Fisker Halts Its EV Production

Following recent reports that Fisker has been preparing for possible bankruptcy to opentoday the embattled automaker announced that it is ceasing all production of its electric vehicles.

“Fisker will suspend production for six weeks beginning the week of March 18, 2024, to align inventory levels and develop strategic plans and financing,” the company said in a statement.

Fisker further said that it has secured a funding commitment from an existing investor of “up to $150 million.” The money would be arranged in four phases, but there is no certainty; Fisker said it is subject to “certain conditions,” including the filing of the company’s 2023 Form 10-K, a detailed report filed annually by public companies about their financial performance.

WIRED asked a Fisker PR representative to expand on what exactly the “certain circumstances” are to secure new investment. They declined to provide additional details.

EV sales in the U.S. have declined more broadly, but Fisker has had a particularly tough run. Presumably, it lost a level of quality control when it outsourced manufacturing to Magna’s Canadian-based distributor. Additionally, Fisker seems to prioritize style over substance, as evidenced by the build and software issues of its Ocean SUV. These issues have fueled the opinion that in the automotive world there is no substitute for the experience gained from making cars for a century, as, say, BMW has.

Perhaps looking for a potential lifeboat, Fisker has also confirmed it is in talks with a “major automaker” for investment in the company, joint development of one or more electric vehicle platforms, and North American manufacturing. That company is reported Nissan, according to Reuters. However, it seems like these negotiations are far from complete, as Fisker’s statement also says “any transactions will be subject to the satisfaction of important conditions, including the completion of due diligence and the negotiation and implementation of specific agreements.”

WIRED tested the Fisker Ocean in July 2023 but, due to the incompleteness of the test car, it was left in the unprecedented position of not being able to issue an EV rating. Our Ocean test was plagued by creaky pedals, an inoperable California mode (where the EV drops all its windows and saves the windshield) forcing a switch to auto mid-test, and poor handling that was supposedly fixed by a software update. In short, too many features were missing or “coming soon,” making the Ocean SUV an EV we couldn’t properly rate.

Since its launch, the Bahari has been plagued by quality issues, with owners complaining of sudden power outages, key fobs and sensors, lids opening and brake problems.

Indeed, shortly after Fisker board member Wendy Greuel took her Ocean SUV, it lost power on a public road. Similarly, according to the cache of internal documents viewed by TechCrunch, Geeta Gupta Fisker, the company’s chief financial officer, chief operating officer, and wife of co-founder Henrik Fisker, faced a power freeze while running Bahari.

Fisker has a checkered history beyond the ocean. It was more than a decade ago when its unknown owner, formerly of BMW, Ford, and Aston Martin (where he was design director), presented a car bearing his name for the last time. The Karmaa range-extender sports GT, was ahead of its time in many respects, but was dogged by problemsincluding disaster Consumer Reports test and fire.

The current situation of the company seems to be bad. Fisker says that it has about 4,700 vehicles in its inventory, carried over from 2023 and including production in 2024, and believes that the value of the completed vehicle for this count is more than $200 million. Delivered 1,300 vehicles in 2024 and shipped 4,900 to customers in 2023.

In February, Fisker reported that it made $273 million in sales last year but was more than $1 billion in debt. It also warned that there were “significant doubts” about its ability to remain in business. The long pause in production seems to cast that doubt even further.