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Pope Francis Goes Green With All-Electric Popemobile From Fisker

The Pope is about to receive some electric papal power. Following a private meeting held on Thursday with His Holiness, EV startup Fisker has announced that it will build the Holy See an all-electric car.
The new electric popemobile based on Fisker Ocean 1 photo
Photo: Fisker
For those who don't know, a popemobile is the generic term given to custom-made vehicles used by the Pontiff during outdoor public appearances. Some of the most-used popemobiles have been produced by Mercedes, starting with the first Pope Pius XI in 1930. Since then, it has seen several redesigns and evolutions from different brands.

After the attempt made on Pope John Paul's life in 1981 when he was riding his popemobile through Rome, vehicles started to feature bulletproof glass and chassis. Change also followed with Pope Francis' efforts toward a more sustainable life. The latest eco-friendly car to join the fleet was a hydrogen-powered Toyota Mirai introduced last year.

Now, in accord with Pope's environmental concerns, EV maker Fisker is developing a new popemobile. This is gonna be the first fully electric vehicle to be received by the Pontiff, and it will be based on the Fisker Ocean, which the company aims to put into production next year.

It's a fully electric SUV that runs on an 80 kWh battery and has a range of about 250 to 300 miles (402-482 km). It also features a solar roof that should offer around 1,000 miles (1,600 km) of range per year. For the papal transport, the interior will sport eco-friendly materials such as carpets made from recycled plastic bottles extracted from the ocean.

While the design of Fisker Ocean is pretty much the same, for the Pope, the transport will be modified, and a glass dome will be added, thanks to which the crowd will be able to see His Holiness during his travels.

So far, the company has already shown the Pontiff the design of the new popemobile, and it plans to deliver the custom-made Fisker Ocean to Pope Francis next year.
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About the author: Florina Spînu
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Florina taught herself how to drive in a Daewoo Tico (a rebadged Suzuki Alto kei car) but her first "real car" was a VW Golf. When she’s not writing about cars, drones or aircraft, Florina likes to read anything related to space exploration and take pictures in the middle of nature.
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