Henrik Fisker is a famous car designer who created machines such as the BMW Z8 and the Aston Martin DB9 before he decided to have his own car brand. The Fisker Karma was a gorgeous car with flawed manufacturing. The enterprise failed, but the designer did not give up. In 2016, he founded his brand again and promised to make new electric cars. The Fisker Ocean delivery on May 5 in Copenhagen helped him shut up the doubters.
Fisker was born in Allerød, Denmark, which may help to explain why the first unit of his electric SUV was delivered to a Danish customer. Another reason for that is that the Ocean is manufactured in Graz by Magna Steyr, a manufacturing contractor that should not provide vehicles with the same flaws the Karma had. In his second attempt to have a car brand, the Danish designer decided to take care solely of the design and the solutions the vehicles will present.
The company's next car will be in the hands of Foxconn. The PEAR (Personal Electric Automotive Revolution) will be manufactured at Hon Hai's Lordstown factory, which it bought from Lordstown Motors in a deal that would still cover the production of the Endurance. More recently, the startup announced that the electric pickup truck would need a recall and that production should stop soon. When the ill-fated Lordstown Endurance waves goodbye, Foxconn should dedicate all its resources at its American factory to bringing the PEAR to life.
Photo: Fisker
Fisker is particularly happy about the Ocean's range. It stressed that the first car to reach a customer would run up to 701 kilometers (436 miles) because the buyer ordered it with 22-inch optional wheels. Should this Ocean One launch-edition model come with the standard 20-inch wheels and tires, it should deliver 707 km (440 mi) of range, the most any electric SUV sold in Europe can achieve so far. These numbers were obtained under the WLTP cycle, which presents better numbers than the EPA cycle. Fisker did not disclose the EPA numbers for the Ocean yet.
The company did great work with the Ocean in terms of aerodynamics. Being an SUV gives it a large frontal area, but Fisker kept it relatively low, with a ground clearance of 18 centimeters (7.1 in) with 22-inch tires. The standard 20-inch tires make the SUV a tad lower: 16.5 cm (6.5 in). That surely helped, but the design has more to do with the vehicle's efficiency.
Photo: Fisker
Achieving such a high range suggests the Ocean required a massive battery pack. Although it is not exactly small, its 113 kWh are 5 kWh short of the Lucid Air's battery pack for 520 miles of range under the EPA cycle. With the WLTP numbers, the Fisker Ocean can run 3.89 miles per kWh (6.26 km/kWh). The Lucid Air presents an energy efficiency of 4.4 mi/kWh.
Despite that, the Ocean is still a heavy vehicle. It has a curb weight of 2,433.6 kilograms (5,365.2 pounds), but the Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) is even more impressive: 2,974.4 kg (6,557.4 lb). The good news for those wondering about towing capacity is that the electric SUV can tow up to 1,820 kg (4,012.4 lb). The Ocean is 4.77 meters (187.8 in) long, 1.98 m (78 in) wide, 1.63 m (64.2 in) tall with 20-inch wheels, and 1.65 m (65 in) tall with the optional 22-inch set. The wheelbase is 2.92 m (115 in), and the luggage compartment can hold 476 liters (16.8 cubic feet) of cargo.
Photo: Fisker
Fisker released several more interesting technical specifications after delivering its first Ocean unit, including how long the BEV takes to reach a full charge. When plugged into a mode-3 charger (such as a wall box), the Ocean owner will have to wait 12 hours, while a fast charger can reduce the task to 33 minutes.
The company probably took into consideration that the electric SUV can have a maximum charging speed of 250 kW, so the fast charger should be able to deliver that. Fast chargers that work at lower charging speeds will naturally demand more time to complete the task. It is never recommended to fast-charge a battery pack to 100% because that may hurt the component in the long run. On top of that, fast charging above 80% of capacity is also slower, boycotting the whole goal of gaining time the process is all about.
Photo: Fisker
Now that Fisker showed the people who said it would not deliver a single car were wrong, it has a more significant challenge ahead. Detractors also said they did not expect Fisker Inc. to live for very long. That said, the famous designer now has to prove he can make his company flourish and resist the fierce competition environment the automotive industry is famous for presenting. Considering what the man has accomplished so far, that probably motivates him even more.
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