Fisker went bankrupt and owners built an open source car company from the ashes
5 hours ago
- #Right to Repair
- #Electric Vehicles
- #Open Source
- Fisker filed for bankruptcy in June 2024, leaving 11,000 Ocean SUV owners with vehicles losing software functionality and support.
- Owners organized the Fisker Owners Association (FOA), which grew to 4,000 members, reverse-engineered software, and built open-source tools to maintain their vehicles.
- Technical efforts included GitHub projects for API integration, CAN bus mapping, and diagnostic tools, creating an open-source ecosystem around the Ocean.
- A $2.5 million deal with American Lease to access Fisker's software collapsed, leading to revoked connectivity and blocked recalls for owners.
- The situation highlights broader issues in the EV industry, with calls for software escrow funds, open-source mandates, and right-to-repair laws to prevent similar problems.
- Analysts expect more EV startups to fail, emphasizing the need for systems to keep functional vehicles from becoming e-waste.