We’ve been tracking the evolution of the Fisker Ocean all-electric SUV for some time. Only now are we interested in featuring it because we just feel something isn’t quite right about the whole venture. That and because we’re lazy journalists. Anyway, the Fisker Ocean, it’s the brain-child of Henrik Fisker the start-stop-start and eventually permanently stopped automotive industrialist. Henrik Fisker is well known for his time designing Aston Martins.
But unusually for an automotive designer, he turned from designing cars to manufacturing them. He set up Fisker Automotive in 2007 and a year later the Fisker Karma was revealed. The Karma was the world’s first luxury plug-in hybrid. The company was declared bankrupt in 2014 and only 2,450 Karma’s were built.
Fast forward to 2016 and Fisker Inc was established, it’s mission, to become a mass-manufacturer of pure electric cars. On March 18, 2019, Fisker Inc. reveals the Fisker Ocean. Or rather it’s an announcement with a nice sketch to divert attention that perhaps not all is well behind closed doors. And as of today the Fisker Ocean goes on sale, starting price of $37,000 USD.
The problem is Fisker Inc never showed a physical production-ready model until January 5, 2019. The Fisker Ocean is expected to have a 250- to 300-mile range with an 80 kWh battery and a solar panel roof as a range extender, adding approximately 1,000 free miles of range per year.
Advanced electronics include the air conditioning unit, which will be housed under the hood. The Fisker Ocean will be a sustainable vehicle incorporating recycled materials throughout, some of which include carpeting made from recycled fishing nets and interior textures from recycled polyester.
Fisker Inc claims to be developing solid-state batteries, however, the technology is still many years away from evolving from a laboratory experiment. How many Oceans will Fisker Inc make? 2,450? 20,000? 200,000? That is unknown.
How many Fisker Oceans are ever made will only be known if there is demand. You can reserve the Fisker Ocean with a $250 deposit. Although you have to admire Fisker’s entrepreneurship I think it’s best to wait and see what happens because something doesn’t feel quite right about all of it.
