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Fisker Inc. has announced Level 2 and DC Fast charging network ChargePoint as its North American partner to support its incoming EVs. The collaboration will provide future Fisker Ocean owners with access to over 400,000 roaming ports, including 16,700 fast chargers.

The second iteration of Fisker ($FSR) began production of its flagship EV, the Ocean, this past November with the help of Magna Steyr in Austria. Its limited edition One trim is already sold out as the American EV automaker continues to ramp up overseas and get the long-anticipated SUVs into the hands of reservation holders.

When those deliveries do arrive in the US and Canada, Fisker customers will be able to more easily locate and access the ChargePoint ($CHPT) network of managed and charging partner stations. Since its inception in 2007, ChargePoint has delivered over 145 million charging sessions to EV drivers across North America and Europe and now looks to add Fisker drivers to its customer base.

Fisker ChargePoint
Credit: Fisker Inc.

Fisker and ChargePoint team up in North America

According to two separate press releases from each company, the new collaboration will give Fisker drivers with access to over 210,000 active charging ports managed directly by ChargePoint and over 400,000 roaming ports with partners. ChargePoint states that the roaming chargers combined with its nearly 17,000 DC fast chargers equate to over 80% of the public charging locations in North America.

As soon as customers in the US and Canada take delivery of their shiny new Fisker Ocean, they will be able to use the SUV’s navigation system to locate ChargePoint and roaming partner stations. They can also use the ChargePoint app. Either way, drivers will be able to filter for DC fast chargers and plan their route to their desired charger, all while receiving calculated arrival times. Chairman CEO Henrik Fisker spoke:

The minute they get their new Fisker Ocean, our owners want convenient and easy-to-locate public charging stations, a quick, easy experience when using a public charger, and super-simple payment options. Together with ChargePoint, we are providing a class leading public charging option for Fisker owners at delivery. ChargePoint is a leading charging network in North America, and their commitment to sustainable mobility makes the partnership a perfect fit for our customers and our business.

Unlike automotive partnerships with other charging networks (like Electrify America, for example), there does not appear to be any complimentary charging on the ChargePoint network included in a Fisker Ocean purchase, just streamlined access to its charger search tool. There are also no updates at this point regarding Fisker Ocean deliveries in North America, but the ChargePoint network will be ready when those EVs arrive.

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Beta Technologies founder completes first test flight in its production-intent eCTOL [Video]

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Beta Technologies founder completes first test flight in its production-intent eCTOL [Video]

All-electric aircraft developer BETA Technologies has shared another important milestone in bringing its first two vessels to market. Most recently, BETA’s founder, CEO, and test pilot Kyle Clark took the production version of its ALIA eCTOL up for its first flight, as seen in the video below.

BETA Technologies is a fully integrated electric aircraft and systems developer based in Vermont. Three years ago, it debuted its first electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraftthe ALIA–250. That BETA vessel has since been renamed the ALIA VTOL and completed a piloted test flight transitioning mid-air this past April.

In addition to the ALIA VTOL, BETA has also been developing an electric conventional takeoff and landing (eCTOL) plane called the ALIA CTOL. To date, it has flown tens of thousands of test miles en route to evaluation flights for FAA certification. That aircraft is targeting full approval for commercial operations by 2025.

As BETA moves closer to bringing the ALIA CTOL to the public, it has completed its first bonafide production build in South Burlington. Following a Special Airworthiness Certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), BETA has successfully taken its production-ready ALIA CTOL up for a test flight, piloted by its founder and CEO.

Beta test flight

Watch BETA’s founder complete a CTOL test flight

BETA Technologies shared details of its first successful production CTOL test flight today alongside the images above and the full video below.

Once the production-intent build of the ALIA CTOL was complete, the FAA inspected the aircraft for safety and compliance before granting BETA a Multipurpose Special Airworthiness Certificate for Experimental Research & Development, Market Survey, and Crew Training, signing-off approval for test flights. 

On November 13, BETA CEO, founder, and test pilot Kyle Clark conducted the first test flight of the ALIA CTOL aircraft, which lasted nearly an hour. The test included a conventional runway takeoff before the aircraft climbed to 7,000 feet.

While in the air, Clark tested the aircraft’s handling qualities, stability, control test points, and initial airspeed expansion before completing several approaches ahead of a normal landing. Clark spoke following the successful flight:

This start of our production CX300 flight test campaign is a result of years of hard work and focus on studying customer requirements, hard engineering, manufacturing, production, quality and test. It represents a significant milestone for BETA, and is the beginning of an exciting new phase for the business. With this, we’re one step closer to putting this technology into the hands of our customers. 

We learned a lot from this first production build. We weren’t just building an aircraft company, we were building and refining a system to build high quality aircraft efficiently. This first build allowed the team to collect data and insight on manufacturing labor, tooling design, processes, yields and sequences, all of which are being used to refine our production systems.

With its production test flight campaign now underway, BETA says it will continue testing the ALIA CTOL aircraft for the standard 50 hours required before qualifying for a Market Survey and Crew Training certificate. That next certificate will enable BETA to fly outside of Burlington and Plattsburgh and continue training additional pilots on the aircraft.

The company shared it will also continue production of additional aircraft, including ALIA CTOL and ALIA VTOL configurations, the latter of which was recently teased in October. You can view footage of BETA’s CTOL flight below.

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U.S. crude oil rises, trades around $69 per barrel

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U.S. crude oil rises, trades around  per barrel

Trump admin will quickly reduce red tape in energy production, says Skylar Capital's Bill Perkins

Crude oil futures rose slightly on Thursday, with the U.S. benchmark trading around $69 per barrel, though the market outlook remains bearish.

Global crude supplies are expected to outstrip demand by more than 1 million barrels per day next year led by robust growth in the U.S., according to the International Energy Agency’s monthly market report.

Here are today’s energy prices by 8:07 a.m. ET:

  • West Texas Intermediate December contract: $68.92 per barrel, up 49 cents, or 0.7%. Year to date, U.S. crude oil is down more than 3%.
  • Brent January contract: $72.78 per barrel, up 50 cents, or 0.7%. Year to date, the global benchmark is down more than 5%.
  • RBOB Gasoline December contract:  $1.9711 per gallon, up 0.3%. Year to date, gasoline has fallen nearly 6%.
  • Natural Gas December contract: $2.966 per thousand cubic feet, down 0.6%. Year to date, gas has gained nearly 18%.

UBS slashed its price forecast for global benchmark Brent to $80 per barrel from $87 previously on weakening demand in China, the world’s largest crude importer.

OPEC on Tuesday cut its demand growth forecast for the fourth month in a row earlier this week.

U.S. crude oil has shed about 4% and Brent is down 3.5% since Donald Trump won the U.S. presidential as the dollar has surged. A stronger U.S. dollar can depress oil demand among buyers that hold other currencies.

Don’t miss these energy insights from CNBC PRO:

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Loren McDonald stops by Quick Charge to discuss EV charging, Paren, and more

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Loren McDonald stops by Quick Charge to discuss EV charging, Paren, and more

Leading electric vehicle analyst, author, and industry thought leaders Loren McDonald and Bill Ferro stop by Quick Charge to discuss EV Adoption’s acquisition by Paren, the “crisis” of EV charging reliability, and the real state of the EV market.

Depending on who you listen, EVs are either driving brands to record growth and are about cross that critical 10% of the overall market nationwide, or the future is bleak, the market is down, and EVs just aren’t selling. What’s really going on? Loren and Bill (probably) have some answers.

Today’s episode is sponsored by BLUETTI, a leading provider of portable power stations, solar generators, and energy storage systems. For a limited time, save up to 52% during BLUETTI’s exclusive Black Friday sale, now through November 28, and be sure to use promo code BLUETTI5OFF for 5% off all power stations site wide. Click here to learn more.

Prefer listening to your podcasts? Audio-only versions of Quick Charge are now available on Apple PodcastsSpotifyTuneIn, and our RSS feed for Overcast and other podcast players.

New episodes of Quick Charge are recorded, usually, Monday through Thursday (and sometimes Sunday). We’ll be posting bonus audio content from time to time as well, so be sure to follow and subscribe so you don’t miss a minute of Electrek’s high-voltage daily news!

Got news? Let us know!
Drop us a line at tips@electrek.co. You can also rate us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, or recommend us in Overcast to help more people discover the show!

Read more: All my favorite EVs, racecars, and robots from Electrify Expo Austin.

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