- Fisker EV owners have a list of confirmed service points
- Bankruptcy continues, production or brand restart looking unlikely
- Owners will have to pay for some recall repairs, Fisker again says
Fisker owners in North America can rest a little easier this week knowing that they’ll have access to a network of approved service centers for their Ocean EVs.
The news comes Tuesday from the Fisker Owners Association (FOA) after months of “working to identify shops interested in providing service for previously stranded Ocean owners.”
Initially, the list of Fisker service points that can handle repairs, including recalls, includes 20 locations in the U.S. and three in Canada. The above link, which will be kept updated, notes that a list of service points in Europe is “in progress.”
One key to that, according to the FOA, was access to Fisker’s proprietary diagnostic tool, termed FAST, required to service the vehicles.
2023 Fisker Ocean One
It’s an uplifting piece of news that may help assure Fisker owners have usable EVs for years—with a little extra perseverance.
What’s still unclear is how deep owners will have to dig in for repairs—especially for safety recall repairs that are the manufacturer’s responsibility under federal law. Earlier this month a notice on the bankrupt automaker’s website suggested that owners would have to pay for recall repairs. After some pointed out the legal issues in that, Fisker quietly modified its language to again provide labor. Yet in another, more recent update of the same page, made on Sept. 23, Fisker now says that for the water pump issue and door handle safety recall “the customer will be responsible for the labor costs incurred to complete the repair(s).”
Although based in California, Fisker filed for bankruptcy protection in Delaware in June. It’s now well underway as a Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which was relatively good news for owners as it requires the company to keep operating in some capacity through the process, with a plan to repay creditors. In recent weeks there’s been a flurry of court documents as creditors request money owed, and as those Fisker assets that are free of liens and claims are approved for liquidation.
2023 Fisker Ocean One
The chances that we’ll ever again see production of the brand’s promising Ocean EV look very slim, given the nature of the EV’s birth, development, and production. It depended on Austria’s Magna Steyr as a contract manufacturer, though recall documents revealed Magna’s engineering bills weren’t fully paid. Fisker was in charge of coordinating software and various vehicle integration aspects. At the time of its bankruptcy, Fisker estimated liabilities at up to $500 million.
According to an Automotive News report last month, more than 800 owners have also retained Hagens Berman, the same firm that represented VW TDI owners and dealers in that automaker’s diesel emissions scandal.
