Federal safety regulators have launched an investigation into Fisker’s first electric vehicle over braking problems.
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Office of Injury Investigation (ODI) issued a statement that investigates Fisker’s Ocean SUV loss of braking performance. The agency is focusing on nine complaints about the issue so far, including one incident involving an accident and an unspecified injury.
A Fisker spokesman declined to comment.
The investigation comes as the company faces lower-than-expected demand and a failure to meet internal sales targets, which TechCrunch exclusively reported earlier this month.
Fisker said last month it delivered about 4,700 SUVs worldwide in 2023. The EV startup, which went public in 2020 through a merger with a special-purpose buyout firm, began shipping the first Ocean SUVs in June, about six months after contract manufacturing partner Magna Steyr began building the vehicles. The launch of the SUV was delayed in part because its software was not ready at the time.
Since hitting the roads, owners have filed 19 complaints with NHTSA for issues ranging from brake loss and shifter problems to the driver’s door failing to open from the inside and two cases of the vehicle’s hood suddenly flying off the highway .
NHTSA says the Ocean can experience “a partial loss of braking on low-traction surfaces, without alerting the driver,” which “results in a sudden increase in stopping distance,” according to braking complaints reported by ODI, which were submitted between October and December. 2023. The complaints also refer to problems with the Ocean’s regenerative braking.
The crash complaint was filed in November. The owner reported that they were driving from Washington, D.C. to Richmond, Virginia in slightly rainy conditions when another car drifted into their lane, according to the complaint. The owner said in the complaint that the Ocean’s brake “vibrated and felt more plastic than rubber” and that the car skidded “like the tires were cut.” The low-speed crash was mild enough that neither driver filed a police report, but the complaint says the other driver has since filed an injury claim with the owner’s insurance office.
There are four different ones types of research that ODI can open: Defect Request, Preliminary Assessment, Recall Question and Technical Analysis. NHTSA says it works to complete defect reports in four months, preliminary assessments and recall inquiries in eight months, and engineering analysis investigations in 18 months. The agency characterized the Fisker survey as a preliminary assessment.
