[betch23]

Does anyone know anything about the "New" Fisker? Is this a real company? Will they be ramping up production or will they just be providing parts? I have had some emails with their staff that has raised some concerns. Thanks in advance!

 

[LonePalmBJ]

Does anyone know anything about the "New" Fisker? Is this a real company? Will they be ramping up production or will they just be providing parts? I have had some emails with their staff that has raised some concerns. Thanks in advance!

Yes, it's a real company. They have been fairly active and frankly a Godsend to us existing owns since the vacuum of the original Fisker's bankruptcy and implosion.

The New Fisker is a new company, with entirely new ownership (Wanxiang America, a subsidiary of Wanxiang Group in China) and essentially all new management. As I understand it they have about 200 full time employees in the California HQ right now, comprised of about 1/3 former Fisker people, about 1/3 with former experience at Tesla and about 1/3 new to the endeavor.

Their initial focus has been on servicing the current Karma owner community. You can see this on their new website, www.thenewfisker.com and they also have a very active online forum which many people from the new company participate in: http://www.thenewfisker.com/forums/

They have not announced many details or timelines but they are actively working toward restarting production of the Karma, and also introducing new models. They have announced that they are going to build the cars in a new California factory they are setting up.

Note that the New Fisker didn't inherit all of the obligations, commitments or liabilities of the old company. Legally all they are required to do is to abide by the terms of the bankruptcy sale agreement. In practice they have done a good bit more, rolling out their CSP - Customer Support Program and are slowly building a network of CSP dealers and service centers in the US and around the world. So far they have delivered on everything they said they would do, including paying for qualified warranty work and releasing a new version of operating software for the Karma, a first in nearly three years. Some folks have been disappointed that The New Fisker isn't able to accommodate every desire: I've seen "I want you to buy my car back" and "I want you to support grey-market US cars imported into Europe" requests denied, for example, which is the New Fisker's prerogative and may be a sound business decision but still frustrating to the individual who asked.

I'm curious what experiences you've had with them that lead you to make this post. Anything you care to share?

Brent

 

[betch23]

Thank you for the informative response, Brent.

Because I have noticed a number of errors pop up on my Main Screen or CIU as they refer to it; I became increasingly concerned about how the Fisker software was designed and architect-ed. Maybe it was my 20 years of Software Development that peaked my interest. I reached out to the New Fisker over the last month and when asking simple questions about the Operating System and Development Language, I could not get an answer, much less a straight answer. This raised some concern in my mind about the validity of the New Fisker. I could be wrong, but I am still somewhat concerned.

 

[LonePalmBJ]

Thank you for the informative response, Brent.

Because I have noticed a number of errors pop up on my Main Screen or CIU as they refer to it; I became increasingly concerned about how the Fisker software was designed and architect-ed. Maybe it was my 20 years of Software Development that peaked my interest. I reached out to the New Fisker over the last month and when asking simple questions about the Operating System and Development Language, I could not get an answer, much less a straight answer. This raised some concern in my mind about the validity of the New Fisker. I could be wrong, but I am still somewhat concerned.

You, me and and it seems half the people on this forum have a software background

Don't necessarily interpret The New Fisker not disclosing information to you as them not knowing. Regardless, all of your answers are actually here in FiskerBuzz. These topics were debated endlessly when the Karma first rolled out (and the software was MUCH worse!)

While it's convenient to ask about "the OS the car runs", it's a bit misleading; the Karma is a collection of dozens of systems that each has it's own operating control software or OS, and interestingly it's own software release version. When you hear about the Karma having the "Baseline 520" software for example what that really means is that all of the various subsystems are on whatever release level was tagged as "Baseline 520". The nomenclature varies.

A lot of people who ask questions about 'the software' are usually referring to the software and UI on the Infotainment Unit and touchscreen. That's been well documented here as well, and more than a few people have expressed an opinion about how it - or they - could have done better!

A lot of common questions perhaps including your own were addressed here: http://www.fiskerbuzz.com/forums/13-fisker-karma/484-command-center-questions-beefs-bugs.html


Brent

 

[betch23]

Thank you for the response Brent. I see some of your points.

But, since you are a seasoned veteran with decades of experience like myself, you probably would understand, as well as anyone, that there are tell tale signs of poor architecture. The OS is just one of those signs...the development language is another.

I would like to get a better understanding of the direction, because that will directly influence many of my decisions moving forward. I am sure that I am no different than any of the other owners who make well thought out decisions.

 

[LonePalmBJ]

In the news today: http://www.autoblog.com/2015/07/29/fisker-looking-to-hire-37-at-career-fair-this-week/