Fisker Ocean review: ouch

[White Shadow]

Around here it was 15 and 8 months way back when. No idea what it is now. If I were to believe a lot of the mainstream news articles that come across my feed, "kids these days" don't care so much about getting licenses anymore, as we did way back when.

Yup, that seems to be how it is these days....lot of kids are in no hurry to get a driver's license. For me, I had my permit on my 16th birthday. I had my driver's license six months later, almost to the day. It was a sense of freedom for me to be able to hop in a car and go wherever I wanted/needed to go.

Sponsored

 

[NY_Rob]

Around here it was 15 and 8 months way back when. No idea what it is now. If I were to believe a lot of the mainstream news articles that come across my feed, "kids these days" don't care so much about getting licenses anymore, as we did way back when.

They also don't care about owning a vehicle... till life catches up with them

 

[Dark-Fx]

Fisker's main issue at this point is not the car, not the software... it's support!

"Support" basically ghosts everyone (owners, body shops, insurance co's, etc..) so if you need anything (like you bent a rim and need a replacement, new windshield, etc..) you're waiting months and even then still no response from Fisker. Owners Ins co's have totaled cars with very little damage because Fisker is just unreachable for even a parts estimate no less actually procuring the actual parts needed.

IMO support is likely overworked because of the amount of software issues. Most of them can't truly be fixed without software updates (my camera happened to work just fine on my lunch break where it didn't work this morning). I think they are probably having issues sifting through tickets that they can't do anything about versus ones they can. But they do seem to prioritizing things that make the vehicles undrivable. If someone experiences a repeated "permanent" hard failure, it's time to put a ticket in. Otherwise you're wasting your time. I'll admit I am much more forgiving than the average consumer really should be here, but I also don't like shouting at brick walls either.

I didn't have issues getting my vehicle serviced when I had an issue, but I pushed on them because it was basically undrivable. Low battery coolant caused it to go into a limp mode that was barely adequate to get the vehicle off the road. Tech said I wasn't the first person he'd dealt with that had the issue. Several others have had a similar problem that was the result of a bad pump instead of bubbles in the battery from manufacturing. Could get about 30 seconds of driving until it'd fail and basically just coast down. Until getting out of the vehicle, locking, unlocking, and driving again. Of course the car doesn't tell you what's actually wrong. (ignore all the telltales, most of them were just there because of the power-on-self-test, but the error message was real)

I drove back to work and let the vehicle sit in the parking lot. Arranged service and took an uber home. Tech was out that same week and drove the vehicle back to my house after "fixing" it. The issue hasn't returned but I've got the tools to get under the hood (stupid design decision, Henrik), and the coolant to top it off again if needed. Fun fact about my Tech, he came from Rivian and said he vastly prefers working for Fisker. I didn't ask him to elaborate.

Fisker was also struggling with registration and title work for a while (gee who else had issues with that, I wonder). I'm still waiting on my title but my plates have come. Another one of those problems that I would have just been mildly annoyed by as the vehicle sat in my driveway if they didn't get things done in time.

I'd definitely not recommend, today, that anyone buy a Fisker if it's going to be their only car. Or regularly get into a position where they couldn't tolerate it being undrivable. 2.0 might change my feeling on that but they have a long way to go to catch up to the reliability that the Rivians have today.

But it's still a fun car to drive, and the open-airiness of having all the windows down and roof open is something I've been missing since I traded my Camaro in on the Polestar. It just needs to get warmer here.

 

[RWerksman]

Fisker's main issue at this point is not the car, not the software... it's support!

"Support" basically ghosts everyone (owners, body shops, insurance co's, etc..) so if you need anything (like you bent a rim and need a replacement, new windshield, etc..) you're waiting months and even then still no response from Fisker. Owners Ins co's have totaled cars with very little damage because Fisker is just unreachable for even a parts estimate no less actually procuring the actual parts needed.

If true, that's absolutely crazy.

 

[HighVoltOverland]

I'd like to see an ocean vs Vinfast video, if this really is a race to the bottom

 

[gingerjet]

I think MKBHD's review just speaks to his inexperience. Had Fisker actually loaned him a vehicle, they'd probably make sure he was knowledgeable or at least aware of all of the features. It's probably his modus operandi, and he stumbled working outside of it. I typically want my reviewers to be experts about the vehicle and to point out things that I might've overlooked. I don't want to watch a car reviewer doing a "Whose slide is it anyway" style review.

You didn’t actually watch the video did you?

 

[Dark-Fx]

You didn’t actually watch the video did you?

What makes you think that exactly?

 

[FrankieJ]

He is usually fairly forgiving of idiosyncrasies and minor glitches. Sounds like the software is relatively crappy. He drove an early release Rivian also and didn’t say its software was utter crap. At end of video he said he hoped they worked things out and he said he was rooting for them. I’ve found his reviews to be decent.

As an owner, yeah, there are definitely some software issues. Rivian had quite some problems super early on as well. Most of the glaring ones were fixed in the first several months.

But to call it the worst car he's ever driven means he really hasn't driven many cars.

I have owned by R1T since March of 2022 so almost 2 years. While there was a need for added features that have been accomplished through monthly updates the software that came with it was just fine. A responsive screen and not glitchy so I wouldn’t say the experiences are comparable.

 

[Herb]

We have two Fiskers as company cars. Both had to go on a flatbed to go Maryland. This was after a tech came out to change the 12 V battery, which drained again almost immediately again and would not recharge. The other one went into eternal limp mode. Probably about 6 weeks between opening the tickets and getting the cars back. They did provide rental cars. Range is dismal, opened another ticket. I wouldn't say service is ghosting, they seem overloaded, but trying. Their paperwork/title process is still a mess. Fisker should have done a lot more reliability testing and build up service before sending them across the pond- this could sink them again, which would be a shame, because the bones, overall build quality and driving experience seem good.

 

[rraj2k81]

This review is a big miss by MKBHD. I like MKBHD as a reviewer as he is good at making videos but his reviews can sometimes be a hit or miss.

He pretty much nitpicked the car and then summaried it as the worst car, especiall after saying its 'fundamentals are solid'. It drives nice, it's comfortable, quiet and good looking, has a solar panel for charging, good interior space and then calls it the worst car.

His biggest complaint was the software, which start up BEV maker has gotten the sotfware right at launch, no one !

Heck he was not even aware of the rotating screen, which was the centre point of this car when the embargo was lifted and people started reviewing it.

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

As an owner, yeah, there are definitely some software issues. Rivian had quite some problems super early on as well. Most of the glaring ones were fixed in the first several months.

But to call it the worst car he's ever driven means he really hasn't driven many cars.

You'd think, by now, the public would have learned to take influencer reviews with a good dose of salt? Ad algorithms award publishers based on number of views. And what generates views? controversial content. These influencers can claim independence all they want. But they are not truly independent when they are paid and motivated by number of impressions and site traffic. They can only be fully impartial if they don't make a single dime.

 

[NY_Rob]

We need to have Project Farm guy test EV's...

"This EV claims 301 miles range... we're gonna test that!"

 

[Chrisy]

@Dark-Fx : I am stupid enough not being able to figure out how to DM you on this forum so I need to put it here: Wasn't it you in your Fisker Ocean yesterday bit before 3pm at South B/Opdyke?
I was turning the opposite way in my silver R1T

 

[Dark-Fx]

@Dark-Fx : I am stupid enough not being able to figure out how to DM you on this forum so I need to put it here: Wasn't it you in your Fisker Ocean yesterday bit before 3pm at South B/Opdyke?
I was turning the opposite way in my silver R1T

Nope, wasn't me. I think I have seen that one driving around as well though.

 

[Chrisy]

Nope, wasn't me. I think I have seen that one driving around as well though.

How about 8 mile / Woodward Tesla supercharger station today around 1:30pm
(lately I started to see FIsker Oceans around me and I always assume it is you )

Sponsored