Americans Are Now Learning What It’s Like to Own a DeLorean: The Story of a Brand That Walked Away

The Fisker Ocean was shaping up to be one of the more compelling stories in the electric vehicle world, but it came to an abrupt and disappointing end. Fisker, the U.S.-based startup that managed to build roughly 12,000 electric crossovers, has effectively vanished, leaving thousands of customers without factory support, a service network, or ongoing software updates. For a modern EV, that’s more than an inconvenience—without stable software, the car itself risks becoming little more than an expensive brick.

That looming threat pushed Fisker Ocean owners to take an extraordinary step. They formed a nonprofit group called the FOA, with the sole purpose of keeping their vehicles alive and usable. The group’s main focus is software, which controls nearly every major function of the Ocean. Even during its launch phase, bugs in the code caused reliability issues, and the shutdown of Fisker’s servers could have cut cars off from updates, remote access, and key electronic features altogether.

Members of the FOA have already developed their own mobile app, intended to eventually replace Fisker’s official software. Beyond that, the association is in talks to acquire rights to both the software and hardware tied to the vehicle, while also negotiating with Magna in Graz—where the Ocean was built—to ensure continued production of spare parts. In Europe, parts availability is partly protected by law, but electronic modules and software remain the most vulnerable weak points for abandoned EVs like the Fisker Ocean.