Fisker is negotiating an agreement with Volkswagen to allow him to use the German giant’s MEB electric modular platform in his new electric SUV, the Ocean. The prototype shown during the last CES was already built on this architecture, which shows that the talks are well advanced.
The MEB platform is a skate-board type architecture (flat batteries on the bottom, electric motors on the axles) designed by the Volkswagen Group not only for its brands but also for other manufacturers who want to develop their electric cars without having to face the high investment of creating a platform from scratch.
The original prototype of the Fisker Ocean was built by Italdesign, the Italian design house belonging to the Volkswagen Group, to check to what extent a small startup like Fisker can differentiate the design of an electric car sitting on the MEB platform.
At the moment, the companies have not reached a definitive agreement. “Volkswagen is still open to supporting projects that demonstrate the variety of conceivable concepts on the MEB platform […] the Audi Italdesign subsidiary has used the MEB platform as the basis for the development of the Fisker Ocean SUV. However, a final decision on possible cooperation with Fisker to implement an on-going project has not yet been made,” a Volkswagen spokesperson said.
Fisker signed a memorandum of understanding with Volkswagen in November 2017 and a collaboration agreement in December 2018. The final deal with costs, production capacity, and the final schedule are expected to be signed in July 2020. The supply and manufacturing agreement will be closed in the second half of the year.
If an agreement is finally reached, Fisker will build 50 to 100 pre-production units by the end of 2021, starting serial production in late 2022. Besides, the company also wants to take advantage of the MEB platform to launch two other electric models, according to documents shown to investors.