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Fisker Automotive has unveiled a prototype of its previously secret compact sedan project, formerly known as Nina, but now called the Atlantic.
The sleek four-door was scheduled to enter production this year at a former General Motors facility in Wilmington, Delaware, that Fisker purchased with the help of a $529 million Energy Department loan in 2009, but the schedule has been delayed after the company was cut off from the bulk of the loan after missing several milestones in the development of the extended-range electric car.
The Atlantic has a similar look look Fisker’s current offering, the $102,000 Karma, but on a smaller scale. The company says it is about the same size as an Audi A5. Long, wide and low with flowing lines and Fisker’s signature moustache grille, the four-seat four-door has hidden rear door handles that give it the look of a two-door coupe. A crisscross roof structure with glass panels offers improved headroom and lends an airy feel to the low-slung cabin.
Read: (Very) quick spin: Fisker Karma
Like the Karma, the Atlantic is driven by electric motors that draw their power from a combination of a battery pack and a turbocharged four-cylinder engine, supplied here by BMW. The gasoline engine works as a generator to provide additional power for improved performance and to fill in for the battery after it has been depleted. Fisker says the Atlantic will be offered in front and all-wheel-drive models.
Specifics on the Atlantic’s electric range, fuel economy and battery size have not yet been revealed, nor has the price, although Fisker has previously said that it was aiming to sell the car for around $57,400 before a $7,500 federal tax credit is applied.
At the event announcing the sale of the Wilmington factory to Fisker, Vice President Joe Biden said that a model of the car he was shown looked like “a four-door Ferrari,” and that coupe and crossover models were also in the works, confirmed at the time to FoxNews.com by company founder Henrik Fisker.
The company is currently seeking alternative private financing to put the Atlantic into production without using any additional federal funds. However, while the Delaware facility is its main choice to build the car, it says it is now considering other options in the wake of the loss of the Energy Department loan, including manufacturing the car at an overseas location.