The Fisker Ocean is the latest in a series of always interesting but often thwarted electric Tesla challengers from the former BMW (Z8) and Aston Martin (DB9 and Vantage) design director. His 2011 Karma, billed as the world’s first luxury plug-in hybrid, led to the EMotion concept shown at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) exactly two years ago.
That never made production but there will be plenty of people hoping the Ocean, one of the big stories from the 2020 CES, bucks the Fisker trend and hits the big time. Small wobble from the karaoke machine apart, reaction to the Ocean’s unveiling has been positive, based around some incredibly ambitious targets.
That centres around a starting price in the US of $37,495 (£28,500), before any government incentives. As the pictures show, the Ocean is no city runaround but a mid-size, high-riding five-door, five-seater. Its predecessor EMotion was a large luxury saloon with huge butterfly doors, but for the new Ocean Fisker has ditched that and followed the market down the SUV route.
Think of it as a rival for the forthcoming Tesla Model Y as well as (far more expensive) electric SUV-alikes such as the Mercedes EQC, Audi E-Tron and Jaguar I-Pace. With its chunky proportions, well planted stance, signature electric car ultra-thin light graphics and sloping roofline, it appears a natural fit in that class.