Auto safety regulators have apparently opened a preliminary probe in the very troubled Fisker Ocean because of complaints the doors of the electric crossover sometimes don’t open when you want them to. This is less than ideal if you are familiar with the functionality of doors. Man, Fisker really cannot catch a break.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Office of Defect Investigations has received 14 complaints from customers saying there was an intermittent failure of the latch and handle that prevented the opening of all four passenger doors, according to Reuters. That isn’t typically what you want. To make matters worse, some reports have also alleged the emergency override mechanism also failed to pop the door. This is now the third NHTSA probe into the Fisker Ocean. The first has to do with the Ocean’s brakes, and the other involves unintended vehicle movements.
Fisker has had a rough go of it for a few months now — outside of these safety issues. Last month, it was delisted from the stock market, and a potential deal for an investment from a large automaker collapsed. Now, it’s looking like bankruptcy is on the horizon.
In an effort to boost sales, the automaker drastically cut prices on leftover 2023 Oceans to get them out the door. It actually made the Ocean one of the cheapest EVs you can buy, and yet it’s somehow still too expensive. In the middle of March, the nascent automaker said it would pause production for at least six weeks. Who knows if it’ll ever actually resume?