US Probes Fisker Ocean After Owners Report EVs Rolling Away

Certain Fisker Ocean owners complain that their vehicles aren't going into gear, and are rolling away, in just the latest issue to plague the new EV

America’s automotive safety regulator is looking into another issue affecting the Fisker Ocean. Back in January, investigators started looking into reports of braking issues, and now they’re looking into reports of vehicles rolling away.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has opened a preliminary evaluation into allegations of unintended movement after drivers have attempted to park their vehicles. The organization reports that it has received four complaints relating to this issue and that in one case, an injury allegedly resulted from it.

According to NHTSA, the drivers complain that they were unable to shift their Oceans into Park — some complainants also claim that they were unable to shift into other gears. As a result, the vehicles were not adequately held in place, and they started rolling away with and without drivers on board.

More: NHTSA Already Investigating The New Fisker Ocean EV Over A Potential Braking Issue

One owner from Lutz, Florida, said they entered their vehicle, and that after starting it, the shifter failed to engage. The owner noticed that the gear position light failed to illuminate, and then the Ocean started rolling backward quickly. They then tried to press the brakes, but that didn’t slow the vehicle. Fortunately, the parking brake did manage to stop their Fisker before it crashed into another vehicle. They tried to reboot their vehicle, but it did not remedy the issue.

Through its preliminary evaluation, NHTSA is investigating the scope and the impact on safety of this potential problem. If it finds that a defect exists, Fisker may have to recall as many as 4,000 Oceans. The automaker says it is fully cooperating with the regulator on this matter.

Alarmingly, this isn’t the only issue that Ocean owners are experiencing. As we mentioned above, owners have already started complaining about the regenerative braking system glitching out and causing their hydraulic brakes to become ineffective.

And those aren’t the only issues plaguing Ocean owners. NHTSA’s website lists 56 complaints about the Ocean, deliveries of which started in June. The complaints range from allegations that the doors would not open from inside the vehicle, to claims that vehicles lost motive power while they were traveling at speed. Although the latter issues haven’t become the subject of official investigations, they point to an alarming pattern of technical issues that TechCrunch reports the company has been experiencing since before deliveries started.

“As adoption grows and the number of drivers and miles driven increases, our innovations are tested under a wider range of conditions that reveal ways we can improve,” A Fisker spokesperson told Carscoops via email. “Almost all the issues that have been identified were confined to early-build vehicles, and we are working with early adopters to address issues they might have had.”

The company claims that many of the issues can be solved with over-the-air updates. The spokesperson added that it has already pushed software to address braking issues identified in NHTSA’s first investigation.

Update 02/16/24: This post has been altered to include statements from Fisker.