Preliminary Evaluation · Unintended vehicle movement · Opened 2024-02-14 · Closed 2024-12-06
Investigation
Action number
PE24005
Type
Preliminary Evaluation
Open date
2024-02-14
Close date
2024-12-06
Manufacturer
Fisker Group Inc
Affected makes
FISKER
Affected components
POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION
Affected model years
2023
Affected (make, year) variants
1
Summary
On February 14, 2024, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened PE24005 to investigate reports of unintended vehicle movement in model year (MY) 2023 Fisker Ocean vehicles manufactured by Fisker Group Inc. The complaints allege the inability to shift into the park gear and/or vehicle rollaway. The investigation found that the subject vehicles contain a logic that prevents the engagement of the park gear when the park gear request is made while the vehicle is still moving at low speeds. In the event the driver requests the park gear prior to the vehicle achieving a complete standstill status, the vehicle rejects the park gear request, displays a visual warning, and shifts into the neutral gear. Therefore, if the driver does not properly restrain the vehicle prior to exiting (i.e., allow the vehicle to come to a complete stop, then provide a second park gear request and/or engage the parking brake), the vehicle is at risk of freely rolling away in neutral. ODI found that existing strategies to deter drivers from exiting the vehicle after failing to ensure the transmission successfully engages the park gear have not stopped some from doing so. The absence of additional mechanisms to mitigate the effects of driver behavior in failing to ensure the park gear was engaged prior to exiting the vehicle constitutes a defect presenting a risk to motor vehicle safety. ODI is aware of one reported injury due to this safety defect. On November 15, 2024, Fisker filed recall 24V-865 for all MY 2023-2024 Fisker Ocean vehicles. The recall remedy is the release of software upgrade OS 2.0. This software update provides additional robustness to prevent unintended vehicle movement via two major changes. First, in the event the driver seatbelt is unlatched when the vehicle is traveling at low speeds, logic was added to initiate an automatic, controlled deceleration to bring the vehicle to a standstill. Once standstill status is achieved, the vehicle will automatically engage the pa