Fisker owners reverse-engineer cars to save them from bricking

🔑 Enhanced Key Takeaways

•The necessity for reverse-engineering arose because Fisker's 'software-based car' architecture meant critical vehicle functions, such as brakes, airbags, and door locks, relied on cloud servers that became defunct after the company's bankruptcy, threatening to 'brick' the vehicles.
•Initial attempts by the Fisker Owners Association (FOA) to secure access to Fisker's proprietary source code and cloud services through a deal with American Lease, which acquired Fisker's remaining inventory, ultimately failed, compelling the owners to pursue independent reverse-engineering.
•The FOA has successfully developed and deployed open-source tools, including 'OceanLink Pro' for diagnostics and 'Phone as Key' functionality, and supported hardware upgrades like 'OceanLink Pulse' which connects directly to the vehicle's CAN lines for advanced features and potential integration with third-party ADAS systems like OpenPilot.
•A third-party entity, OV Loop, has emerged as the 'only authorized software provider' for Fisker Ocean vehicles, offering a subscription service for 4G connectivity, over-the-air (OTA) updates (up to OS 2.2.3), remote diagnostics, and expert support, having been contracted by American Lease and the bankruptcy trustee.
•The community's reverse-engineering efforts extend to publishing CAN bus files (DBC files) on GitHub and creating Home Assistant integrations that expose cloud API values as sensors and controls, demonstrating a significant move towards open-source vehicle interfaces.

🛠️ Technical Deep Dive

The Fisker Ocean utilizes multiple Controller Area Network (CAN) buses, specifically CCAN, PTCAN, Inverter CAN, and BCAN, all operating at a speed of 500kbps.
The vehicle's architecture is highly 'software-based,' meaning essential subsystems like brakes, airbags, shifting, battery management, and door locks required periodic connectivity to Fisker's cloud servers for diagnostics and operational functionality.
Owners are actively mapping these CAN buses and decoding Diagnostic Trouble Codes (DTCs) to enable self-diagnosis via mobile applications.
Open-source projects include a Home Assistant integration that translates cloud API values into sensors and controls, and the public release of CAN bus DBC files on GitHub for filtering and processing.
The 'OceanLink Pulse' hardware upgrade directly interfaces with the vehicle's CAN lines, facilitating new functionalities such as proximity lock/unlock, camera view on blinker activation, and potential integration with advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) like OpenPilot.
The Fisker Ocean Sport variant is equipped with CATL LFP (Lithium Iron Phosphate) battery cells, while the Ultra and Extreme versions use CATL cells with NMC (Nickel Manganese Cobalt) chemistry.
All Fisker Ocean models incorporate silicon carbide inverters and feature bi-directional charging capabilities, supporting Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V), Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G), and Vehicle-to-Home (V2H) power transfer.
The vehicle's interior includes a 17.1-inch central touchscreen that can rotate from a standard portrait orientation during driving to a landscape format when parked.

🔮 Future ImplicationsAI analysis grounded in cited sources

The Fisker owners' actions will significantly bolster the 'right to repair' movement in the automotive sector.

Their successful reverse-engineering and creation of independent support systems highlight the vulnerability of 'software-based cars' to manufacturer failure and demonstrate a viable path for consumer self-reliance, putting pressure on lawmakers for broader right-to-repair legislation.

The automotive industry may face increased pressure to implement mandatory software escrow and open-source fallback provisions for cloud-dependent vehicle functions.

The Fisker case starkly illustrates how a manufacturer's collapse can render vehicles partially or wholly inoperable due to reliance on proprietary cloud services, prompting calls from digital rights activists and even Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin for more open-source thinking and protective measures.

A new model for post-bankruptcy vehicle support, involving third-party authorized software providers working with owner associations, could emerge.

The emergence of OV Loop as an authorized software provider, offering subscription-based updates and connectivity after Fisker's bankruptcy, suggests a potential framework for maintaining orphaned vehicles that balances proprietary access with owner needs.

⏳ Timeline

2007-08

Henrik Fisker co-founds Fisker Automotive, which later produces the Fisker Karma.

2013-11

Fisker Automotive files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

2016-10

Henrik Fisker founds Fisker Inc., a successor company.

2023-05

Fisker Inc. begins delivering its Fisker Ocean SUV to customers.

2024-06

Fisker Inc. files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, leaving approximately 11,000 Ocean SUV owners with unsupported vehicles.

2024-10

Fisker's bankruptcy plan is approved; American Lease acquires remaining inventory and cloud access, but a deal for owner software access with FOA falls apart, prompting owners' reverse-engineering efforts.