Fisker have announced that the Fisker Ocean electric car has completed and met all applicable Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) testing required for US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) self-certification and meets New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) standards for a five-star rating. Fisker used an internationally recognised agency to carry out the testing.
Henrik Fisker, Chairman and CEO of Fisker, said: “Fisker engineered the structure of the Fisker Ocean to achieve a five-star crash rating according to the NCAP. An official five-star rating will now be possible should NHTSA select a Fisker Ocean for testing.”
We recently brought you the news that the Fisker Ocean recently received WLTP certification in Europe of 440 miles (707km) for its Extreme trim level variant with 20” wheels. This is the longest range of any electric SUV currently on sale in Europe. Fisker expects full European regulatory approval by the end of April, with customer deliveries to follow.
The carmaker is pursuing an official Certificate of Conformity (CoC) with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to validate the Fisker Ocean Extreme range. Fisker provided the agency with a complete vehicle description and range test data recorded during a rolling road test at an independent, third-party test laboratory. The company is also pursuing a California Air Resources Board (CARB) certification in California and 17 other jurisdictions in the US.
Fisker anticipates the EPA will confirm the estimated 350-mile (563km) range for the Fisker Ocean Extreme, however, the automaker is waiting for the agency to provide a firm date for the certification. In the meantime, Fisker is utilising its dual-homologation approach for Europe and the US, with European deliveries preceding North America.
In the first quarter, Fisker changed its strategy of building 300 vehicles to avoid holding inventory that the company could not deliver in Europe or the US. Fisker built some units for internal use to maintain production readiness.
The company intends to ramp up production on April 20 for vehicles planned for European delivery. Units destined for the US will have a separate ramp-up, estimated to start the first week of May, with those vehicles ready to ship ahead of EPA approvals.
Fisker concluded: “This strategy ensures we can maintain a steady production ramp and have a sufficient quantity of vehicles ready for initial deliveries in Europe and the US while avoiding the cost of vehicle storage until approvals arrive.
“Homologating simultaneously places an extra workload on our teams, but we are utilising the benefits of an agile organisation by opportunistically shifting our plans and delivering vehicles in Europe first. I appreciate the patience of our reservation holders and am excited to get vehicles in the hands of our customers.”
