Fisker accelerated the search for a US factory location for the Ocean electric SUV after the US government announced plans to subsidize purchases of electric vehicles made in North America.
CEO Henrik Fisker said his company had several options including buying an existing factory or expanding its partnership with Magna International as a contract manufacturer.
Production of the Ocean electric SUV will begin next month at Magna International production facility in Austria.
âI am looking at bringing Ocean production over to the U.S., and we are looking at some opportunities to produce as early as 2024,â Fisker said in an interview. The U.S. policy shift âhas definitely made us think to accelerate because we think this might give us an advantage.â
The US recently passed a new law that limits the eligibility of a tax credit to $7,500 per vehicle for cars assembled in North America. The law was enacted to improve local supply chains. The law also extends to critical battery components, starting with a 50 percent threshold starting next year, and locally sourced minerals.
The law makes electric vehicles not assembled in North America eligible for a tax credit of $7,500 per vehicle. South Korean and European manufacturers have objected to the regulation because it makes their electric vehicles unable to compete on a price basis with electric vehicles manufactured in North America.
As mentioned earlier, Fisker’s Oceans itself is made in Austria and will use batteries from suppliers from China.
To qualify for a tax credit of $7,500 per vehicle, Fisker can work with Magna, which plans to build an electric car factory in the US.
Fisker also has a deal with Foxconn, which will manufacture the Pear model at a Foxconn factory in Lordstown, Ohio. The plant was previously the site of a General Motors production that was taken over from struggling startup Lordstown Motors Corp.
In Austria, Fisker targets production of 50,000 Oceans electric SUVs next year with a monthly production of 7,000 units. Fisker is currently in talks with Magna to increase capacity to 150,000 units.
