Fisker confirmed Thursday that production of its compact electric vehicle, the $29,900 Pear EV, will enter production in 2024 at the former GM plant in Lordstown, Ohio.
It’s not a niche affair, either. Fisker is going for volume with this one, with the aim to build a minimum of 250,000 units a year after the ramp-up, including some of the capacity at the mammoth plant good for at least 400,000 vehicles. Fisker also teased that the proprietary platform underpinning the Pear will be used for two additional models yet to be announced, with an agreement that will span at least one other assembly site.
The affirmation that the Pear is still on comes a day after the plant’s new owner, Foxconn—yes, the contract maker of the iPhone and other personal electronics—officially became an automaker. With completion of the plant’s sale to the Taiwanese company, otherwise known as Hon Hai Technology Group, it’s being readied for a production start of the Lordstown Endurance electric truck in the third quarter of the year. Foxconn is acting as a contract manufacturer for Lordstown, Fisker, and potentially others—including a joint venture and Foxconn’s own “open source” platform for EVs.
Henrik Fisker with Project PEAR EV
The teaser photo released with the confirmation Thursday (shown at the top of this piece) also marked the most unobscured look yet at the Pear, which has the potential to be a game-changing lean-and-green car that’s also electric. Given automakers’ tendencies to push higher in the market, the Pear promises to be a welcome affordable choice.
Considering the available $7,500 federal EV tax credit, the Pear would effectively cost less than $22,500 for many households.
Chairman and CEO Henrik Fisker pointed to new lighting technology and a “wraparound front windscreen inspired by a glider plane glass canopy, enhancing frontal vision.” Various features and tech solutions will also “change how we use and enjoy a vehicle in the city,” according to Fisker.
Before the Pear, Fisker will bring to market the Ocean, an electric crossover starting at $37,499 and made by Magna, in Austria. The Ocean is due for first deliveries at the end of 2022.
2023 Fisker Ocean
GM closed Lordstown in 2018, at the leading edge of its pivot to electric vehicles, allegedly because it wasn’t as flexible as some of the company’s other plants for producing a wide range of vehicle types. Over decades, it had produced mostly small, efficient cars, including the Chevy Vega, Cavalier, and Cruze. That said, GM spent $2.2 billion in converting its Detroit-Hamtramck plant to build only EVs, $2 billion in transitioning its Spring Hill, Tennessee, plant to EVs, and $4 billion to convert its Orion Assembly to produce models on the Ultium Platform. Plus, GM has a joint-venture battery plant with LG in Lordstown.
