Henrik Fisker is a flawed genius. He helped create the incredible BMW Z8 roadster and the original X5 SUV. He was the production designer for the Aston Martin DB9 and V8 Vantage. But despite the beauty of the Karma sports sedan, his own Fisker Automotive company foundered. His latest venture, Fisker Inc, is now in financial difficulties too, having just filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. But is that because the vehicles aren’t any good? I spent a week with a Fisker Ocean to find out.
It’s no surprise that the Ocean is a mid-sized SUV like the Tesla Model Y and XPENG G6. That is the most popular car format currently. The Ocean is about the same length and width, but a bit taller. The design has more character than the Model Y, albeit with a distinct hint of Range Rover Evoque about it. The high front has a muscular quality. So far, so good.
Fisker Ocean: Options And Upsides
There are three versions of the Fisker Ocean currently available in the UK – the Sport, the Ultra and the Extreme. The Sport is front wheel drive with 275hp and a 71kWh battery, while the Ultra has dual motors delivering 536hp and a 106.5kWh battery. The Extreme, which I was testing, ups the power to 563hp. The most obvious external differentiating factor between each of these models is the sunroof. All cars have one, but on the Sport it’s fixed. With the Ultra and Extreme, it can be retracted, and on the Extreme, it’s a solar panel – one of the Ocean’s many unique features.
There is a variety of 22in wheels to choose from, or you can opt for 20in rims instead. There are 12 different point choices, and up to three interior upholstery variations, depending on whether you have the Sport, Ultra or Extreme. All these employ eco-friendly materials such as Alcantara, with no leather available. At first, I thought the seats were a bit hard, but after driving the Ocean for a few hours in one go, I changed my mind. They are quite supportive on long journeys. So Fisker provides a good basis of customization choice and driver comfort. Rear seat room is great for a couple of adults, too, and if you don’t have anyone in the middle seat, the back comes down to reveal a panel you can use to control the air conditioning in the rear.
There are some other unique touches with this car, too. The solar roof won’t mean you never have to charge, but it will prevent the car from losing much if left unattended for a long period (assuming it’s outside). One of the Ocean’s other party tricks, if you have a trim level above Sport, is California mode. Hold down a button above your head and all the windows will open, the sunroof will roll back, and even the rear window will drop, for maximum airflow as you drive. It has dual phone chargers, too. The rearview mirror is camera based, and although you can use it as a regular mirror, the view out the rear window is extremely limited, so the camera is a distinct improvement.
A little table surface pulls out from the dashboard for the front passenger, and another unfurls on an arm from the central console for the driver. The huge 17.1in infotainment screen has a nice trick up its sleeve. While driving, it sits in portrait mode, but you can also rotate it into landscape when stationary. This is great for the video entertainment features, which include YouTube and streaming services such as Disney+ (because Henrik Fisker hasn’t had a tiff with Disney), Apple TV and Amazon Prime. Spotify music playing is also supported directly. The screen will automatically return to portrait if you select drive, because it interferes slightly with the left-hand stalk when in landscape orientation.
Fisker Ocean: Unfinished Business
There are plenty of foibles, however. Strangely, the Ocean has no glovebox, although there is a secret compartment under the front passenger seat. The button for changing the power modes is very innocuous on the right-hand side of the steering wheel, amid the cruise control buttons, and you would never find it if you didn’t know it was there. The modes include Earth (Ocean’s pretentious name for Eco, which turns off the rear motor), Fun for everyday driving, and Hyper for maximum power.
The software is where the Ocean is most suspect, however. In theory, it’s packed with technology, but some features are currently missing and some that are there don’t work entirely as intended yet. For example, I found connecting my phone extremely hit or miss, and there’s no support for Apple CarPlay or Android Auto yet. I also found the cruise control unpredictable. This wasn’t because it was unsafe, but I found I couldn’t turn it on sometimes. On a long trip from London to Coventry and back, it worked for a bit and then resolutely failed to engage again. A few days later it was working once more. This is a shame for a car which (as I’ll detail in a bit) has exceptional potential for long-distance driving. Other reviewers had more severe problems, such as the inability to lock and unlock the car reliably and worrying warning messages, although I didn’t encounter these issues.
Rear luggage capacity is an area where the Ocean falls noticeably behind the market-leading Tesla Model Y, and indeed most SUVs in this class. The basic capacity with the rear seats up of 476 liters is decent but not outstanding. However, this only expands to 918 liters with the rear seats down, which is behind many compact hatchbacks. Even a Nissan Leaf offers more, although that’s without a flat surface. At least the rear seats have a 40/20/40 split, so you can drop the center section forward for a long item while still having two rear passengers. Also, while the rear cargo space is limited, the electrically released towbar enables the Ocean to pull 750kg unbraked and a considerable 1,820kg braked with the Ultra and Extreme, although this drops to 1,090kg for the front-wheel-drive Sport.
Fisker Ocean: Impressive Performance And Range
Both the Ultra and Extreme are seriously quick cars, taking 4.2 and 3.9 seconds respectively to reach 62mph. The Sport requires a much more pedestrian 7.4 seconds. In all cases, however, to get the headline figure you need to enable Boost mode, which overvolts the system and is only warrantied for use 500 times. You enable this in the menu system, with a countdown showing how many Boosts you have left. However, even without this, the Ocean Extreme is decidedly sprightly on the accelerator in Hyper or Fun modes. It’s certainly quick enough for a family SUV. You probably won’t want to jam your foot on the naughty pedal too hard in Hyper mode with passengers on board – they’ll not thank you for it.
Ride quality is decent, even on the 22in wheels of the car I drove. However, these are easy to damage on raised pavement curbs. Handling is adequate, but that large battery means the Extreme is around 2,500kg and the Ultra 2,400kg, while the Sport only weighs a little less at 2,300kg. This is a lot to haul round a corner, and you definitely feel body roll on twisty roads at speed. It’s also a little large for cramped British city streets, although the steering is light enough to make urban driving otherwise comfortable. Still, the Ocean sits imperiously at highway speeds, which feels like its most natural place.
This is because where the Ocean really wins out is its range, which is unsurprising considering how big the battery is. The 106.5kWh (net) capacity enables the Ultra to offer a class-leading WLTP range of 429 miles, with the more powerful Extreme actually raising this figure to 440 miles. The Sport version’s 71kWh (net) battery delivers a much less competitive 288 miles, which EVs with smaller batteries such as the Kia Niro EV or Hyundai Kona can beat.
On paper, the Extreme offers an efficiency of 4.1 miles per kWh, but when I drove from North London to Coventry and back, a round trip of 183 miles, I used 72% of the battery. That would equate to more like 2.4 miles per kWh, which isn’t very efficient, and that was with driving a fair proportion of the journey in the economical Earth mode, although generally I wasn’t being overly frugal in my driving style. That would still equate to a real-world range of 254 miles, which is very usable.
This is backed by competent charging. There’s 11kW AC, if you’re lucky enough to have three-phase power. The DC charging rate depends on the model, with the Sport maxing out at 200kW while the Ultra and Extreme go up to 250kW. Not the absolute best I’ve seen, but it will enable the Sport to go from 10 to 80% in 31 minutes, while the Ultra and Extreme can manage this in 35 minutes. Couple that with the real-world range, and you’d need a half-hour break every three hours of driving or so, which will be spot on for all but those who reckon they can “drive for 700 miles in one go”, towing a caravan.
Fisker Ocean: Incredible Discounts, If You Like Gambling
In the UK, base pricing is decent if not an absolute bargain. The Sport starts at £36,900 ($47,000), the Ultra at £50,900 ($65,000), and the Extreme at £57,900 ($74,000). But due to Fisker’s financial difficulties, at the time of writing the company is currently trying to clear its inventory to keep afloat, so has heavily discounted cars currently in stock. There’s £6,000 ($7,500) off the Sport, £12,000 ($15,000) off the Ultra, and a whopping £14,000 ($18,000) off the Extreme. That means you could pick up the Extreme car I tested for just £44,000. That’s Tesla Model Y RWD money, and you get a whole lot more performance and range with the Ocean Extreme.
Software bugs aside, the Fisker Ocean could be a credible car with some unique features. But it’s overshadowed by the problems the company is currently having financially. At the time of writing, the Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection means Fisker is on life support but still operational. At the discounted prices, the Ocean in all its forms is a bargain – particularly the Extreme. If you’re feeling lucky and want to bet on Fisker finding a buyer so it can fix the Ocean’s problems, it’s a steal. For those of a more cautious disposition, there’s always the Tesla Model Y.
