The popemobile is going all-electric thanks to Fisker

EV maker Fisker is building an all-electric popemobile based on its Ocean SUV. It plans to deliver the vehicle to the Vatican next year.

Fisker co-founders Henrik Fisker and Dr. Geeta Gupta-Fisker met with Pope Francis on Thursday to present their concept for a greener popemobile. It will have an all-glass cupola that will allow the pope to greet the public. Presumably, the EV will be armored and the glass will be bulletproof, as with popemobiles built by Mercedes-Benz.

Hybrid popemobiles have been built in the past, but this will be the first fully electric one. “The interior of the Fisker Ocean papal transport will contain a variety of sustainable materials, including carpets made from recycled plastic bottles from the ocean,” Fisker said in a statement.

Fisker aims to start production of the standard Ocean in November 2022. It remains to be seen whether the pope will get his EV before regular Ocean deliveries start. In any case, the electric popemobile is far more likely to actually exist than a solar-powered one Pope Benedict XVI wanted a decade ago.