With pricey electric car, Fisker eyes comeback

Henrik Fisker unveiled his $129,000 electric luxury car Tuesday, in a rebooted effort by the renowned auto designer to take on Tesla and others.

The Fisker EMotion, which made its debut at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, is part of a comeback effort for Henrik Fisker, a former BMW and Aston Martin designer whose first venture was halted in 2013 after selling only a few thousand vehicles.

This time, Fisker is pulling out all the stops for the vehicle, designed with butterfly doors and a sleek sportscar look, semi-autonomous driving, and a range of some 400 miles (650 kilometers) on a single charge.

The car, which is still two years from deliveries, "is a new take on the future of a luxury sedan," Fisker told AFP on the CES show floor.

Fisker said the features such as the extended driving range "will make even people sitting on the fence (about electric cars) look at it."

The new effort nonetheless faces an uphill battle in an industry where Tesla is showing rapid growth and other rivals from major automakers to startups -- including one other making a debut at the tech show -- are producing new electric cars.

Fisker is also working on its own battery technology aimed at improving range and speeding the charging time.

He said he hopes to have a charging system that can enable an extra 125 miles in nine minutes.

The company is also working on a solid state battery that Fisker said could achieve a full charge in one minute.

Like Tesla, Fisker is also working on a more affordable vehicle that would be priced around $40,000 after the Emotion. And it has designed a self-driving shuttle bus called the Orbit that could also launch in the next few years.

Partnering with Fisker is California-based technology firm Quanergy, which is developing the LIDAR used for autonomous driving.

The Emotion uses five LIDAR sensors integrated into the body and "it's the only LIDAR with no moving parts," said Quanergy CEO Louay Eldada.

The launch by Fisker's new company comes after a high-profile bankruptcy by Fisker Automotive.

Before launching his own venture and the ill-fated Fisker Karma, Fisker designed vehicles including the BMW Z8 and Aston Martin DB89.

China's Didi buys Brazil's 99 in new Uber challenge; BlackBerry, Baidu in autonomous vehicle deal
Beijing (AFP) Jan 4, 2018
Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing said on Thursday it had bought Brazil's 99 Taxis, opening another front in the Beijing-based company's global battle with Uber. Didi, which claims to be the world's leading mobile transportation platform with more than 450 million users, had become a strategic investor in 99 Taxis last January. It now will acquire the company outright along with it ... read more

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