Fisker Weighs U.S. Manufacturing After Regulatory Change

The EV maker is taking steps to ensure its vehicles qualify for federal subsidies.

Newly passed federal legislation is poised to extend the nation’s long-standing subsidy for purchases of electric vehicles. But not just any EV will qualify. 

During tense negotiations over the sweeping bill, known as the Inflation Reduction Act, lawmakers inserted language to require that EVs and their batteries be made largely in the U.S. in order for buyers to get $7,500 back from their purchase.

Proponents of those provisions say they’re vital to making sure the growing EV sector develops a domestic supply chain, but the auto industry has warned that most currently available EVs wouldn’t meet those standards — and that a complex, global supply chain can’t be overhauled overnight.

Recent statements from one electric vehicle company, however, seem to indicate that the requirements could encourage more EV production in the U.S. — in a couple of years, at least.

Fisker, the startup luxury EV maker based in Southern California, is making its debut vehicle, the Ocean SUV, in Austria in partnership with contract manufacturer Magna International.

The company said it has reached out to its American customers to ensure they can still get the rebate on their pre-ordered Fisker vehicles, but Reuters reports that the company also announced it is looking at ways to manufacture its vehicles in the U.S. to make sure future models also qualify for the subsidy. Chairman and CEO Henrik Fisker said that could happen in 2024.

Fisker plans to introduce its vehicles to the American market beginning next year and ramp up production of the Ocean in the latter half of the year. The company says its U.S. models have already sold out.

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