The Fisker Ocean EV, to have been built in 2021, and the one buyers have reserved with deposits, still hasn’t reached production. But the company has seen funding for $1.2 billion, so far. Nonetheless, it now wants those Ocean reservation holders to cough up an extra $5,000, and it’s non-refundable. For buyers, it’s quite a leap of faith. And deliveries won’t begin until sometime in 2023, with nothing as of yet they can touch. 

Fisker wants $5,000 for Ocean One pre-orders only

That $5,000 is for a “pre-order.” Henrik Fisker explains that pre-orders and reservations are two different things. The distinction is that pre-orders are for the Ocean One only. Reservationists still hold their places in the queue. But when will pre-orders begin for the Sport, Ultra, and Extreme iterations?

“Fisker is inviting select groups of reservation holders to commit to securing their Fisker Ocean One by making a $5,000 non-refundable pre-order deposit,” from a letter sent to reservation holders as reported by Electrek. “Delivery timing will be dependent upon your pre-order date and delivery location. We expect all deliveries of the Fisker Ocean One to occur by end of September 2023.”

What about “pre-ordering” a base Ocean Sport? When the Ocean EV was unveiled in 2019, the price for a Sport model was $37,499. To its credit, the company is standing behind the price and reaffirmed it won’t raise prices for 2022 and 2023. 

Fisker will focus production on the Ocean One, then Ultra and Extreme

But this year Fisker said it would focus production on the Ocean Ultra and Extreme EVs. And that’s after first building 5,000 launch edition Ocean. Fisker’s tepid response about Sport production is that it will produce them in “modest volumes” sometime in 2023. That begins pushing orders past the 2023 price guarantee. Once Ocean Sport orders get beyond 2023 without taking delivery, will the $37,499 price guarantee still stand?

By estimates, the company is losing over $120 million a quarter. It has no positive cashflow. It may see a tinkle of positive cash flow sometime in 2023. But that’s only if it goes beyond selling T-shirts and water bottles. So vacuuming up capital is the focus running side-by-side with production goals.

Ocean production is completely in the hands of Magna. Besides producing it, Magna also has an equity stake in Fisker, so it behooves it to get cranking on Oceans. But it is a huge company with lots of manufacturing efforts and component production beyond the Ocean. For Magna, production delays will have a limited effect. But what about Fisker’s credibility if delays were to happen?

Why is Pear production going to Foxconn instead of Magna?

The equity stake means Magna has plenty to gain from production, which would suggest a strong relationship with Fisker. But its next model, the Pear, is going to Foxconn. So how strong is the connection, and the commitment?

Investment groups expect the company to crank up another round of stock offerings. That won’t make Wall Street very happy because it could dilute the existing stock. But every step it makes in getting to production means it spends money exponentially. Those 2023 deliveries aren’t that far away.