The 2023 Fisker Ocean electric crossover finally entered production this month at contractor Magna Steyr’s factory in Graz, Austria. Now Fisker has released a short time-lapse video of the process.
The roughly 3-minute video shows a pretty typical automotive assembly process. Robots weld and bond pieces of metal to form a body shell, which is then carried to different stations for painting and fitment of different components until it can roll off the assembly line as a finished vehicle.
Robots handle a significant amount of this assembly work, including installation of the Ocean’s glass roof and battery pack, but human workers also do a lot—including installing much of the interior.
2023 Fisker Ocean
Going with contract manufacturing allowed Fisker to avoid the expense of building its own factory, as well as the headaches that EV firms like Tesla, Rivian, and Lucid have experienced in ramping up production of their first models. Even established automakers sometimes outsource production of certain models. The same Austrian factory that builds the Ocean also assembled the Jaguar I-Pace.
Magna also supplied the platform for the Ocean, which is married to a Fisker-designed body first shown in concept form at the 2020 Consumer Electronics Show. Novel features include a California Mode that drops the side windows and rear liftgate window simultaneously, and a Limo Mode that allows rear-seat passengers to control temperature and audio.
Fisker showed the production-intent version at the 2021 Los Angeles auto show, quoting a $37,499 base price for the entry-level Sport version. That nets a single-motor front-wheel-drive powertrain with 275 hp, 0-60 mph in 6.9 seconds, and an estimated 250-mile range.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAQJhqzTBGw
Fisker also plans to offer mid-level Ultra and range-topping Extreme versions. The latter’s dual-motor all-wheel-drive powertrain is rated at 550 hp, enabling 0-60 mph in a claimed 3.6 seconds. Fisker also previously quoted a 350-mile range and $68,999 base price for this model.
The first 5,000 Oceans will be Ocean One special editions based on the Extreme trim level, but with unique styling features like 22-inch F3 SlipStream wheels and Big Sur Blue paint. All 5,000 sold out in 30 days, with customers putting down $5,000 deposits to secure one. Fisker claims to have more than 63,000 Ocean reservations in total, and is reportedly considering expanding production, possibly with a second manufacturing site in the U.S.
This wouldn’t be the first Fisker EV slated for U.S. production. The company has tapped Foxconn to build a more affordable model code-named Project Pear in Ohio starting in 2024, at the same factory slated to build the Lordstown Endurance electric pickup truck.
