An Indian Origin businesswoman abandons her company’s effort to create solid state batteries- Find out who she is
Geeta Gupta-Fisker, an Indian origin businesswoman and her husband, Henrik Fisker founded Fisker Inc., an American electric vehicle automaker, that launched in 2016 and is based out of Southern California.
A while back they had embarked on the challenge to perfect solid-state batteries. This was accomplished with the help of his wife, co-founder and Fisker Inc. CFO Geeta Gupta-Fisker. “We have very different styles of working. I would almost say it’s a right-brain/left-brain-type segregation,” Geeta told Forbes. “Right brain is the creative side, so that’s Henrik. The left side is the data-driven analytical brain. That would be me.”
However, their business seems to be coming to a close. Henrik Fisker has abandoned his electric vehicle startup’s effort to create a solid-state battery, the Fisker Inc. founder told The Verge in a recent interview.
“It’s the kind of technology where, when you feel like you’re 90% there, you’re almost there, until you realize the last 10% is much more difficult than the first 90,” he said. “So we have completely dropped solid-state batteries at this point in time because we just don’t see it materializing.”
Fisker’s decision to axe the solid-state program comes after his startup spent its first few years working to develop the technology. In 2018, he said the company had solved some of the problems related to making solid-state batteries, and that it was just a few months away from a final design. By early 2019, though, the startup postponed a planned sports car that was based on solid-state technology and pivoted to the Ocean, which uses a more common lithium-ion battery.
Fisker estimates that the Ocean will be able to travel up to 300 miles on a single charge of its 80 kWh battery pack. The company says that the platform used for the Ocean can support an ultra-long-range battery option that can potentially give the SUV a range of 350 miles on a single charge.
Solid-state batteries haven’t been much of a focus during Fisker’s many media appearances in the time since he unveiled the Ocean. But he’s never been more clear. “I think personally, they’re at least seven years out, if not more, in terms of any sort of high-volume format,” he said.