Fisker CEO Wants His EVs To Be Better Than Tesla's

Henrik Fisker remembers exactly where he was when he learned that Tesla  (TSLA) - Get Free Report CEO Elon Musk had finally acquired Twitter  (TWTR) - Get Free Report.

Fisker, founder, chairman and CEO of Fisker  (FSR) - Get Free Report, recalled that day in social media history during a Nov. 2 interview following release of the electric vehicle maker's third-quarter results.

"I was sitting on the toilet in Sweden in a hotel room when I saw the news," he said. "And I just said, 'I'm out, that's done.'"

Fisker. who butted heads with Musk in court back in 2008, pulled the chain on Twitter and let his followers know that he was taking his act over to Instagram.

Fisker Has 'A Lot of Cash in the Bank'

"I'm sure it's exciting but, you know I I don't feel like being in a platform that's owned by a competitor," he said. "It's just as simple as that."

"There were a lot of angry people that wanted to come after me and shoot me," Fisker continued, "but I said look, it's a free world and I think I should be allowed to join whatever social media platform there is."

He added that there is "no great perfect social media platform out there."

"I truly hope that maybe there are some young people out there with some energy that will start some new social media platforms," he said, "because, quite frankly, I think that the current ones are getting a little old."

As for his company's results, Fisker said he was feeling great, noting that "we've got a lot of cash in the bank."

Fisker Inc, reported a wider-than-expected loss of 49 cents a share, compared with a loss of 37 cents a share a year ago, and missing the FactSet target of 42 cents a share loss.

The loss promoted RBC Capital analyst Joseph Spak to downgrade Fisker to sector perform from outperform and slash his price target to $8 from $113.

Fisker shares closed at $7.82 on Nov. 3, a long way down from $21.16 on Nov. 8, 2021.

Still, the company said consumer demand remained strong, with reservations and orders for the Fisker Ocean SUV totaling over 62,000 as of October 3. 

Fisker Wants to Sell 'The World's Most Sustainable Vehicle'

In addition, the first drivable prototype for the Fisker Pear, the company's more affordable electric vehicle, is expected to be completed ahead of schedule. 

Fisker said the quarterly loss "means obviously that we're spending money on development and expansion and hiring people," 

"We are running two programs simultaneously," he said. "We're doing a lot of the Pear program internally and I would say the Ocean program in itself will be profitable next year- but don't forget we'll take that profit and put it back into the company for developing the Pear."

Fisker told his team "that we will not launch any car ever unless it has at least has four features that either nobody else have or are best in class."

Among other things, he said that at 350 miles, the Ocean has the longest range of any SUV across its price range. The vehicle also has a solar roof that charges the battery.

“We are the world's most sustainable vehicle,” he said. “We have gone out and done research and we haven't found anyone that has even close to the recycled and biodegradable material we have.”

The company confirmed its 42,400 Ocean production plan based on a four-stage ramp up and assembly plan from Nov. 17 to the end of 2023.

Fisker said the detailed production plan is unusual for a startup company because "when you look at other startups, they just say 'hey, we're going make this many cars next year,' and they don't really say how do we get there."

The company has gone into a great deal together with Magna, its manufacturer, and its suppliers to set up the four-stage ramp.

"You've got to have some sort of ramp up because you're going to have some suppliers-specifically in this environment-who may have difficulties to ramp up for whatever reason," he said, "and you better make sure you bring them along and adjust your pace to whoever is the weakest link."

Fisker said the company is launching both in Europe and in the U.S, at the same time, and "that is definitely a challenge because we've got to build up a delivery infrastructure,"

"It's easier for us to get available real estate, but scaling the team may be the biggest challenge," he said. "Although we have seen it becoming better, but it's always difficult to find great talent."

While many people talk of an impending recession, Fisker thinks we're already in one, noting that a "lot of companies have been taking advantage of the consumer by raising prices instead of raising production." 

"However I think some smart companies are starting to think 'if I increase production I can take a larger market share,'" he said, "so my expectation is that you're going to see increased production right down to toilet paper, where suddenly there's going to be enough and then you're going to see prices coming down."

"My opinion is that we're going to see a much better economy by mid-next year," Fisker said.