- A non-running Fisker Ocean was bought for $10,000.
- The car had just 300 miles on the clock but had both batteries depleted.
Ah, the Fisker Ocean. Such a promising electric vehicle, with plenty of range and enough quirks to make it a worthy competitor for heavyweights such as the Tesla Model Y and Hyundai Ioniq 5.
Too bad the car was rushed to the market with unfinished software, prompting just about every car reviewer in the industry to warn potential buyers that it isn’t worth it, at least not at the original price of over $60,000. The fact that the company went bankrupt earlier this year doesn’t help either.
But what if you could get your hands on an extremely discounted Fisker Ocean, albeit one that doesn’t run and drive? How does $10,000 sound for a brand-new EV that only has 300 miles on the odometer?
I won’t lie, I would be tempted, but I still haven’t found one that fits the bill. Rich Benoit, who goes by Rich Rebuilds on YouTube, however, did find such a Fisker Ocean, and he made a video about how he got the dead EV running again.
But first, the car’s story. According to the clip embedded below, this particular blue Fisker Ocean was traded in at a dealer after the owner got fed up with it after just 300 miles. The problem is that the car sat for so long in the parking lot that the high-voltage battery was depleted, which in turn depleted the 12-volt battery.
As a result, nothing worked, not even the central locking. The dealer reportedly called Fisker for support and the company sent out a technician to revive the EV, but while he was doing that, he was fired over the phone. It goes without saying that it wasn’t a very nice thing to do, but the fact remained that the car was still dead.
So the price continued to go down, and after a few calls, Benoit got his hands on a non-running Fisker Ocean that might turn out to be the deal of the century.
The first order of business was to get some electricity into the low-voltage battery. But with that ticked off the list, the Ocean refused to charge the high-voltage pack. As it turned out, it was a faulty charge port sensor that appeared to have some corrosion inside. A quick browsing session on eBay and $100 later, the sensor was replaced, and lo and behold, the Fisker accepted a charge.
But the story isn’t over yet. The car’s software still needs to be upgraded to the latest version and there are two hardware-related recalls for the door handles and cabin electric water pump that will require new parts and a potentially costly visit to a service center. Considering the automaker is bankrupt, it’s hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel, but there is hope.
