PLUG-IN START-UP FISKER GETS $500 MIL

Plug-in hybrid maker Fisker Automotive gets $529 million from Obama administration; The loan will go toward development and production of its Karma plug-in hybrid sedan and development of Project Nina, its next-generation plug-in.
Ken Bensinger, September 22, 2009 (LA Times)

"In its latest bid to help finance the car of tomorrow, the Obama administration said it would [make a $528.7-million low-interest loan] to…Fisker Automotive Inc. to develop a pair of plug-in hybrids…[Part of] a $25-billion Department of Energy program to fund development of alternative vehicles…[the loans] will help create or save 5,000 jobs at Fisker and its suppliers…

"…[The] department lent [has] $8 billion to a variety of other automakers and suppliers under the same program…The loans to Fisker are sure to spur the rivalry between it and Tesla Motors Inc., maker of a $109,000 all-electric sports coupe called the Roadster. Tesla…was awarded $465 million…to build its second all-electric car, a sub-$50,000 sedan…"

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"Fisker plans to use $169.3 million of its loan to finish development and production of its $87,900 plug-in hybrid sedan, the Karma. That car will not be built in the U.S. Instead, Fisker is contracting Valmet Automotive Inc., a Finland-based company, to assemble the Karma. Still, the Energy Department estimates that 65% of the vehicle's parts will come from U.S. suppliers.

"Fisker will use the majority of the loan funds to develop its next-generation vehicle, called Project Nina…a plug-in that would be built in the U.S. and cost $47,400. The automaker hopes to sell 75,000 to 100,000 of the cars per year, starting in 2012. Fisker has not yet announced a location for its U.S. production facility, although it does have an engineering office in Pontiac, Mich…A release date for the Karma, originally set to come out late this year, has been pushed back twice: first to next spring and now, according to Fisker, next summer…"

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"…Tesla began delivering its Roadsters early last year, and more than 500 have sold to date…[With] a range of about 220 miles on a single charge…The Roadster is assembled in England, under contract by automaker Lotus. Tesla plans to build a battery factory in the Bay Area as well as an auto assembly plant in the Los Angeles area, where production of the Model S would begin in late 2011, but no final sites have been announced yet.

"Although a variety of new technologies are being considered for future generations of cars, no clear winner has emerged. While vehicles such as the Roadster run on battery power alone, Fisker's plug-in hybrids have both electric motors and gasoline engines on board and use them in concert. Because plug-ins have far larger batteries than hybrids such as the Toyota Prius and can be charged using an electrical outlet, they have the potential to be considerably more fuel-efficient…[O]ther automakers, including General Motors Co., are developing similar plug-in technology, but none have come to market yet in the U.S."