Electric Car Startup to Reopen Shuttered GM Plant

Fisker Automotive held a giant rally to celebrate the reopening of the Boxwood plant in Wilmington, Delaware. This plant, which was one of a few GM plants that was built specifically to export cars, falls in line with Fisker's business model of exporting more than half the cars they produce. Under GM, the Boxwood plant was used to build the Opel GT, which was translated into the Pontiac Solstice and Saturn Sky roadsters for the North American market. As both the Pontiac and Saturn brands were folded in GM's bankruptcy and majority ownership of Opel looks as if it will be in the hands of a Canadian parts company, this left over 400 trained workers without jobs. Henrik Fisker was drawn to the Wilmington facility due to its export-friendly design. Autoworker unions are currently in negotiations with Fisker to determine how hiring new workers, as well as former GM employees, will be handled.

Fisker's debut vehicle, the Karma, uses the same 2.0L turbocharged engine that GM used in the roadsters that the Wilmington plant previously built. To date, this GM engine is the most power efficient engine created in America (2.1hp per cubic inch). The high-performance Fisker hybrid mates this engine with an electric motor, allowing American expertise to be applied to the production of an $80,000 luxury sports car.

Joe Biden Attends Fisker's Wilmington Celebration

Vice President Joe Biden attended the celebration of the deal. "I refuse to believe that we will not once again lead the entire world in the manufacturing of automobiles," Biden told a crowd of more than 1,000, including scores of union workers. "This factory in Delaware, and the industry, are going to get back up off the mat."

This $18 million acquisition came after the Obama administration granted $528.7 million in loans to Fisker in order to develop vehicle production. This has earned the automaker the title "The Public Fisker" from critics, who state that the car maker is taking tax money to build $80,000 cars for an imaginary market. Fisker admits that it intends to export 55% of its vehicles. Fisker believes that the 50-mile electric only range will draw buyers to the Karma, which is heavier and less powerful than the $27,000 roadsters it is replacing.