2023 Fisker Ocean: What's It Like to Live With?
We are going to spend a year and 20,000 miles with the Ocean to see how this software-defined vehicle can improve over time.
| Miles Driven: | Average Electricity Consumption (kWh/100 miles): |
| 4,194 | 39.9 |
Latest Highlights
- We bought Fisker's first mass-market EV
- The Ocean is going to change a lot over the course of our ownership via software updates
- California mode, which is as close as you can get to a convertible without going roofless, is a cool trick
What do you want to know about?
What we bought and why
• Our test vehicle: 2023 Fisker Ocean Extreme
• Base MSRP: $63,937 (including a $2,438 destination and handling charge)
• What we paid: $69,012
Fisker makes a splashy return with its first mass-market electric vehicle, the Ocean. This SUV straddles the blurry line between compact and midsize. Here at Edmunds, our long-term fleet has hosted many first vehicles from new(ish) automakers like Fisker. Our garage has been home to vehicles like the Lucid Air, Rivian R1T, and every Tesla save the Roadster and Cybertruck. That made it a no-brainer to add the Ocean, so we learn what to expect not only from this vehicle but also from forthcoming affordable Fisker entrants like the Pear and Alaska.
We put in an order for the Ocean as soon as we could, all the way back in 2022. After waiting over a year, our number was called and we took a trip down to San Diego to grab our vehicle as soon as possible.
What did we get?
Our reservation was for an Ocean Extreme, the top trim level, with a tow hitch. We found out from Fisker in December 2023 that our vehicle was in line to be built, with a delivery date a few months down the line. But they let us know that if we were interested, there was a vehicle that was the same spec as ours (sans tow hitch) available for pickup immediately. So we jumped at that. On top of the $63,397 base price for the Extreme trim, our Ocean also has the larger 22-inch black wheels ($1,600), a white Alcantara interior ($2,500) and a very attractive silver-and-blue paint job ($975). The grand total was $69,012 (not including taxes and fees). The Extreme is also extremely well equipped (see what we did there?) with features like a digital rearview camera mirror, rotating 17.1-inch touchscreen, 15-speaker ELS audio system and a solar roof all coming standard.
Why did we get it?
A big reason that we purchased the Ocean and were so keen on getting it quickly is to see how it will grow and mature over the next year. As it sits, our Ocean is still waiting for some important features to arrive. These are features that we have ostensibly already paid for and are due to arrive over-the-air in early 2024. This will add things like one-pedal driving, hill-hold, pet mode, adjustment of the all-wheel-drive torque split and activation of advanced safety features. Even further updates will add features like voice commands and adaptive cruise control, things that we take for granted in most other vehicles at this price point. Due to these exclusions and a litany of software issues we've already experienced (some just after delivery), the Ocean we have before us today feels like an incomplete product. The good news is that we've seen other new automakers make big strides with software updates during the course of owning their cars. We are hopeful that the same will be true of Fisker.
There are things that we like very much about this brand-new Ocean: It has some very cool features like California mode, which opens up the giant sunroof and all of the windows (including the rear glass), taco trays for passengers to eat on, and an excellent audio system. The build quality is also a step above the first efforts we've seen from the likes of Tesla and Lucid. Stick with us over the next year to see how the Fisker improves and how these features work once they are activated.
Edmunds purchased this vehicle for the purpose of evaluation.
Average lifetime consumption (kWh/100 miles): 39.9
EPA rating (kWh/100 miles): 37 combined ( 34 city / 40 highway )
Best consumption (kWh/100): 28.4
Best range (miles): 360 EPA-estimated
Current odometer: 4,194
Be patient with the "time to charge" message
"It takes the 'time to charge' message on the central display to accurately reflect, well, the time it's going to take to charge. Give it a minute before making a plan to return to the vehicle if you're using a public charger — it'll eventually update with the more accurate (and longer) timespan." — Jake Sundstrom, editor
Some of these early issues may be solved by a software update
We've encountered some problems, as you can read below, in the early days of our Fisker Ocean ownership. We've been told by Fisker that some of these bugs will be squashed by future over-the-air updates. For now, consider these our early impressions of a vehicle that isn't quite finished yet.
There's no hill hold function on our Fisker Ocean — yet
"As of right now, the Fisker doesn't seem to have any sort of hill hold function, which means it will roll backward or forward on an incline if you lift your foot off the brake. Look, I learned to drive a stick in San Francisco, so I'm not clutching my pearls here ... but I can't think of another current luxury car that would default to 'yeah, the car's gonna roll backward.' We are expecting a software update to remedy this down the road." — Will Kaufman, manager, video
And regenerative braking is a work in progress, too
"In whatever software version we have now [written in late January 2024], regenerative braking is awful in 'high.' In most EVs there's clearly a lot of effort spent on how aggressive the transition is between regen and acceleration as you modulate the pedal. But the Fisker kind of snaps between regen and accel, there's no real midpoint. It feels like a switch being flicked and it's kind of jarring." — Will Kaufman, manager, video
What is Earth mode?
"Earth mode is what Fisker calls its most efficient driving setting. It primarily uses the front motor, though it will kick on the rear motor if you really floor it. When at a stop, it will also cut power to save on electricity. It works similarly to the stop-start systems you'll now find on many modern vehicles." — Jake Sundstrom, editor
We've found Earth mode to be quite conservative
"While our Ocean has more than enough power, when in Earth mode, there's a huge delay and power comes on VERY slowly, particularly from a stop — so much so that I honestly find it to be a safety hazard. It's almost like massive turbo lag and certainly is not the instantaneous power we've come to expect from EVs. I kept the vehicle in Hyper mode largely to avoid this." — Ryan Greger, social media content strategist
The Fisker is an excellent daily driver, but perhaps less so on long trips
"The Ocean rides quite nicely, especially on the highway. It soaks up bumps and road imperfections better than the Tesla Model Y and Ford Mustang Mach-E. But unlike the Mach-E, it doesn't deal with cornering at speeds all that well. Taking a curve on a freeway overpass feels like you're on an old-fashioned roller coaster with your body needing to exert some force to keep yourself from being dumped out of the seat.
"For the majority of daily driving, though, the Ocean feels composed." — Jake Sundstrom, editor
"I put more than 1,000 miles on the Fisker Ocean thanks to a road trip up to wine country and back through San Francisco. I felt myself feeling a bit sore, particularly in the neck, by the end of the road trip. The headrest isn't obviously adjustable, which is probably the culprit here. For commuting, I think the Ocean is quite nice to drive — but there are limits to the amount of seat time I'd want in it at a time." — Jake Sundstrom, editor
We've had trouble with the keyless start feature
"For some reason I've had to hold the key fob to the NFC reader under the steering wheel every single time I've started the car for the last few days. The message informing you that you have to do so only appears for a second when you get in and then disappears, so if you miss it you won't realize you need to perform that step until you try to put the car in gear and nothing happens. I don't know what's going on, but for $70K, the fact that there's no proximity entry and, at least over the last few days, functionally no 'keyless' start is irritating." — Will Kaufman, manager, video
We've received a lot of false alerts in the Ocean
"I hope you like warning messages because the Fisker Ocean LOVES warning messages. While driving in the rain, I got the automatic braking failure and lane-keep failure messages about eight times over the course of a 15-minute drive. What's more annoying is that there aren't any permanent reminders if some system is having an issue; there are no warning lights or their equivalent on the instrument panel. Instead you get an identical chime and an identical-looking orange box with white text that pops up for all of 5 seconds before vanishing into the ether.
"Is automatic braking reactivating and then failing again? Is it permanently failed and the car is just reminding me? I have no clue!" — Will Kaufman, manager
We had a long day with the Fisker Ocean while testing its range
"Vehicle Test Editor Reese Counts encountered a series of issues with the Fisker Ocean while running the Edmunds EV Range Test.
"I started this day with such big plans. We were going to perform our EV range testing with Edmunds' shiny new Fisker Ocean, driving from full until empty to see how far the Ocean can go on a single charge. As soon as I closed the door, I realized something was up. The Fisker wouldn't play any audio through the speakers despite my iPhone clearly being connected to the vehicle via Bluetooth. FM radio wouldn't work either, so it seemed the problem wasn't just with my phone. But hey, this isn't the first time I've had audio issues with a car, Fisker or otherwise. While it would make the drive a little more annoying as I wouldn't be able to play any music or podcasts except out of my phone's speakers, nonfunctioning audio wasn't enough to keep us from performing range testing. But that was only the start.
"I hit the freeway, set the cruise control and settled in. Everything was working fine save for the audio, but I wanted some tunes and only grew more annoyed with the situation the longer I drove. Disconnecting and reconnecting my phone hadn't worked, and neither did changing the volume or radio station. In addition to Bluetooth audio and FM radio, the Fisker has apps for Spotify and TuneIn internet radio built into the Ocean's infotainment system. I figured maybe one of them might work, or at least trigger something in the infotainment when I switched back to FM or Bluetooth. I opened TuneIn (because it was the icon closer to the driver's seat) and let the program load. It brought me to a sign-in screen, but since I don't have an account I attempted to back out of the app and go to the main menu. Instead, the Ocean's main screen went completely white.
"The Fisker was driving fine, and there were no warnings in the driver's information display, but I had nothing from the big touchscreen. I found a spot to pull over, got out, locked it, and walked away for about 10 minutes. The hope was that letting the Ocean sleep would reset something and I could get on my way. Nope. In fact, things were worse when I got back in. Now the screen was all black rather than all white, and the climate control system had stopped working too.
"After a bit, I managed to get in contact with Fisker to troubleshoot the issue. Letting the vehicle go to sleep hadn't worked, so the next step was a hard restart for the infotainment system. It worked. The process is fairly simple. First park the car, then hold down two buttons on the steering wheel (the right-pointing arrow on the left hand spoke and the button on the right-hand spoke that adjusts the drive modes) for about 20 seconds or so until the system resets. You'll know it's working when the driver display (with your range, speedometer, etc.) goes black too. After a few more seconds, the Fisker logo popped up on the screen, the fans began blowing cold air, and the Ocean started playing music from my phone.
"All of my immediate issues were solved (there are a few outstanding issues like a lack of a trip odometer that haven't been fixed), but it was a bit frustrating to have the screen and climate control system go out while I was on the move."
The Fisker Ocean's technology has been frustrating
"I have never had so many issues with a vehicle in a 72-hour period. The key has worked about 25% of the time; more often than not, it takes more than 10 clicks to unlock the car and once I'm inside, it either won't detect the key or forces me to tap it against the NFC reader to go into gear. Additionally, the car sometimes fails to fully shut down — it will lock, but it won't chirp, and you can see the systems still active inside.
"At one point, I was driving the car, and randomly got an ADAS failure notification, though I wasn't using the system at the time so not sure what effect there actually was (if any) and that warning went away the next time I drove the car. It took me 30+ minutes to get my phone to pair via Bluetooth, and even after doing so it's VERY finicky. I've been having to both select my phone from the car and the car from my phone's Bluetooth menu to be able to stream music or take phone calls, otherwise they'll all play from my phone even though the car says it's connected. In fact, one time I got a call while my phone was allegedly connected, and it didn't appear on the Ocean's screen, but when I answered it on my phone, I couldn't hear anything no matter what audio source I selected.
"The touchscreen itself isn't exactly laggy by traditional definition, but it's slow in general — especially the backup camera, which always has around a 5 second delay before turning on when in reverse. The rear touchscreen, however, is EXTREMELY laggy. At one point the rear right heated seat refused to turn on; this was rectified by cycling the vehicle on and off. In a nutshell: the Ocean made me so frustrated I was about ready to drive it into the ocean." — Ryan Greger, social media content strategist"
We're piling up some early annoyances with the Fisker Ocean
"There are a handful of things in this car that are really minor annoyances that I think fall under the heading, 'I'll get used to it, but I shouldn't have to.' The door pulls, for example, aren't on the door armrest where almost everyone else puts them; they're a bit above it in this pocket that just disappears if you look at it from a certain angle. Is it a difficult adjustment to make to grab a different spot on the door? No. But that spot is a little bit more of a reach when the door is all the way open. It's just a slightly worse place to put the door pull. I'll get used to it, but I shouldn't have to.
"The volume rocker is in the climate panel, and on first glance looks like it should be a fan-speed controller for the passenger side of the vehicle (something you can get in a BMW at this price). Now I'm used to it, but why make that choice in the first place?
"The wireless charging pads are just close enough to the climate control panel that you can't set your phone into them, or pick it up by the top edge. You have to slide it in and slide it out from the bottom, even though there's otherwise open air above it. I'm used to it, but why not adjust the positioning just enough that an average-sized phone like mine is actually easy to access?
"The drive mode selector is currently a steering wheel button that legitimately looks like it should control the lane keeping assistance/lane centering mode. Someone had to tell me it wasn't that. I'm used to it now, but why did I have to get used to that?
"There are things in this car that are different just for the sake of being different. And there are things in this car that are seemingly different because Fisker wanted to split the difference between a sterile Tesla interior and a traditionally user-friendly interior, and wound up with neither.
"I'll get used to it, but I shouldn't have to." — Will Kaufman, manager, video
What's California mode?
California mode opens up the massive sunroof and all the windows (yes, even the small ones all the way in the back). It's about as close as you can get to being in a convertible without, well, being in one.
We've been impressed with California mode so far
"California mode is cool. I actually really enjoyed getting to drive down Pacific Coast Highway by the ocean on a cool day with the air blowing through the car. And if everything else on this car actually worked, I'd appreciate that they went the extra mile to make those D-pillar windows roll down. But the Fisker Ocean is a blatantly unfinished car, so the extra cost and effort that went into making an additional square foot of glass back in the trunk roll down seems completely misguided in the grand scheme of things. Rolldown rear window? Cool, thanks for doing that, but honestly if those little panel windows were fixed I don't think a single person in the world would complain." — Will Kaufman, manager, video
We're less impressed with rear visibility
"The rear visibility in the Fisker is among the worst I can recall experiencing in an SUV. The rear window is small to begin with, limiting your field of view both immediately behind the car and down the road, but then it's also blocked by the trio of large, fixed headrests. It all comes together to make for a pretty useless view.
"Yes, there's a camera mirror, but I dislike camera mirrors. They're a lazy substitute for good design. A proper mirror doesn't require you to refocus your eyes for a totally different depth (you're still looking at something distant when it's reflected in a mirror), where every time you look at a camera mirror you have to refocus on the screen. It adds to eye fatigue, and after a day of working at my computer it's the last feature I want in my car." —Will Kaufman, manager, video" — Will Kaufman, manager, video
The interior is quite thoughtful
"You can tell Fisker is run by a car designer. There's a lot of detailing in the cabin, that's takes a little while to appreciate. The tables for the driver and passenger are genuinely useful and I like the hidden storage under the seats — it's a clever way of utilizing dead space." — Alistair Weaver, editor in chief
What's the Fisker Ocean trying to do?
"When Tesla launched the Model S, it was kind of a mess. The Edmunds Model S stranded us on the freeway not once, but twice. It just wasn't built to the standard of other cars; there were too many bugs in the production. BUT it had a clear, cohesive vision. It knew what it wanted to be, and what it wanted to say about what an electric car could be. Tesla hadn't learned how to manufacture yet, but they knew exactly what they thought the car should be.
"The Fisker seems quite well screwed together, but it has no identity, no vision. It feels like all the choices were made by committee and were made relative to what other EV makers have done and what the public response to those choices has been. So you wind up with a user interface that's awkwardly somewhere between Tesla and traditional and doesn't really do either all that well. You wind up with a vehicle design that has a few neat tricks for people to post about on Instagram but misses the boat on some really basic human design choices.
"The Ocean so desperately wants to be relevant, but it has nothing to add to the conversation. It's the car equivalent of YouTube reaction content, layering the thinnest possible veneer of branding over well-trodden groundwork laid by others." — Will Kaufman, manager, video
The Fisker Ocean has the bones of a good vehicle
"I like the Fisker. There are undoubtedly a bunch of issues that need to be addressed and it almost certainly launched too early in its development cycle, but the fundamentals are there. The physical build quality is much better that Edmunds' Lucid and the attention to detail is strong. Living in LA with two small kids, it suits my lifestyle. It's a good size, California mode is fun (and useful), and it's a bit different to the Tesla-default. I'm looking forward to seeing where it is in six months' time when they've updated the software." — Alistair Weaver, editor in chief
The software 2.0 update has arrived
Though it arrived later than we thought it would, our Ocean has finally gotten its long-awaited software update and is now running on the 2.0 version of Fisker's software. As promised, it arrived in three parts, though the experience of installing it turned out to be a pleasant surprise. The first update required us to accept it on the touchscreen and took about 30 minutes to complete, but the other two updates happened fully in the background, without us knowingly losing access or being unable to drive the vehicle.
The third of those updates applied only to the key fob and it seems to have done the trick — our Fisker now unlocks without an elaborate song and dance of button presses, culminating in pressing the fob to the driver's door handle to get it to read.
Like most things with this vehicle, the move to the 2.0 software has been a mixed bag. Features that we have been asking for were added, but their execution is uneven and seems to have had unintended consequences that create further usability issues.
For example, we've been curious as to how much power/range our Ocean's SolarSky roof has been adding back to our vehicle. And now on the charge screen, there's a way to see both how much it's charging in real time and how much range has been added over the lifetime of the vehicle. But for some reason, that screen also houses our trip meters and we've lost the ability to see our efficiency (kWh/mi). Rats.
Fisker also found there to be a problem with the Ocean losing charge/range over time (called vampiring), so the automaker gave owners the ability to change how long the vehicle stays awake after it is locked to help conserve the battery. That's good. But with the car fully asleep, it can take a while for the screen to start up, and even though the screen's overall responsiveness has improved, getting it to wake up and become operational now feels like rousing a hibernating bear in spring. I drove the vehicle in some cases up to two minutes before being able to get any menus to come up at all.
The last feature we'd like to highlight is the automatic vehicle hold system. This is a replacement for the hill hold system that we had trouble getting to activate, resulting in our Ocean having a tendency to just roll away or to roll back very quickly on inclines, like driving a vehicle with a manual transmission. The new system requires the driver to tap the brake pedal to bring the vehicle to stop (which you have to do anyway because there's no one-pedal driving) and then the system activates. Your speed is replaced in the instrument cluster by a large (H) that lets you know the vehicle is being held.
While this system is a great quality-of-life improvement, that doesn't mean it's perfect. Fisker didn't want people forgetting that the vehicle was still in drive and exiting it while the system was activated, so the system uses the weight sensor in the driver's seat to ensure someone is still there and operating the vehicle. That's smart and reasonable. But they made the system so sensitive that if you shift in the seat or remove your weight from the seat bottom even for a split-second, it will put the vehicle in park and apply the parking brake. Imagine my surprise when at a stoplight, I adjusted my weight in the seat and when the light turned green tried to accelerate. Only to find the vehicle was in park.
This is endemic to our experience with the Ocean. You can understand the reasoning, but the problem is that the end result is a poor user experience. These things could be dialed in going forward via another software update, but we're still hoping for a big win to report to y'all without caveats.
Fisker also said the vehicle's new 45:55 (front:rear) torque split may increase performance, so we're going to take the Ocean to our test track once again in the near future to see if it's gotten any quicker or turns any harder. — Brian Wong, senior reviews editor
Here are some changes we can expect with the Fisker Ocean Extreme
Senior Editor Brian Wong has been in touch with Fisker and can report back with some updates coming to the Ocean (written February 6).
Fisker outlined that the 2.0 software update will add the following (detailed in the media release below):
New Features:
Revised Front/Rear Torque split: In the Fisker Ocean’s dual-motor All-wheel Drive powertrain models (One, Extreme, and Ultra), the power distribution ratio between front and rear wheels is changed from 50:50 to 45:55. This update improves traction and handling performance, making the Ocean even more sporty and dynamic in both Fun and Hyper drive modes.
Automatic Vehicle Hold: Automatic Vehicle Hold (AVH) replaces the Ocean’s existing Hill Hold feature, increasing vehicle hold time to improve driver ease and comfort. AVH activates brakes when the vehicle is stationary, and only releases brakes when the driver presses the accelerator pedal to begin moving the vehicle. This improvement was driven by customer feedback: the existing Hill Hold was designed to maintain brake pressure for approx. 2 seconds, and AVH now maintains brake pressure until driver is ready to move vehicle.
SolarSky upgrade: On Extreme and One trims, a new SolarSky energy meter in the Charging/Energy menu on the Central Touchscreen shows how much solar charging is being delivered to the vehicle.
Trailer Sway Mitigation: This stability control system feature counters trailer sway, making towing safer and more relaxed.
Brake Disc Wiping: In wet weather, the braking system automatically and imperceptibly clears water from brake disc surfaces, to improve braking response.
Standby Time controls: Standby Time controls on the Central Touchscreen allow drivers to adjust the amount of time the infotainment system stays in standby mode, reducing battery usage and increasing vehicle range. Drivers may experience longer vehicle boot-up time when Standby Time is reduced, in order to benefit from this reduced power consumption.
Driver Profiles: Multiple drivers can save their preferences, privacy, and comfort settings in their own user profiles, including climate control and audio settings.
From Brian Wong: "The update will be delivered in three parts and start to head to vehicles next week; each part of the install will render the vehicle inoperable for a time frame that will be indicated in instructions sent to owners. Eric at Fisker wouldn't give an exact time to install, but his rough estimate was that the vehicle could be not usable for a couple hours with each update."
The Fisker Ocean feels a bit undercooked at the moment
"Like so many other startups, Fisker seems to have launched the car a bit too early in its development cycle. It's a familiar story as companies try to balance their need to develop the car with the pressure on their cash flow. The fundamentals of the car are strong, so it's now a question of how fast Fisker can roll out the over-the-air update to introduce key features and fix the niggles. How successful they are will impact Fisker's reputation (and share price) in the medium term." — Alistair Weaver, editor in chief