Foxconn to build Fisker PEAR EV at former Lordstown Motors plant in Ohio – TechCrunch

Fisker Inc. and Foxconn said Thursday they will partner to build Fisker’s second all-electric model, the PEAR Urban Lifestyle EV, in Ohio now that Foxconn has purchased the former Lordstown Motors plant.

Production of the PEAR, an acronym for “Personal Electric Automotive Revolution,” is slated to begin in 2024, eventually ramping up to 250,000 units annually.

The announcement came hours after battery-electric truck company Lordstown completed a crucial $230 million deal to sell Foxconn the former GM Assembly Plant.

The agreement, signed days before a Saturday deadline, will allow Lordstown to remain in business and provide it with the money to build its first model, the all-electric Endurance pickup truck, there. Lordstown reported Monday a $90 million loss for Q1 2022.

Per the agreement, “Foxconn will use commercially reasonable efforts to assist with reducing component and logistics costs, and otherwise improving the commercial terms of procurement with suppliers, and the parties will work together to reduce the overall bill of materials cost of the Endurance,” Lordstown said in a filing Thursday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Foxconn, a Taiwanese electronics manufacturer, will also use the 6.2 million-square-foot facility to build the sub-$30,000, five-passenger PEAR crossover, the second model from EV maker Fisker.

“The PEAR will be a revolutionary electric vehicle that won’t fit into any existing segment,” Fisker Chairman and CEO Henrik Fisker said in a statement. “The exterior design will feature new lighting technology and a wraparound front windscreen inspired by a glider plane glass canopy, enhancing frontal vision.”

Fisker said its first-ever EV, the $37,499 Ocean SUV, is on track to begin production in Europe in November.

Meanwhile, Lordstown remains under investigation by both the SEC and the U.S. Department of Justice for allegedly misleading investors by inflating its production capacity and falsifying its book of pre-orders. The company went public in October 2020 through a $1.6 billion SPAC merger with DiamondPeak Holdings but has yet to produce a vehicle.

The company said it hopes by July to build a limited number of pre-production vehicles for testing, certification, validation, and regulatory approvals, and to demonstrate the capabilities of the Endurance to potential customers.