Fisker Inc. revealed its production-intent Ocean electric SUV on the first media day of the Los Angeles Auto Show after it gave a sneak peek the evening before at the famous Manhattan Beach Pier. At both events, Fisker Chairman and CEO Henrik Fisker detailed the vehicle’s design philosophy and explained why it will be the most sustainable and innovative vehicle available when it starts production in 2022.

“Our mission is to create the world’s most innovative and sustainable vehicles that are also affordable, and it all starts with the Fisker Ocean as we fully embrace a clean future for all,” said Fisker.

Fisker believes the electric vehicle is the most fundamental shift in personal transport since the transition from the horse to the gasoline engine. He has created a transformational vision of a new kind of car company built on his extensive experience at leading automotive brands and his first company, Fisker Automotive.

Fisker and Dr. Geeta Gupta Fisker founded Fisker Inc. in 2016 as a company to create the necessary change to a more sustainable way of making vehicles. The company backs this with a guiding philosophy of combining beauty, functionality, and advanced technology.

Fisker designs for sustainability through the entire product life cycle with a motto of “use less, use better, and use again.” The company believes the auto industry should take responsibility for its products, end-to-end, and give customers the opportunity to contribute to a more sustainable future.

It is working with partners like Magna and Foxconn to build vehicles for the global market, with plans for Fisker EVs to be built at carbon-neutral factories and its supplier partners to deliver parts and materials made through eco-friendly processes.

The Ocean will be made by the Magna-Steyr factory in Graz, Austria that is carbon-neutral, powered in part by the nearby Murkraftwerk hydroelectric power station. Magna places a primary focus on reducing its consumption of raw materials and energy and minimizing the release of waste materials.

 

Beautiful eco-design

Henrik Fisker and his Ocean design team developed a sleek exterior with slim lighting and a wide stance to enhance handling and road presence. The Ocean was designed to be a true SUV, said Fisker, rather than yet another aerodynamic all-electric hatchback. The five-seater is 188 in (4775 mm) long, 78.5 in (1995 mm) wide (with mirrors), and 64.1 in (1629 mm) tall (Sport), with a 115-in (2921-mm) wheelbase.

The car’s steel and composite upper body rides on an aluminum-intensive skateboard chassis with front McPherson and rear multi-link suspensions. Regardless of wheels, either 20-in aero or three 22-in options, all Oceans will be outfitted with Bridgestone tries designed to enhance range and performance.

The tires are engineered with Bridgestone’s Enliten technology, which minimizes rolling resistance by up to 30% and reduces weight by up to 20%, based on data comparing Bridgestone premium summer tires with and without the technology in the same tire size (92Y 225/40R18 XL). Fisker will use the R20 and R22 tire sizes. The tires are made with up to 2 kg (4.4 lb) fewer raw materials, carrying both an environmental benefit and an end-of-life stage management.

Standard features on all trim levels are a Great White gloss finish exterior, a power liftgate, and 20-in F7 AeroStealth alloy wheels that have recycled material wheel covers. On the Ultra, Extreme, and One, a user push of a button can lower all windows (including the rear-pillar “dog” window) and retract the sliding roof to morph into California Mode, providing an open-air experience.

The SolarSky roof on Extreme and One trims can supply an additional 2000 mi (3220 km) of range per year under ideal conditions—solar irradiation of 5.4 kW·h/m² per day and “steady” commuter driving—and 1500 mi (2410 km) under typical sunny skies in regions such as California.

 

Platform and intelligence from Magna

The Ocean uses a modified version of a Magna EV platform to develop the Ocean’s FM29 platform, and in the process, create new IP that is unique to Fisker. Complementing the FM29 platform will be a Magna-adapted, advanced electrical electronics architecture that supports all vehicle systems including the ADAS (advanced driver assist system) suite of technologies for Fisker Intelligent Pilot.

Fisker announced in January that it was partnering with Magna for the joint development of FI-Pilot on the Ocean. The partnership resulted in the creation of an advanced and scalable domain controller architecture that supports a range of technologies and customer convenience features.

The FI-Pilot features include multi-function autonomous systems supporting Fisker-unique feature sets. Over-the-air updates (OTA) powered by the Fisker AI cloud are able to deliver new advanced product features through the lifecycle of the vehicle. The industry-leading sensor set, including digital imaging radar and high-resolution cameras, supports driver-assistance features capable of higher levels of autonomy. Cybersecurity features will be tailored to the Fisker ownership experience.

“With state-of-the-art hardware and software packages, Fisker will deliver a new type of mobility experience that will stay relevant to the customer through the lifecycle of the vehicle,” said Fisker.

The collaboration “delivers scale and efficiency, while also contributing several advanced vehicle technologies to respond quickly to the evolving new mobility ecosystem,” added Swamy Kotagiri, Magna CEO.

One of the Ocean’s key ADAS technologies is Magna’s Icon Radar, which debuts on the Ocean and marks the first application of digital radar for driver-assisted technology. It enhances a vehicle’s ability to “see” its surroundings and detect potential dangers, from a stalled car in a dark tunnel to a pedestrian up to 150 m (490 ft) away.

Magna and Uhnder partnered to develop the technology that has higher resolution and better contrast than analog radar. As a result, it can better sense large and small moving and standing objects at short and long distances. In addition, each digital radar has a quintillion unique codes embedded into the signal it transmits, helping minimize the negative effects of mutual interference.

“I’m really proud that we could integrate our technology for ADAS and use functionalities like the 8-megapixel camera and the 4D radar sensor system set, which is the first digital radar chip,” said Burkhard Huhnke, Chief Technology Officer, Fisker.

 

Two CATL battery packs

The base Sport uses a single motor on the front axle, other dual-motor AWD models get a rear-axle disconnect. Expected best 0-60 mph (0-97 km/h) acceleration times are 6.9 s for the 275-hp (205-kW) Sport, 3.9 s for the 540-hp (403-kW) Ultra, and 3.6 s for the 550-hp (410-kW) Extreme and One.

Translating these numbers into features, the Sport will have Earth and Fun drive modes, the Ultra and Extreme add Hyper mode, the Extreme and One add an Off-Road mode, and the Ultra, Extreme, and One have a Smart Traction torque-vectoring system to enhance performance and safety.

Fisker announced earlier in November that it will use two battery-cell chemistries from CATL, with an initial battery capacity of over 5 GWh annually from 2023 to 2025. The primary high-capacity pack uses a lithium nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) cell chemistry with the second high-value pack offering CATL’s latest cells based on lithium-ion phosphate (LFP) chemistry.

“By utilizing multiple chemistries and designing an extremely efficient pack, we will be able to achieve our targeted driving range for the Fisker Ocean Sport and bring segment benchmark-driving range to the longer-range versions of Fisker Ocean,” said Fisker.

“…We are delighted to reach long-term collaboration with Fisker and provide battery technology that is unique to Fisker’s product rollout,” added CATL President, Zhou Jia.

In addition to meeting demanding packaging requirements, the Ocean battery packs have additional features that permit direct charging from the optional solar roof using an innovative engineering integration strategy. And both battery pack solutions are engineered to support peak charging powers of more than 250 kW.

The Ocean’s “got a very high-capacity battery packed into a very small volume,” said David Mosley, Vice President, Powertrain. “And that’s going to give our users a lot of flexibility,” from an extraordinary range to great charging power.

Fisker and CATL teams have been collaborating since 2020 to develop battery solutions optimized for vehicle structure, crashworthiness, and high levels of energy density. Currently, the teams are engaged in extensive testing and validation at the pack and vehicle level.

The front-wheel-drive, single-motor Sport will have a 250 mi (402 km) EPA estimated range using a value-focused LFP battery in Touring Range packs. EPA ranges for the all-wheel-drive, dual-motor Ultra and Extreme are estimated at 340 mi (547 km) and more than 350 mi (563 km), respectively. Those higher trim level vehicles use the performance-oriented Hyper Range NMC battery packs.

Silicon-carbide inverters are standard across the Ocean range.

Towing capacity is 2040 lb (1090 kg) for the Sport and 4000 lb (1815 kg) for the One, Extreme, and Ultra.

The Ocean has a set of technologies that enable owners to recharge other EVs (PowerCar), send power to the electrical grid (Power Grid), and use their vehicles as a backup source of emergency power for their homes (PowerHouse). If a storm causes an electrical outage, the PowerHouse bidirectional onboard charger can use the vehicle’s battery as a temporary energy reserve to power an entire home for up to seven days.

 

Vegan interior with rotating infotainment touchscreen

Inside, the five-passenger Ocean has a “fully vegan” interior, the eco-friendly cabin featuring high-grade upholstery, carpets, and interior details made from recycled plastic bottles, repurposed rubber waste, worn-out t-shirts, and abandoned fishing nets appropriately pulled from the ocean. Standard features on all trim levels are “app as key,” Ocean Floor interior trim, and digital interior rear-view mirror.

During the LA show press conference, CEO Fisker singled out the seats for their unique design.

The seats “don’t have seams like normal seats have,” said Fisker. “This is a new freeform technology that we’re using.”

“The seats are definitely a highlight,” added Nadya Arnaout, Senior Director, Interior Design & Color Material. “We have an innovative process that’s fairly new in the automotive world. It’s a very different look and feel from traditional cut-and-sew seats.”

Limo Mode allows rear-seat passengers to control the volume of the audio system and adjust heating and air conditioning.

The 17.1-in central high-resolution Revolve screen can be rotated from the default portrait Control Mode for driving to a landscape Hollywood Mode for entertainment when parked.

In May, Fisker announced it was working with Hon Hai Technology Group’s Sharp Corp. to develop technologies supporting the co-creation of technologies and the manufacture of screens and components from Sharp to support the Ocean SUV, Project PEAR (Personal Electric Automotive Revolution), and potentially two additional Fisker vehicles.

“Our collaboration with Sharp is set to create exciting new automotive display systems, featuring innovative backlight solutions to improve illumination without increasing power consumption – in addition to class-leading resolution, bezels, and design,” said Fisker.

The Ocean’s “world-class” HyperSound audio system is available in a 16-speaker, 500-W configuration with a 20.5-L subwoofer. The Revolve feature, in combination with premium audio options, is said to create an immersive viewing environment for front- and rear-seat occupants.

 

Purchase, lease, or subscribe

Fisker is pursuing direct-to-consumer sales and global service partnerships to cut costs for consumers, make owning easier, and create lasting connections with customers. The Ocean will be available to purchase at the end of 2022. Customers can reserve a vehicle for a $250 deposit.

At the LA press conference, Fisker said that there are 19,000 $250 website deposits, and he hopes “we are going to be sold out for the first-year production. In 2023 we are planning to make about 40,000-50,000 vehicles as we ramp up in the next year.”

Pricing is aggressive at the low end. Before federal and state tax credits, the base Sport trim is priced at $37,499, the Ultra at $49,999, and the Extreme is $68,999. The first 5000 vehicles produced will be the One launch version at $68,999.

The company’s innovative Flexee app lease option does away with long-term commitments and includes a 30,000-mi (48,300-km) annual driving allowance. More like a subscription model than a traditional lease, the Ocean can be leased starting at $379/month with a one-time $2999 initiation and activation fee. Terms for higher trim levels will be announced.

In May, Fisker announced it would deliver up to 700 Ocean SUVs to UK-based electric car subscription service Onto, which will offer the Ocean SUV on a monthly subscription. Deliveries of right-hand-drive Oceans to the UK market are expected to commence within the first half of 2023. Fisker plans to have an experience center in London opening during 2022.