Henrik Fisker once had a vision of a growing electric vehicle empire in a startup he named after himself, which could be driven by the Ocean SUV. However, cracks in this vision started to appear almost immediately after Ocean hit the road in 2023.
Fisker repeatedly lowered production goals, missed sales targets, and laid off employees. Moreover, his Ocean SUV had software and mechanical issues that made it inoperable for some. Add troublesome brakes, a sudden loss of power and doors that would not open to the list of problems that led to multiple safety investigations and ultimately a production shutdown to boost recent capital.
All this and more forced Fisker to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, starting an inauspicious period for the eponymous startup. Below is a timeline of events that have led the automaker up to now.
2023
Fisker missed its second-quarter production goal
July 7 — The automaker produced 1,022 Ocean SUVs in the second quarter of 2023, several hundred vehicles lower than it expected to provide 1,400 to 1,700 electric vehicles.
Fisker sold convertible bonds to finance operations
tenth of July — Fisker announced plans to sell $340 million in convertible debt, expecting net proceeds to be $296.7 million. The automaker said it plans to make use of the funds to support its overall corporate operations and add an additional battery line to “support growth” in 2024 and beyond. The company said the funds will even be used for capital expenditure and future product development.
Cutting goal production
December 1 — Fisker lowered its annual production guidance in an try and liberate $300 million in working capital. The company said it expects to provide about 10,000 vehicles in 2023. The production forecast is just a quarter of Fisker’s optimistic forecast from a yr ago.
2024
Fisker had difficulty meeting internal sales targets
1st of January — Fisker is far from achieving its publicly announced goal of delivering 300 electric SUVs per day worldwide. The electric vehicle startup spent much of December working toward an internal sales goal of 100 to 200 vehicles per day in North America, where most of its inventory and sales efforts are concentrated. Fisker has fallen well below that concentrate on, often selling just one to two dozen of its Ocean-branded SUVs a day here.
Ocean SUV investigated complaints of loss of braking
fifteenth January — Federal safety regulators have opened an investigation into Fisker’s first electric vehicle over brake problems. Owners filed 19 complaints with NHTSA for issues ranging from brake loss and shifter problems to the driver’s door not opening from the inside and two incidents of the vehicle’s hood suddenly rising on the highway.
Owners have been reporting sudden loss of power and brake problems for months
February 9 — Since the delivery of the first fleet of Fisker Ocean SUVs, customers have reported over 100 different power loss incidents. The company told TechCrunch that it believes these issues are rare and that it has resolved “almost all issues” with software updates. Customers have also reported a sudden loss of braking power, problematic fobs that cause them to get stuck inside or outside the vehicle, seat sensors that do not detect the driver’s presence, and an SUV’s front hood that suddenly flips up at high speeds.
A second probe into the Ocean SUV has been launched following federal complaints
February 16 — The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened a second investigation into electric vehicle startup Fisker’s Ocean SUV after the agency received 4 complaints about the vehicle unexpectedly rolling away, including one injury. The company tells TechCrunch it is “fully cooperating” with the security agency.
Fisker laid off 15% of its staff
February 29 — Fisker announced plans to put off 15% of its workforce says there probably is not enough money to get you thru the next 12 months. The company says it is trying to search out a approach to raise that cash by switching from direct sales to a dealership model.
Production halted with only $121 million in the bank
March 18 — Fisker announced that it is suspending production of the Ocean electric SUV for six weeks resulting from the need for a money injection. In its regulatory filing, the company said it had just $121 million in money and money equivalents as of March 15, of which $32 million was restricted or not immediately available. Fisker also said it had an outstanding balance of as much as $182 million and that there have been “significant doubts” it could proceed operating without raising recent capital.
Fisker lost its deal with Nissan, putting rescue funds at risk
25 March — Negotiations between Fisker and a major automaker – Nissan, reportedly – over a potential investment and collaboration have ended, putting a separate, near-term rescue financing effort in jeopardy. Fisker disclosed in a regulatory filing that the automaker ended negotiations on March 22. He didn’t explain why. However, the company needed to proceed negotiations as part of one of the closing conditions on the potential $150 million convertible note.
Quotations suspended by the NYSE
25 March — The New York Stock Exchange has suspended trading in Fisker shares and decided to delist the company because it is “no longer suitable for listing” resulting from “abnormally low” price levels.
Fisker lost track of multimillion-dollar customer payments for months
March 27 — Fisker temporarily lost track of hundreds of thousands of dollars in customer payments because it ramped up deliveries, resulting in an internal audit that began in December and lasted months. Fisker had difficulty controlling these transactions, which included down payments and in some cases the full price of vehicles, because of lax internal procedures for tracking them, in keeping with three people familiar with the internal payments crisis. In several cases, he delivered vehicles without taking any form of payment at all, they said.
New round of layoffs to ‘preserve money’
April 29 — Electric vehicle startup Fisker Inc., in keeping with an internal email reviewed by TechCrunch. is shedding more employees to “preserve cash”, implementing a plan announced a week earlier. Fisker expects to hunt bankruptcy protection inside the next 30 days if it will probably’t raise that cash, in keeping with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission regulatory filings.
Fisker stiffed the engineering firm
third of May — Fisker stopped paying the engineering firm that helped develop the Pear, a low-cost electric vehicle for the masses, and Alaska, which allowed Fisker to enter the red-hot pickup market. The company also accuses Fisker of unlawfully holding mental property related to those vehicles.
Fisker Ocean faces its fourth federal safety probe
May 10 — The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has opened a fourth investigation into the Fisker Ocean SUV to research multiple allegations of “inadvertent automatic emergency braking.” Eight complaints allege that owners experienced sudden activation of the automatic emergency braking system at times when there have been no other vehicles or obstacles in the path of their cars.
Hundreds of employees have been laid off to maintain electric vehicle startups alive
May 29 — Hundreds more employees were laid off in the last week of May in a bid to remain afloat while the automaker continues to hunt financing, a buyout or prepares for bankruptcy. One current and one fired worker estimated that there have been only about 150 people left in the company.
Inside the Fisker Fall
May thirty first — Fisker’s path to ultimate smash may have begun and ended with the defective Ocean SUV, which was riddled with mechanical and software problems. But it was paved with hubris, power struggles and repeated failures to determine the basic processes that underpin every automaker.
First Ocean SUV Recall
June 12 — Fisker has recalled its Ocean SUV for the first time resulting from warning light issues, in keeping with recent information released by the NHTSA. On the dashboard, the brake, parking and anti-lock warning lights display in the incorrect font size and sometimes the incorrect color, making them inconsistent with federal motorized vehicle safety standards. The agency also says “many warning lights do not illuminate during the ignition cycle.”
Fisker declared bankruptcy
June 18 — After a yr of struggling to remain afloat, Fisker filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The California-based company sought an agreement with one other automaker in a last-ditch effort to save lots of the company. According to the filing, the company estimated assets of $500 million to $1 billion and liabilities of $100 million to $500 million.
Fisker failed because he wasn’t able to be a automobile company
June 18 — After its bankruptcy, Fisker said it will proceed “limited operations,” including “maintaining customer programs and paying needed compensation to suppliers in the future.” In other words, it’s going to proceed to operate its core business in the event that there is a willing buyer for the assets it is putting up for sale in a Chapter 11 case.