Fisker on Tuesday unveiled the first of four different accessory packages its Ocean SUV can be ordered with when (if?) it reaches production late next year. The 300-horsepower electric SUV, which starts at $US37,499 ($58,231), will come standard with rear wheel drive, but all-wheel drive models can be spec’d up into this Force E package ostensibly designed for off-road rescue and military work. Will we see a peacekeeping fleet of these in white on the nightly news?
On top of the standard Ocean, the Force E package gets a beefier lifted suspension setup, proper off-road wheels and tires, auxiliary lights, a brush guard, extra tow hooks, a front skid plate, a roof rack, a junction box on the back to plug in power tools and rescue-charge stranded EVs, a simplified rugged interior, and a full-sized spare mounted into the hood. Perhaps my favourite part of this package is that the front trunk is replaced by a huge food-grade tank used to transport drinking water with a spigot in the front bumper. It’s like the Land Rover Defender of the future.
It makes sense for a small company like Fisker to aim for large international contracts like various military forces and the United Nations, or even police and fire forces all over the world, because those will be big lucrative contracts that could be responsible for hundreds of new vehicles sold. Especially in the current economic climate, the only people with enough money to buy new vehicles are governments anyway.
It’s possible that some of these massive contractors would want the lower operating costs of running an electric off-roader, but as an unproven quantity, will Fisker be able to provide the kind of quality and reliability off-road to take on the likes of Land Rover and Toyota?
If this does become the truck of record for a major international peacekeeping organisation, that could help Fisker get the word out about its new Ocean. Though maybe it doesn’t need any help with that, as it says it has 22,000 potential customers from 116 different countries, with a majority of paid reservation holders here in North America.
The Fisker Ocean Force E is just the first of four accessory packages, though we have no word yet on what the other three will be. Fisker says it will release further information on these additional options later this year. In the meantime, this one is pretty bitchin’. I’m not usually one for off-road vehicles, because they typically suck down gas much faster than I’d like, but if we can combine electric with off-road, it will certainly appeal much more to me.
H/T: insideevs