Fisker Considers U.S. Ocean Production Amid Shakeup In EV Tax Credit

Fisker Inc., a Los Angeles-based electric vehicle startup planning to deliver European-built SUVs late this year, is looking into adding a U.S. production site for its Ocean model now that changes to federal EV tax credits give preference to those assembled at domestic plants.

The Ocean SUV is expected to go into production in November at a plant in Austria that can produce 50,000 of the vehicles annually. Fisker says it may need a U.S. production base for future demand because of the high reservations for the model. The company insists that the loss of tax credits for its customers isn't a reason for the move.

Fisker said that they already considered U.S. manufacturing for the ocean before the act. Local production makes sense if you sell more than 50,000 in a region. I think we should sell 50,000 in the U.S. market in four years.

Until this week, all new electric vehicles were eligible for a $7,500 tax credit, regardless of where they were built, but the limit was raised to 200,000 vehicles per manufacturer. Fisker, Rivian and Lucid were hoping to take advantage of the program after companies such asTesla and GM used up their credit. The credit is only available for vehicles made in the U.S. Only families with a maximum gross income of $300,000 or more can be eligible for the credit.

The base price of the Fisker Ocean is $37,500, with top-end versions going for more than $70,000. The majority of Fisker's sales are expected to come from the US.

The Ocean would be one of the cheapest electric SUVs on the market if it were eligible for the tax credit. The electric version of GM's small SUV will be priced from $30,000 and will be eligible for tax credits. After the credit, that model should be even more affordable.

Fisker isn't building its own plants. Fisker wouldn't say if the US would be its partner for the ocean.

He said that they had not decided or released information on the specifics. The strategy is being worked on by the senior VP of manufacturing.

The company said last month that it had sold out of the first 5,000 units of its Fisker Ocean One, the version that goes into production in November, and now expects to have 80,000 reservations by the end of the year.

The shares of Fisker fell in the afternoon.