2012 Fisker Karma Eco Standard Sedan * Only 6,604 Miles * 403hp Hybrid on 2040-cars

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Almost $1 billion in claims filed against bankrupt Fisker

You may have scoffed when the US Department of Energy sold the rights to its $168 million outstanding Fisker Automotive loan to Hybrid Tech Holdings last December for just $25 million, or about 15 cents on the dollar. It turns out that might be the going rate for anyone with claims against the bankrupt extended-range plug-in maker, though. That's because Fisker, which declared bankruptcy in November, has generated $985.4 million in claims from 618 not-so-happy parties, Delaware Online says, citing a bankruptcy filing from last week. Fisker stopped making its sporty but troubled Karma in mid-2012. Wanxiang America won an auction for Fisker's assets, including its Delaware factory, for $149.2 million. That leaves $836 million, or about 85 percent of the collective value of the claims against the company. Naturally, Hybrid Tech Holdings, which was beaten out by Wanxiang in the bidding for the assets, has jumped in line to see if it can make good on what was formerly that DOE loan. The state of Delaware, where Fisker had acquired an old General Motors factory, is seeking $20 million stemming from some incentives it provided up front. And Finland's Valmet Automotive wants $8.5 million for its work with the company. Former Fisker employees say the company is on the hook for another $6 million, and none other than General Motors itself is claiming it is owed the same amount. Then there is the lawsuit we first heard about in December that was filed against Fisker and some of its executives who were collecting hefty paychecks while no cars were being produced. Add it all up and you get almost a billion dollars. Good times.

Fisker electric SUV named Ocean, and it'll have an app-based lease

Veteran car designer and Fisker chairman and CEO Henrik Fisker has done much teasing of his new electric crossover, and now it has a name: the Fisker Ocean. We like it, if we’re being honest. In the Fisker brandÂ’s previous iteration, during the era of the Karma, it had at one point planned a vehicle called the Atlantic, and we dig the marine theme. WeÂ’ve also got a few clear photos of the Fisker Ocean showing off its front and rear, as well as a look at its solar roof. On the tailgate, we can now see the “Ocean” badge beneath the Fisker logo. Fisker also announced that the Ocean will get an app-based leasing program, which Henrik Fisker himself has promised will be priced “way, way, way lower” than the electric Volvo XC40 under the Care by Volvo program (which starts at $700 a month), with “way, way, way more miles per year” and “no minimum term.” “The future of mobility is about enjoying an electric vehicle without hassle, long-term commitment and the prohibitive high cost of ownership,” Henrik Fisker said in a statement. “Driving the Fisker Ocean will be easy: through a flexible lease via a mobile app. And we take care of all the service and maintenance. Simply put, weÂ’re introducing the future of hassle-free, fun and easy e-mobility.” Reservations of for the Ocean open through the app on November 27. We wonÂ’t see the full reveal of the Fisker Ocean until January 4, 2020, but Fisker has offered a number of details about what it claims is “the worldÂ’s most sustainable vehicle.” The EV will come standard with an 80-kWh battery pack, with Fisker targeting about 250 to 300 miles of driving range on a charge. It features a solar roof, which could provide 1,000 miles of free range per year, with eventual hardware improvements increasing those efficiencies. Fisker has also put a lot of thought into the materials going into the Ocean. In lieu of leather, the crossover will feature a vegan interior. The carpet is made from recycled nylon, sourced from abandoned fishing line pulled from the oceans and other aquatic habitats. Eco-suede materials are recycled from recycled polyester and other recycled plastics. The car will also use rubber repurposed from tire manufacturing waste. Fisker will unveil the working, production-spec prototype during a livestream on January 4, but donÂ’t be surprised if we got more teasers between now and then, especially around the launch of the lease app.

Over 40,000 customers reportedly cancel their Fisker Ocean reservation

Fisker's ongoing financial troubles have reportedly scared off a substantial number of the buyers who reserved the electric Ocean crossover with a refundable deposit. The company has lost more than 40,000 reservations that it will need to reimburse, according to a recent report. Citing leaked data and internal metrics, Business Insider wrote that Fisker received between 70 and 80 cancellations per day "in a recent seven-day average." The total number of canceled reservations stands at over 40,000, the report said, which represents a huge chunk of the reported 70,000-plus reservations the firm has collected since it opened the order book in November 2019. Fisker hasn't commented on the report. If this is accurate, the cancellations compound Fisker's problems in several ways. First, the brand's sales forecast has seemingly fallen by over 50%, meaning its revenue forecast has inevitably dropped by the same number. This comes at a time Fisker needs to generate more sales in order to stay afloat; it recently paused production of the Ocean to save money, and it's sitting on a massive inventory of unsold cars. Second, Fisker will need to refund the deposit it collected from every reservation holder who cancels, according to Business Insider and the brand's terms and conditions. It costs $250 to reserve one example of the Ocean and $100 for each additional reservation; both sums are refundable. Fisker keeps the $25 processing fee that's added to every reservation, however. The publication estimates Fisker owes its customer base about $9 million. It adds that "a few thousand" customers have separately canceled an order, though the $5,000 deposit on those isn't fully refundable. It's not far-fetched to assume some of the customers who reportedly canceled a reservation realized they can get a new Ocean right away for much cheaper than initially advertised — Fisker slashed the price of its leftover 2023 models by up to $24,000 in March 2024 to trim its inventory of unsold cars and generate cash. Other customers might have simply lost faith in a company teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. While the Ocean, which is built by Magna in Austria, is the only Fisker model that has reached production, the company has shown three other electric cars that it began taking reservations for and ostensibly planned to sooner or later build. There's a pickup called Alaska, a city car named PEAR, and a four-door convertible known as the Ronin.