Time was when a the first time a new car got shown to the public was at an event called a reveal. Now, the industry likes to tease the public with photos that show only portions of an upcoming new car in what might be termed a pre-reveal. The Fisker EMotion electric car is getting just such pre-reveal treatment this week. The company has just released a photo of the front of the car to whet people’s appetites.
Henrik Fisker is a respected automotive designer who previously worked for BMW and Aston Martin, among others. His first attempt at designing an electric car resulted in the Fisker Karma. It was actually more of a hybrid with a 4 cylinder Chevy engine wedged in under the hood. When the Tesla Model S was introduced, sales of the Karma plummeted and the company went bankrupt. It has now re-emerged as Karma Automotive.
Henrik Fisker is back with an all new company, one he claims will make a fast-charging, long-range electric car that has no battery. Instead, it will employ graphene-based ultracapacitors. The technology breakthrough comes courtesy of Nanotech Energy, a UCLA research group that specializes in perfecting graphene energy storage devices.
“Graphene shows a higher electron mobility, meaning that electrons can move faster through it. This will charge a battery much faster,” says Lucia Gauchia, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering and energy storage systems at Michigan Technological University. “Graphene is also lighter and it can present a higher active surface, so that more charge can be stored.”
Jack Kavanaugh, formerly with Nanotech Energy, has now partnered with Henrik Fisker to form Fisker Nanotech. “The challenge with using graphene in a supercapacitor in the past has been that you don’t have the same density and ability to store as much energy,” Kavanaugh says. “We have solved that issue with technology we are working on. Altering the structure of the graphene has allowed them to improve the supercapacitor’s energy density.”
In addition to its cutting-edge electricity storage feature, Fisker says the EMotion will be lighter than a comparable car because it will feature a combination of aluminum and carbon fiber in its construction.
August 17 is now scheduled to be the day when the entire Fisker EMotion is revealed for all the world to see. We know the car will feature four butterfly doors. Fisker also says it will have a range of 400 miles. Deliveries are scheduled to begin in mid 2018.
Source: Inside EV
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