they will convert to stock and drastically dilute it for current shareholders.
So I don’t see a good outcome here other than Nissan picking the whole company up for cheap and accelerating its EV programs with it.
What do you think? Let us know in the comment section below.
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LiveWire, the electric motorcycle brand spun out of Harley-Davidson, has just announced its latest electric motorcycle model. The new LiveWire S2 Alpanista is built on the same platform as the brand’s last two models, leveraging the Arrow platform as a versatile foundation for several diverse bikes.
The Arrow platform first received its debut with the LiveWire S2 Del Mar, which was then followed by the S2 Mulholland.
LiveWire announced that a high-performance electric maxi-scooter would be produced on the Arrow platform, but not before the company rolled out the S2 Alpinista. “The Alpinista is LiveWire’s first sport standard,” explained the company, “equipped with 17” wheels and tires, blending the best of street, sport, and hyper-tourer characteristics.”
The recently unveiled S2 Alpinista is mechanically quite similar to the two previous models sharing the platform. The 10.5 kWh battery that serves as the main structure of the bike will offer a maximum range of 120 miles (193 km) per charge under city riding conditions. It can be recharged with a Level 2 charger from 20-80% in just 1 hour and 20 minutes.
The 433 lb (196 kg) bike can achieve a 0-60 mph (0-96 km/h) time of just 3.0 seconds, thanks to its powerful 63 kW (84 hp) motor. The S2 Alpinista can also reach an electronically limited top speed of 99 mph (159 km/h).
Priced at US $15,999 and already available at LiveWire dealerships in North America and Europe, the S2 Alpinista officially becomes the most affordable LiveWire electric motorcycle available to date, undercutting the $16,249 S2 Del Mar electric street tracker and the $16,499 Mulholland electric sport cruiser.
“Alpinista reimagines the S2 by combining the urban agility of a supermoto with the do-it-all nature of a touring bike, creating a practical and thrilling sport standard,” explained the brand.
The smaller 17″ wheels help reduce the seat height of the bike, and combined with the Dunlop Roadsmart IV tires, the street-optimized bike is ideal for “both daily commutes and spirited rides through winding roads.”
The S2 Alpinista comes with 6-axis IMU from Bosch providing cornering-enhanced antilock braking and cornering-enhanced traction control systems, in addition to four preset ride modes and two custom modes.
Now the third model launched on the Arrow platform, the S2 Alpanista underscores the versatility of LiveWire’s workhorse. The approach was intended to allow the e-motorcycle offshoot to quickly innovate with multiple styles of motorcycles all sharing key structural and drivetrain components. The move has largely been seen as an engineering success, with three models hitting the road in under three years. However, sales have yet to reach targets set by LiveWire as the more premium electric motorcycle industry has experienced a rocky few years.
As a LiveWire S2 Del Mar owner myself, I can attest to both the performance and enjoyable experience of bikes built on the platform, though I do find myself in a somewhat smaller community than LiveWire had likely hoped for. With the backing of its powerful older brother H-D, which retains a controlling stake in the company, LiveWire has enjoyed the relative freedom to cruise for its first few years and focus on motorcycle development and rollouts, with profitability hopefully coming over the horizon in due time.
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