Fisker picks Advanced Lithium Power to make batteries
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Fisker Automotive’s long-anticipated plug-in hybrid will run on Canadian power.
The Irvine automaker said it would buy the batteries for its $88,000 luxury sedan, the Karma, from Advanced Lithium Power, a Vancouver, B.C., concern that also supplies batteries to the U.S. military. In addition, Fisker spokesman Russell Datz said the company would make a “sizable” cash investment in Advanced Lithium Power, also known as ALP.
Exact terms were not disclosed, but Datz said Fisker would get two seats on ALP’s board in exchange. Selecting a Canadian supplier enhances the global stew behind the vehicle, which was designed by a Dane, will be built in Finland and is owned mainly by American investors.
Fisker said that the first production models would be finished by year’s end, but that pre-ordered models would not be delivered until spring 2010. The company expects to build a network of 45 U.S. dealers and 40 European dealers by that time. To date, Fisker has raised roughly $100 million in venture capital, including $3 million announced earlier this month, a portion of which is to go to ALP.
The battery is the most critical, and costly, component in vehicles designed to run partially or entirely on electricity, so deciding on where to source the part is an extremely sensitive and important task. ...
In December, General Motors Corp. said that after a year-long competition, it had selected South Korean firm LG Chem to supply the lithium ion batteries for its Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid. The Volt is due out in late 2010.
The four-door Fisker Karma will use a 22.6 kilowatt-hour lithium ion battery with cells produced by ALP in Canada and assembled in Taiwan. The company declined to say what the cost of the battery would be, but by comparison, the 56 kwh battery in the all-electric Tesla Roadster costs about $36,000. The Tesla vehicle, which is currently available, costs $109,000.
As a plug-in hybrid, the Fisker vehicle needs a smaller battery, although a much larger one than, say, the 1.6 kwh pack on a Toyota Prius. Although it uses only electric motors to power the wheels, the Karma also carries a 2.0-liter turbocharged, direct-injected engine made by GM -– the same kind as those used in traditional gasoline powered vehicles like the Chevy Cobalt SS -- that serves as a generator to charge the battery and extend range.
According to co-founder and Chief Executive Henrik Fisker, the Karma will have a range of 50 miles on battery power and 250 additional miles with the generator running. ‘We realized you need a battery developed specifically for automotive use,’ he said. ‘This battery has been tested for a long time. It’s been in our test vehicles for eight months.’
The Karma will be available in a base version that costs $87,900, a fancier version called the EcoSport for $95,000 and a $104,000 version called EcoChic that’s ‘animal-free’ (vegetable-fiber seats instead of leather, etc.) and uses recycled wood trim. Fisker also plans a two-door convertible and a lower-cost, higher-volume sedan in the future.
Fisker said it has collected 1,300 deposits of between $1,000 and $5,000 on the car, and that it hopes to produce 7,500 Karmas in its first full year of production. Eventually, the company hopes to produce 15,000 per year.
--Ken Bensinger