Another EV pick-up! Fisker Alaska ute teased again

There’s nothing like a new electric ute – the Fisker Alaska EV – to kick the new year off.

Fisker chief Henrik Fisker took to Twitter to tease the prospect that the Californian-based EV start-up could soon be taking on Tesla, Rivian, Lordstown, Bollinger and Hummer with an all-electric ute of its own.

The image showing the rear-three-quarter of a Fisker-badged ute has sports car-like sleek lines and sharp, angular features.

If the images are indicative of a production vehicle it suggests an electric pick-up more focused on going fast and carrying surfboards and mountain bikes rather than loads of dirt and bounding over boulders.

It’s not the first time Henrik Fisker has hinted he may be working on a ute; early in 2020 he briefly published an image of the rear-end of a pick-up truck emblazoned with the Fisker badge and the name “Alaska”, prompting many to speculate it was the early showing of one of three new Fisker models planned by 2025.

Fisker (the man) later deleted the image from his social media account, adding to the intrigue.

But in recent weeks he has been back on the teaser bandwagon, giving tantalising clues of upcoming models.

In December 2020 Fisker posted a close-up image of a headlight, claiming it was the company’s next new car.

“I just started designing our next vehicle!” the post said. “It’s going to be radical! Think PP!”

Exactly what Fisker is referencing with “PP” is unclear, although given the next day he showed another image of a ute truck called Alaska, there’s every chance at least one of the Ps could denote “pick-up”.

The Fisker Alaska would be one of more than a dozen electric pick-up trucks currently being developed.

As well as EV-specific start-up companies such as Fisker, the big brands that dominate large pick-up truck sales in America – including Ford and General Motors (through Chevrolet) – are promising electric utes imminently.

The latest Fisker Alaska teaser comes weeks after the company confirmed its production plans for the Ocean SUV.

Initial production will take place at Magna Steyr’s Austrian facilities late in 2022.

Known for taking on lower-volume manufacturing jobs, Magna Steyr is a production house that currently makes the BMW Z4 and Toyota Supra and has for a long time made the Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen off-roader.

“Our teams are fully engaged to enable the projected start of production in Q4 2022 and are working through a common set of program milestones,” said Frank Klein, president of Magna Steyr. “Our complete vehicle development approach is ideally suited to the Ocean program and its rapid development path to market.”

Henrik Fisker says the Ocean will have an advanced architecture called FM29 that is designed to provide the wide-stance proportions for the Tesla-rivalling SUV while also allowing for a battery that will provide upwards of 560km of EV range.

“Complementing the FM29 platform will be an EE architecture that includes features not previously seen in automotive applications – developed in-house by Fisker,” said Fisker.

“Our powertrain team is working to optimize the drive unit in deep collaboration with our cell provider to deliver the expected class-leading output we are projecting for the battery pack. Further, as a digital car company we are creating smarter methodologies in digital and master data management (MDM) that enable smart platform sharing across different vehicle models. This helps us to deliver a seamless customer experience, as well as expedite the globalisation of our supply chain and manufacturing.”