(Credit: Emily Forlini)
Fisker's bankruptcy saga is coming to a close after the company struck a $2.5 million deal to keep its software services alive for current and future drivers once the parent company shuts down.
The EV startup filed for bankruptcy in June, leaving drivers uncertain of how they would service their Ocean EVs, which receive updates over the air.
Fisker manufactured 10,000 Ocean units and delivered 5,000 to customers. A company called American Lease agreed to buy around 3,300 cars from the remaining inventory for $46.3 million. Earlier this month, after American Lease had paid Fisker around $42.5 million and taken ownership of about 1,100 Oceans, it learned there was no way to "port over" the software from Fisker's servers.
American Lease at the time said it could not "overstate the significance of this unwelcome news," Ars Technica reports. For the 5,000 Ocean owners, it did not bode well for long-term maintenance and access to cloud-connected features, such as over-the-air updates, some navigation functionality, and remote access.
To avoid complete disaster, American Lease has now struck a new deal to pay an additional $2.5 million over five years to access vehicle data in the cloud. That vehicle data is essential for providing continued tech support, software updates, and diagnostics to Fisker Ocean vehicles.
The Fisker Owner's Association (FOA) will also gain access to the vehicle's core service software through the deal, making it the "first connected fleet of electric vehicles in history that will be entirely owner-controlled," the FOA tells PCMag.
The FOA is a passionate group of Ocean owners who banded together immediately after the bankruptcy filing to keep the vehicles running. Since June, the group has cobbled together a robust network of 21 service centers, InsideEVs reports. Those service centers now have full access to a key computer software program, the Fisker After Sales Tool (FAST), which is required to diagnose and fix issues. It can make the difference between a vehicle sitting in a driveway indefinitely and getting back on the road.
"All EVs on the road today depend heavily on cloud services, making this guarantee of five years of seamless access control and connectivity a critical service—not to mention peace of mind—for all Fisker Ocean owners," says Cristian Fleming, co-founder of the FOA.
The FOA and American Lease will jointly carry Fisker Oceans into the future, with the FOA covering current owners and American Lease selling vehicles to new owners (at their own risk).
"American Lease went above and beyond to ensure we early adopters are well-supported through this service agreement, and we are all incredibly grateful," says Clint Bagley, a marketing and PR consultant with the FOA. "We hope this will open the door for third-party improvements to the software and features in our vehicles, which we desperately need."
Access to cloud-based functionality also became an issue for EV drivers with a JuiceBox home charger this month after the company abruptly stopped functioning in North America and shut down its software. After backlash, JuiceBox on Friday said it reached an agreement with a software provider that will allow customers and clients to use the JuiceBox software and mobile app "for an extended period." It's now soliciting bids from companies that want to take over its software and possibly keep it alive post-auction.