Fisker Owners Left High and Dry After Company’s Bankruptcy

Some Fisker EV owners are struggling to keep their cars running after the company went bankrupt. With the company laying off most of its workforce and winding down operations, it looks unlikely that many of the issues will be addressed.

Fisker Ocean

Fisker owners are now finding themselves stuck with slowly falling-apart vehicles. One owner compared his car to a “lawn ornament,” and another was charged $5,000 for a loaner car.

“They never had enough customer service personnel, but it’s gotten so much worse as they’ve gotten into more trouble. No question about that,” said one owner.

Fisker’s chief restructuring officer told the bankruptcy court the company had around 179 employees at the start of July but is looking to reduce its headcount to around 138.

Fisker Logo

Per court documents, Fisker has sold its remaining fleet of Fisker Oceans to New York-based rental firm American Lease for $46 million and plans to use some of that money to pay its remaining employees.

A Lawn Ornament

One Fisker Ocean owner, who got his vehicle in November 2023, is still waiting to fix a battery problem that made it unusable in April.

“Currently, it’s parked in my driveway,” he said. The car can’t be locked because the 12-volt battery and high-voltage battery have been disconnected. It’s literally a lawn ornament right now.

“I have a car loan for five years for $70,000, so I am paying for a brand new vehicle that I cannot drive,” he said.

Broken Fisker Ocean

Customers Paying the Price

For some Fisker customers, the issues with their vehicles have left them borderline undriveable.

One New York-based Fisker owner told BI that he and his wife had been unable to fix their Ocean’s AC after their local service center told them it was no longer working with Fisker, leaving their car unusable in New York’s summer heat.

“If it breaks, then I don’t know what we would do. It kind of sounds silly, but we wouldn’t be too upset if someone came and just stole it,” they said.

Software Struggles

Part of the reason Fisker vehicles are difficult to fix is that repairing the software-heavy cars often requires access to a proprietary software tool developed by Fisker, known as FAST.

“What is needed to actually help keep customers keep their cars that they purchased on the road is to give them access to software,” said a former Fisker employee.

“The problem [with the EV industry] is a lot of the software is privatized,” he said. “The challenge is that the software is locked up by Fisker, as with every manufacturer.”

Fisker Software

The former employee said that he hoped to get certified as a mobile technician to help Fisker owners fix their vehicles.

“It does nobody any good having these energy-efficient and eco-friendly vehicles parked as a paperweight in their driveway,” he said.