Some big strategic decisions, however, have to be made at the top of the house, like where to make the vehicles and who supplies the batteries. The most important ones for me right now are timing and pricing.
The company is set to officially begin production of the Ocean on Thursday, November 17, as planned for over a year. That should give the company some credibility unlike Elon Musk’s track record at Tesla, where he repeatedly announced plans that didn’t happen when he said they would – or sometimes not at all – although it has generally worked out fabulously for him.
Still, that production start doesn’t mean the first of the Ocean’s more than 60,000 reservation holders will get their car in 2022: global sales approval is still weeks or months away.
I found it curious that the car is going into production with many key features coming later. Cruise control, for example, is a pretty basic offering that won’t be ready at launch. Other high-end features also won’t be released immediately, such as its Power Bank package for vehicle-to-home and vehicle-to-vehicle charging, which is expected to roll out in 2023 and 24, according to documents provided to reporters. here.
One factor, of course, is the need for these systems to function perfectly so as not to endanger drivers, passengers or neighbours. More strategically, Henrik Fisker explained, prioritizes outstanding features that would compel a purchase. (He’s not a big fan of cruise control himself.)
The world’s consumers, he argues, aren’t crying out for another car that does what all cars do. Its aim is to provide features you can’t find anywhere else: best-in-class battery life, 17.1-inch rotating screen, solar roof that helps charge the battery, plus dog windows in the back and the taco trays for the front passengers.
Another difficult decision: pricing.
It’s no secret that inflation is plaguing not just the US economy but the whole world – and perhaps nowhere more than in Europe, where war has made energy scarce and the dollar parity – euro made imports more expensive.
And the electric vehicle boom has sent the prices of key battery minerals skyrocketing – with years to come before new mining, processing and manufacturing can be ramped up.
Tesla raised prices. Ford has raised EV prices. Rivian raised prices – then quickly reversed the trend.
Henrik Fisker said he had promised customers to hold the line on prices until at least the first 40,000 vehicles produced – a threshold the company expects to exceed in the second half of next year. Geeta Fisker pointed out that the company has good cost control and hasn’t planned any lossy models – underpriced products that lose money in order to attract customer interest.
Including the money raised in the third quarter which essentially covered cash used in operations and investments, executives are confident they can successfully launch the first launch, find their footing in the market and earn enough to get through the introduction of his second project. model, pear, and beyond.
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