Fisker confirms Foxconn will build its $29,900 Pear EV, but questions remain

EV startup Fisker revealed more details about its $29,900 urban lifestyle Pear electric crossover on Thursday during the company’s Product Vision Day. This revelation contained confirmation that Foxconn, the consumer electronics maker best known for making Apple iPhones, would produce the vehicle at its manufacturing facility in Lordstown, Ohio.

In early August, Henrik Fisker, founder and CEO, told TechCrunch that the Foxconn deal was not yet finalized. Although Fisker was confident that the two parties would reach a conclusion, a number of questions still remained unanswered, particularly regarding supplier costs.

Getting those details will be crucial for Fisker as it attempts a feat that no other electric vehicle maker has been able to accomplish: building an electric vehicle for less than $30,000. General Motors’ $26,595 Bolt would have been a money pit for the automaker, and Tesla managed to kill its sub-$30,000 Model S in 2022 before it even started.

Fisker has already failed to meet its own expectations for delivery and production of several hundred vehicles this year. And Foxconn has not been the most reliable partner of other companies. After buying the Ohio plant from Lordstown Motors and offering to build the struggling automaker’s Endurance pickup truck there, Lordstown filed for bankruptcy and is suing Foxconn, accusing the Taiwanese company of making a litany of “unpromised outfits”.

Foxconn also recently pulled out of a $19.5 billion deal with Vedanta last month and failed to follow through on its stated intentions to build a factory in Wisconsin that would create 13,000 jobs.

Neither Fisker nor Foxconn has confirmed to TechCrunch that the deal has been finalized, but Pear’s announcement on Thursday suggests the two may have found common ground.

Fisker says it will begin manufacturing and shipping the pear in July 2025.

A production version of the vehicle will make its public debut at the IAA Mobility 2023 event in Munich next September.

How Fisker plans to make an electric vehicle under $30,000

Fisker Pear interior. Image credits: Fisker

The Fisker Pear is made with a lightweight steel body structure, and the company claims to have figured out how to reduce the number of parts by 35%. It will also make the Pear easier and faster to assemble, according to Fisker.

Fisker also hopes to save money by building its own supercomputers for vehicles. The Pear will be Fisker’s first vehicle to implement the in-house designed “Fisker Blade” computer, presented in a slim, modular and expandable unit. Fisker claims the Blade delivers up to 6.2 TFLOPS and uses an asymmetric processing architecture to achieve more in-vehicle power efficiency.

A “Houdini trunk” and other neat features

The 15-foot-long crossover features a “Houdini trunk” that slides behind the rear bumper, allowing the “young urbanites” Fisker targets to load and unload in tight parking situations on the street and in parking lots with low ceilings.

There’s also a drawer-like trunk (front trunk) that will come with an insulated option to keep food hot or cold, making the Pear potentially ideal for delivery drivers. The interior looks minimal. without “fragile moving parts”, which will not only reduce costs, but also provide drivers with more storage space.

The Pear will feature a “lounge mode” that folds all seats flat to create space to stretch out. The five-seater will have the option of accommodating an additional sixth person up front, as a large two-seater bench seat will replace a single front passenger seat and center console.

Fisker offers two battery options for a range of 180 miles or 320 miles, and will be able to go from 0 to 60 miles per hour in a polished 6.3 seconds.