Fisker, the electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer, is facing mounting challenges as it grapples with misplaced customer payments and financial mismanagement. According to recent reports, the company misplaced millions of dollars in customer payments for its Ocean EV, leading to an internal audit that has yet to be resolved since its initiation in December.
The situation worsened as Fisker struggled to track down deposits that customers had put down on its EVs. While some deposits were located, others were lost, forcing the company to ask customers to submit new checks or update payment methods to reobtain their deposits.
Employees revealed the company’s difficulty in managing down payments, with some payments covering the full cost of the vehicle. “Checks were not cashed in a timely manner or just lost altogether,” said one employee. “We were often scrambling to find checks, credit card receipts, and any wired funds a few months after a vehicle was sold.”
The internal audit, coupled with requests for additional documentation from outside auditor PwC, further revealed the company’s financial disarray. Fisker was reportedly unable to provide satisfactory documentation regarding its vehicle sales, leading to delays in submitting its annual financial report for 2023, which remains outstanding.
In a bid to stay afloat, Fisker recently halted production of the Ocean EV and slashed prices by $14,000 to $24,000. However, skeptics, including Tesla, which has stopped accepting Ocean EVs on trade-ins, doubt that these measures will be sufficient to save the company from potential bankruptcy.
