American regulators are looking into a potential safety issue relating to the 2023 Fisker Ocean. The new electric vehicle has become the subject of several complaints from owners, who say that the braking performance of their vehicles diminished dangerously.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) says it has received nine complaints from owners of the 2023 Ocean, including one incident involving a fire. It has decided to open a preliminary evaluation into an estimated 4,000 examples of the vehicle.
The complaints are wide-ranging, but all revolve around the brakes. In particular, customers complain that they lose regenerative braking altogether when driving over bumpy surfaces, such as streets under construction.
Read: Fisker Ditches Direct Sales In America, Partners With Existing Dealerships
In addition, some owners complain that their hydraulic braking system also become temporarily ineffective when such an incident occurs. We have reached out to Fisker for comment on this issue, but the company did not immediately respond.
However, not all complaints revolve around the loss of the brakes. In one case, a driver in Coppell, Texas, said they were driving on a highway when the parking brake unexpectedly engaged. They said they attempted to disengage it to no avail.
“Due to the higher speed of being on a state highway, the vehicle quickly became unstable and within a few seconds the brakes locked up and I went into a spin crossing two lanes in the process,” the complainant said. “I was lucky that no other vehicles were in the path of travel and I eventually came to a stop pointing the wrong way on a 6 lane highway.”
Fortunately, they did not collide with anyone and were able to pull off the road. However, once there, they noticed a burning smell, and saw smoke pouring out of the brakes. They claim that both rear wheels were on fire.
NHTSA is now investigating this issue, and says it will review the available information to determine the severity of the potential issue, and assess its impacts on the safety of drivers. If it determines that a risk exists, it may demand that Fisker start a recall campaign.
