A startup company building a cool EV concept is one thing but building more than 10,000 in a year is another. It’s a feat that Fisker has pulled off with its Ocean SUV.

The first EV from founder Henrik Fisker’s second attempt at launching an automotive company has reached volume production, with Fisker saying it finished 2023 with 10,142 electric EVs coming off the assembly line with more than 4,700 of those delivered at last check.

For those that don’t follow Fisker, this is the second incarnation of an automotive company bearing the designer’s name. The first company went bankrupt and was later ressurected under the name Karma Automotive. The current version of Fisker was founded in 2016 with assembly line production beginning in November 2022.

The first 5,000 examples were produced with the Ocean One launch edition trim, which is the subject of this week’s EV Rider video. Owner Mike Toenies, who runs the Fisker Ocean Specialist YouTube channel, allowed EV Rider to take his Ocean One for a spin and use the EV’s first of 500 boosts. More on that in a moment.

The very first impression is how refined it feels. I didn’t see any glaring panel gaps, experience any rattles or run into any strange throttle responses, sloppy handling, etc. The EV feels like it could have been built by one of the more established automotive brands.

The Ocean is filled with thoughtful design touches such as a solar roof that Fisker estimates can generate about 1,500 miles of additional range per year in sunny climates or up to 2,000 miles in absolutely perfect conditions.

Easter eggs abound in the Ocean, some of which are shown and discussed in the video at the top of this post.

Mike’s Ocean One is rated at 360 miles per charge. He says in the real world he’s been averaging about 310 to 320 miles of range. It has a peak DC charging speed of up to 200 kW, which in ideal conditions lets it charge from 10 to 80 percent in 35 minutes.

There’s plenty of performance on tap as well. When the SUV’s Boost mode is engaged, it’s rated for a 0-60 run of 3.7 seconds with 564 horsepower. Mike, who is a pilot, sums up boost mode this way: “In the Navy I was catapulted off a carrier one time and this is as close to that as you can get.”

One unusual thing about the Boost mode: Fisker limits customers to using it 500 times. At this point it’s unknown whether Fisker will allow customers to buy additional “boosts” or perhaps end its use after 500 times to protect the battery’s life.

While the Ocean One is blazingly fast it’s also quite practical. There’s room in the back for three across when needed with real leg space for the center passenger. When just two are in the back, the center seat folds down to reveal the rear seat HVAC controls, including heated seats and cup holders. 

The Ocean is also one of the few SUVs out there to have power reclining rear seats. 

Out back it has a cargo capacity of 28.7 feet. That jumps to 45 feet when the rear seats are flipped down. However, there’s no front trunk. The front hood is only meant to be opened for servicing. 

Up front the Ocean can double as a rolling office on wheels. It includes a center console fold out tray that works with laptops. The passenger also gets a laptop worthy tray that takes the place of a traditional glove box. Those proverbial gloves can easily be stashed along with a purse or other items under the center console or under the front passenger seat. 

Looking at the Ocean One’s 17.1-inch center display screen, it makes excellent use of the EV’s 360-degree cameras, however the infotainment system is missing a few things. It doesn’t have AM Radio, HD Radio, satellite radio, Android Auto or Apple Car Play; currently limiting customers to a few music apps or bluetooth streaming. The audio apps that are available include iHeartRadio, Spotify and TuneIn.

Fisker said in 2023 it is looking into *potentially* adding Android Auto and Apple Car Play. 

The center display makes up for some of those shortcomings with what Fisker calls “Hollywood mode.” When parked the display can rotate from its upright vertical position to a 16:9 horizontal landscape mode to watch videos while charging. Video stream options include YouTube, Amazon Prime and Disney+.

One of Mike’s favorite features on the Ocean One is its California mode, which opens the huge sunroof and lowers all windows simultaniously. The back hatch window and rear quarter windows also fully lower in California mode.

The base price for an entry-level Ocean sport was $37,500 at the time this post was published while the top of the line Extreme model started at under $62,000.

Since EV Rider is primarily a video driven site you’ll have to watch the episode at the top of this post for the full driving impressions and details from the road test but for those of you that prefer words and numbers, here is the full press kit from Fisker:

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