Fisker Ocean Ultra: the ultimate bargain EV?
And if not, does such a thing even exist with HMRC now closing in?
Surely nothing speaks to the topsy-turvy-ness of the 2025 car market like the sight of a discontinued electric SUV for sale at a dealer outwardly concerned with used Lotuses. It’s like buying a roast dinner from an ice cream van. Or, if you prefer, a dead parrot from a Blockbuster store. Certainly, you’d need a good reason to even consider it. Assuming, of course, you’re not automatically endowed with the kind of bravery needed to storm a machine gun post.
The reasoning here, much as it was when we last considered the prospect of buying a Fisker Ocean, is value for money. Thanks to its maker dissolving like powered sugar in boiling water, the electric SUV has suffered the kind of depreciation that holders of US mortgage bonds would recognise from 2008. What was once an expensive object of desire is now something of a cautionary tale, making even the £18,750 asked for this example seem optimistic.
We say that on the basis that the previous Ocean we thrust under the PH spotlight was valued at £16,990 and hadn’t even covered 500 miles. This one has clocked up more than 8k since last year. The difference is in the amount of bang you’re getting for your buck: the other example was the front-wheel drive cooking model that could barely summon up 300hp. You’re looking at the dual-motor Ultra, which delivers a far more lively 544hp and 0-62mph in 4.2 seconds.
Moreover, and probably more importantly, different battery chemistry meant the EPA expected the mid-tier model to manage 350 miles between charges (considerably further than the entry-level model). In other words, it was very much in the mould of the whizz-bang electric SUVs we’ve become accustomed to, and while the Touring Sport could be bought for £36,900 when it launched, the Ultra was originally priced at £50,900 before Fisker pulled the rug from under its 22-inch wheels. That’s a long way from £18k.
It is then, undeniably, a lot of tech for not very much. And reports from last year suggest the Ocean, built in Austria by Magna Steyr, was perfectly respectable to drive. It did play host to some electrical gremlins, mind - and, of course, you’d now be purchasing it without any manufacturer support whatsoever and only a friendly owner’s club to fall back on. To call it a leap of faith is probably understating it. Last summer, while reporting on Fisker’s demise, Autocar noted that a nearly-new Ocean Extreme was being offered for £28k. It’s hard to imagine the trajectory flattening out anytime soon.
Added to all that, there’s now the prospect of 3p-per-mile road duty in the pipeline; not necessarily a problem for the kind of high-end EV buyers that Fisker was originally targeting, but most definitely food for thought when it comes to scoring yourself a bargain very near the basement. Is the Ocean Ultra that? And if it isn’t, could any secondhand electric car truly be said to qualify? After all, the prospect of a £10k, ten-year-old Tesla Model S comes with its own assortment of ownership peccadillos. Answers on a postcard.
It’s a pity these boondoggles will be most people’s only reference to the brand.
That was the case a year ago anyway. I don’t know if it has changed.
The sweet spot of circa £20k EV’s is a Model 3 or Y.
RSEV on uTube has a 150k mile M3 and just got a 209k MY ex taxi. Both are amazing for wear, battery range and feel like cars a quarter of the miles. I’m also surprised how well the interiors wear. They just don’t show usage like leather and fabrics have done in the past.
The likely depreciation on a year old Polestar 3 is ten grand a year or so? Seems a fair comparison. Would I value it at around ten grand, then? I dunno. I wouldn’t value it at ten of my thousands, thanks.
Come to think of it I think you could lease a similar and new Polestar 3 for comfortably less than that (per year) with only a tiny risk of ballache.
Is anyone going to buy this?
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff