I
wrote about Fisker battery-powered cars in 2013. In those days, Fisker's car was the Karma. Since then, stylist Henrik Fisker abandoned the ruins of his Karma company and managed to get funding for a new company that was to produce a battery-powered sport-utility vehicle called the Ocean. As I write this (late June 2024), that company appears to be approaching kaput status.
Since it's probably too soon for Fisker's dust to settle, I'll not provide links about the various messes. Feel free to Internet-search for recent information and post-mortems.
From sketchy information I've recently read on autoextremist.com, the problems with Ocean are related to engineering matters, not styling. But since this blog deals with styling, I'll discuss that here. Images below seem to be via Fisker.
Gallery
Nowadays, the basic shapes of most cars are similar due to the government-mandated need to maximize aerodynamic efficiency. Stylists are mostly left with the task of decorating those shapes. Here Fisker chose an inverted-U theme seen on the front bumper and the lower-body side sculpting. The front includes a faux radiator grille and a fashionable thin, horizontal streak related to lighting.
The panelwork straddling the C-pillar above the beltline echoes the kink of the side-sculpting. The passenger compartment greenhouse isn't very tall, helping a bulky shape seem slightly sleeker.
The angular inverted-U theme is also in the rear bumper area. Unlike aft-end sculpting and shaping found on many current designs, the theme's use here is consistent -- a refreshing thing. The thin, horizontal lighting concept is carried over on the tail light assemblies.
That small opening (or whatever it is) on the D-pillar is visually integrated with nearly window framing, so serves as an agreeable accent. The word "Fisker" above the backlight window is an unusual touch. All things considered, the Ocean's styling is well above average for SUV's of its size class... except for those horribly loud wheels.
1 comment:
I have no idea how the ducting works or where the AC condenser is on EVs (probably different from brand to brand, unlike with IC cars). But you do need somewhere for the AC air intake (and exhaust). Also the batteries need some cooling.
Just after Audi had made it cool to have a distinctive fireplace hearth sized grille for brand identity here comes EVs with even less need for it than the ICs actually did.
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