When This EV Company Went Bankrupt, Its Customers Launched a Nonprofit to Keep Their Cars Running (theverge.com)
- Reference: 0179562162
- News link: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/09/27/2331230/when-this-ev-company-went-bankrupt-its-customers-launched-a-nonprofit-to-keep-their-cars-running
- Source link: https://www.theverge.com/transportation/785872/fisker-ocean-ownership-association-software-recall
"Early adopters were left with cars plagued by battery failures, glitchy software, inconsistent key fobs, and door handles that did not always open. With the company gone, there was no way to fix any issues."
> Regulators logged dozens of complaints as replacement parts vanished. Passionate owners who spent top dollar on high-end trims saw their cars reduced to expensive driveway ornaments.
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> Rather than accept defeat, thousands of Ocean owners have organized into their own makeshift car company. [2]The Fisker Owners Association (FOA) is a nonprofit that's launched third-party apps, built a global parts supply chain, and came together around a future for their orphaned vehicles. It's part car club, part tech startup, part survival mission. Fleming now serves as the organization's president... FOA calls itself the first entirely owner-controlled EV fleet in history. So far, 4,055 Ocean owners have signed up, paying $550 a year in dues that the group estimates will raise around $3 million annually, about 0.1 percent of Fisker's peak valuation. Only verified Ocean owners can become full members, but anyone can donate.
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> The grassroots effort has precedent — DeLorean diehards and Saab enthusiasts have kept their favorite brands alive after factory closures. But those efforts focused on preserving aging vehicles. FOA is attempting something different: real-time software updates and hardware improvements for a connected, two-year-old EV fleet... The organization has spawned three separate companies. Tsunami Automotive handles parts in North America while Tidal Wave covers Europe, scavenging insurance auctions and contracting with tooling manufacturers to reproduce components. UnderCurrent Automotive, run by former Google and Apple engineers, focuses on software solutions.
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> UnderCurrent's first product is OceanLink Pro, a third-party mobile app now used by over 1,200 members that restores basic EV features, such as remote battery monitoring and climate control. A companion device called OceanLink Pulse adds wireless CarPlay and Android Auto, with plans for future upgrades including keyless entry. "Those are things you would have expected to be in a $70,000 luxury car," says Clint Bagley [FOA's treasurer]. "But, you know, we're happy to provide what the billion-dollar automaker apparently couldn't."
[1] https://www.theverge.com/transportation/785872/fisker-ocean-ownership-association-software-recall
[2] https://fiskeroa.com/
found the problem (Score:1)
real-time software updates .. for a connected .. fleet
I never would've bought a spycar to begin with.
Repairing a Fisker (Score:3)
Rich Rebuilds bought a bricked Ocean for $10k and then got it running. [1]https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
His road trip in a Fisker Karma is hilarious [2]https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLGaAE4_RjQ
[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhVn6-0t1As
correction (Score:2)
""But, you know, we're happy to provide what the billion-dollar automaker apparently couldn't."
The billion-dollar SILICON VALLEY automaker. So of course they couldn't, not enough bonuses for the principles.
Open source it! (Score:2)
There's really no reason to not open source as much of the car as possible at this point. I recently read up on the Fisker Ocean and it was an absolute clusterfuck. Not even kidding, the car would suddenly lose power while it was being driven. I doubt the car owners are going to manage fixing the car on their own, so the best option is to make it possible for people to obtain parts and actually fix problems.
From what I read, it seems like there is at least one race condition in the ECU which means you need
Re: (Score:2)
I knew they existed but little more, but now after reading the writeup (and a few others) I can't understand why anyone would buy one of these things in the first place: They look like any other EV out there, they're from an unproven company, they're fecking expensive, and there's endless stories of them being riddled with problems. They don't quite have a big flashing sign over them saying "Stay away", but they're pretty close.
Re: (Score:2)
> I knew they existed but little more, but now after reading the writeup (and a few others) I can't understand why anyone would buy one of these things in the first place: They look like any other EV out there, they're from an unproven company, they're fecking expensive, and there's endless stories of them being riddled with problems. They don't quite have a big flashing sign over them saying "Stay away", but they're pretty close.
Well, they were the only competition to Tesla back in the day. This was early ea
Fisker (Score:2)
I swear this company has had some major voodoo curse thrown its way. How many times did it go under by now?
And I remember back in 2011 when I first saw Karma in the street it was a rather pretty car. Generator sounded a bit crap but ok, it was a tesla model s before tesla model s.
Still astonishes me that Fisker found backers (Score:2)
especially after that overpriced overweight poorly assembled monstrosity that was the original Karma
Running (Score:2)
They keep their cars running? What a waste of energy!
I will leave myself out.
Right to repair (Score:4, Insightful)
Done correctly.