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Fisker Automotive and the US Department of Energy (DOE) closed a previously announced $528.7 million loan for the development and production of two lines of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV).
Fisker, a startup based in southern California, expects to manufacture
the vehicles at a recently shuttered General Motors
factory in Wilmington, Delaware. Fisker anticipates that it will create
2,000 cleantech jobs at the plant. Industry experts expect that domestic
parts suppliers and service providers also will increase employment
substantially.
The two vehicles include the Karma, a full-size, four-door sports sedan, and a line of family oriented models being developed under the company’s Project NINA program.
Fisker’s plug-in hybrid products will be among the first to market, and when full production is reached in 2015, Fisker estimates annual sales at up to 115,000 vehicles.
Combining Fisker projected sales volume with the expected sales volume of the Nissan Leaf and the Tesla Model S, sales of electric and PHEVs funded with DOE ATVM loans could exceed 300,000 annually, DOE said.
Initially, Fisker Automotive will use the proceeds of the loan for qualifying engineering integration costs. The engineering integration work will be conducted in Irvine, California, where engineers will design tools and equipment and develop manufacturing processes. The Karma is scheduled to appear in showrooms in late 2010.
The second stage will involve the purchase and retooling of the former GM plant to manufacture the Project NINA line of PHEVs, which is expected to begin rolling off the assembly line in late 2012.
US lithium-ion battey maker A123 Systems (Nasdaq:AONE) has signed an agreement to supply batteries to Fisker.
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