ROME – An electric SUV for the Holy Father. The promise comes from Henrik Fisker, a Danish entrepreneur with an American passport and designer of Ocean, a powerful zero-emission sport utility that should go into production next year. Well, the new popemobile will be based on this SUV, of which Fisker has already presented some renderings to Francesco during a private audience in the Vatican City.
“I was inspired by reading that Pope Francis is very attentive to the environment and the impact of climate change for future generations,” explains Fisker. “The interior of the car will contain a variety of sustainable materials, including carpets made from recycled plastic bottles from the ocean.”
The Ocean will be built at the Magna-Steyr factory in Graz, Austria, where the Mercedes-Benz G-Class, Jaguar I-Pace and E-Pace, and the BMW Z4 / Toyota Supra twins are currently built. The new SUV promises 480 km of autonomy and a total power of 300 hp thanks to the use of two electric motors, one for each axle. Like any self-respecting popemobile, this one will also have a large glass dome able to offer accessibility and visibility to the Pope during his public outings. And it will be the first fully electric papal transport on which a Pope will travel. (fp)
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