Fisker Ocean One Buyer Shares His Ownership Experience, There's Room for Refinement

Fisker may not be that well-known today, but this brand has what it takes to rise to the challenge of being among America's most successful automotive entities. Its first product is an all-electric compact crossover envisioned by the same man who designed the famous BMW Z8 and the Aston Martin DB9. That alone is enough to pique the interest of many.

Even though the brand's name is tied to the failed Fisker Karma and its bankrupt maker, the new company established in 2016 stands as proof that learning from your mistakes is an excellent way of achieving success.

Besides these two positives, this smallish SUV is made at the same factory in Graz, Austria, where the Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen is manufactured. That is reassuring for people worried about production mishaps and quality assurance troubles.

But probably the best thing about the Fisker Ocean is that it addressed the biggest concern regarding EVs – real-world range. The 113-kWh battery pack, the efficient motors, and the SUV's aerodynamic body help it achieve an EPA-estimated range of 360 mi (579 km).

But now that the crossover is reaching customers, some are taking their time to share a couple of aspects of the ownership experience. One buyer who spent over $68,999 and just got his Fisker Ocean One (the sold-out and limited-edition trim that put nearly everything on the vehicle) decided to do just that.

He says that he loves the overall look of the Ocean One and claims the handling and performance are good, but underlines there are a couple of quirks "here and there."

Charging was one of the first challenges. He tried finding the right screens to allow the vehicle to start sucking electrons from the grid, but the proper menus to set everything up weren't easily accessible. Plus, he was met with all sorts of new symbols that appeared on the dashboard and disappeared after a while. Reading the manual might have helped, but keep in mind that this is a hot take, not an in-depth analysis.

Setting up Spotify was also challenging, but putting the SUV's Hyper mode to work made him forget about it. After trying again, he connected to the music streaming service and took advantage of the 16-speaker sound system and the free internet connection.

He intends to track all these issues and discuss them with Fisker so that they can be addressed via future over-the-air software updates.

Getting used to all the controls also seems slightly complicated since some aren't intuitively set up. Opening all the windows (including the lift gate one) via the "California Mode," for example, requires some getting used to.

Nonetheless, the man says the Ocean One is "a good car" and has met its expectations "so far."

At the end of the day, it's pretty easy to consider becoming an early adopter when the cheapest version of the vehicle costs $37,499. In today's car market, that's a great pre-tax price. Besides that, the Ocean comes with six years or 60,000 miles of basic warranty and roadside assistance, ten years or 100,000 miles of powertrain and battery warranty, and 12 years (with no mileage restriction) of corrosion warranty.