Toronto, Ontario — In this weekly electric and autonomous vehicle report, a Delaware judge in the United States has ruled that Fisker won’t be forced into a Chapter 7 liquidation; while the University of Ottawa (uOttawa) has received provincial funding to help develop autonomous vehicle research.
Liquidation letups
Automotive manufacturer Fisker will reportedly not be forced into a Chapter 7 bankruptcy—which specifically provides for the liquidation of a debtor’s non-exempt property and the distribution of those proceeds to creditors.
This decision was made by a judge in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware last Friday.
The court’s ruling, originally sought by Fisker, will allow current Fisker management to remain in charge for some time as the operation of the company continues to wind down in the wake of ongoing financial struggle.
The company will specifically be allowed to liquidate its assets while continuing to work with Ocean owners to keep their vehicles functioning.
According to media reports, the revised liquidation plan is subject to a vote by all unsecured creditors. This specifically calls for the group that represents Ocean owners to have a voice in the sale of Fisker’s intellectual property, which includes the design and computer code needed to build and operate the vehicles. The owners will also require long-term access to Fisker’s cloud software, which the automaker uses to dispatch over-the-air vehicle software updates.
The automaker originally filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in June 2024.
“The owners strongly believe that Fisker owes them a responsibility to ensure that their vehicles are safe and operable, and the best way for Fisker to fulfill that promise is through a Chapter 11 process,” said attorney Daniel Shamah, who represents the Fisker Owners Association. “We can be sure that employees and the advisors who are helping the company do this remain on board.”
Self-driving support
The University of Ottawa has reportedly been awarded a million-dollar grant from the Ontario Research Fund—Research Excellence—to support the “Secure, Intelligent and Trustworthy Ecosystems for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles” (SITE-CAV) project.
According to Education News Canada, “led by Burak and Computer Science, uOttawa’s Faculty of Engineering, the project aims to accelerate the development and integration of connected and autonomous vehicles into Ontario’s transportation ecosystem.”
The project will specifically involve a collaboration with many leading industry partners across the province who will work to ensure that the project and research conducted aligns with industry needs that can reliably and practically be applied with the Canadian market.
Professor Kantarci commented that “this funding represents a significant milestone for our research team and highlights the importance of our work. We are committed to driving meaningful advancements in technology that will benefit not only our students and academic community but also society at large.”
Professor Kantarci concluded that “our work will not only advance technological research and development but also contribute to safer, more secure and efficient transportation systems, ultimately enhancing public safety and supporting the adoption of autonomous vehicle technologies.”
The project is set to commence in January 2025 at uOttawa’s Kanata-North campus at its Smart Commented Vehicles Innovation Centre.
