The Nationwide Freeway Site visitors Security Administration has opened a third investigation into EV startup Fisker’s Ocean SUV, this time centered on issues getting the doorways to open.
NHTSA’s Workplace of Defects Investigation (ODI) says in a brand new discover that it has acquired 14 complaints from house owners who haven’t been in a position to open the doorways to their Fisker Oceans, both from the within or the skin. The company says the complaints level to a an “intermittent failure” of the door latch and deal with system. The complaints additionally increase the likelihood that the emergency override mechanism additionally doesn’t work.
Prospects have reported getting caught in or out of their automobile to Fisker for months, based on inner paperwork that TechCrunch exclusively reported on in February. A few of these incidents had been associated to the Ocean’s troublesome key fob. However the brand new security probe suggests a deeper drawback with the SUV’s doorways. The investigation is designated as a “preliminary evaluation,” which ODI usually resolves inside eight months.
The Ocean SUV is already being investigated by ODI over problems with its braking system, and for complaints in regards to the car rolling away on uneven surfaces. The corporate has not issued any recollects for the Ocean. The corporate didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
The third probe is being opened as Fisker is on the brink. It paused production of the Ocean in March and reported simply $121 million within the financial institution. Fisker remains to be sitting on hundreds of Ocean SUVs in stock that it’s struggling to promote, both immediately or by way of its nascent dealership mannequin, and lately slashed costs by as much as 39% in a determined try and generate gross sales. It was lately removed from the New York Inventory Alternate. A potential partnership with Nissan fell through, endangering an try at securing $150 million in rescue funding.
