As electric vehicle startup Fisker prepares to enter the fourth month of its Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, current owners have received some bad news: They’ll have to pay labor costs to resolve two of the five pending recalls on their Ocean SUVs.
Fisker announced the bad news Sunday evening in a FAQ section on its website. The company said three of the five recalls — one for sudden power loss, another for incorrectly displaying warning lights, and a third for reduced regenerative braking — could be resolved with no-cost over-the-air software updates.
The problem is evident in the other two recalls. Some Oceans have faulty door handles. All SUVs need to have their electric water pump replaced, which has caused some vehicles to lose power. Fisker said it will cover the cost of the parts, but owners will have to pay for an inspection and repair at an authorized service provider. (The company said it will send owners a list of those providers by “the end of September 2024.”)
All of this comes after Fisker recently reached a settlement plan with its largest secured lender, a committee of unsecured creditors, contract manufacturer Magna, and other parties involved in the bankruptcy. After months of sometimes heated discussions, the parties have agreed on how to split the proceeds from Fisker’s liquidation. The judge in the case has scheduled a hearing for early October where the settlement plan could be approved.
The company has already struck a deal to sell nearly all of its remaining vehicle inventory to New York-based car rental company American Lease for $46.25 million. Now it must liquidate its remaining assets — said to be worth more than $1 billion, largely consisting of manufacturing equipment used at Magna’s plant in Austria — to pay off its many debts.