Fisker preliminary evaluation PE24001
Loss of braking performance. NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation opened this preliminary evaluation about the software/programming on 1 model year (2023). Opened Jan 11, 2024, closed Aug 26, 2024 after 8 months. It led to safety recall 24V623000. became a recall
What NHTSA says
Source: Office of Defects Investigation, as filedOn January 11, 2024, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened PE24001 to investigate instances of loss of braking performance in model year (MY) 2023 Fisker Ocean vehicles manufactured by Fisker Group Inc. The complaints allege an intermittent partial loss of regenerative braking over low traction surfaces, without alerting the driver. ODI is aware of six minor crashes and one injury due to this failure. The subject vehicles utilize a brake blending feature to achieve deceleration. Upon application of the brake pedal, both the service brake system (friction braking) and regenerative braking system (electric motor negative torque) are applied. Regenerative braking on low friction road surfaces may result in wheel slippage due to the high motor negative torque. The vehicle responds by reducing and/or eliminating regenerative braking torque to reduce wheel slip on drive wheels to maintain vehicle stability and steerability. This reduction in regenerative braking may cause a sensation of loss of braking force (or even vehicle accelerating) that was reported by consumers. Additionally, the driver may experience an unusual/altered brake pedal feel during loss of regenerative braking events, requiring them to press the brake pedal harder to maintain the expected braking rate. Upon exiting the low friction road surface, the regenerative braking force is restored. The initial calibration of the regenerative braking system contained aggressive interventions with a slower recovery in the event of loss of regenerative braking. In November 2023, Fisker launched an Over-the-Air update (OS1.10 SW). This update included a recalibration to reduce regenerative braking torque less aggressively and allow torque recovery to occur more quickly. Based on consumer reports and the data that Fisker provided in response to ODI’s inquiry, OS 1.10 SW reduced, but did not eliminate, the sensation of loss of braking force and resulted in stopping distance performance improvements. Friction braking is always available when the driver presses the brake pedal, and its performance is unaffected by regenerative brake loss. Fisker’s braking system is designed to reach full deceleration even with an unavailable regenerative braking system. The partial loss of braking force during moderate braking events can be overcome by applying additional pressure to the brake pedal to slow or stop the vehicle. On August 20, 2024, Fisker filed recall 24V-623 for all 2023 MY Fisker Ocean vehicles produced for the U.S.A. The recall remedy includes OS 2.2 over-the-air update, which is expected to modify the brake module to enhance the vehicle brake system’s ability to adapt to various driving scenarios. With successful implementation of OS 2.2, a road disturbance will not trigger a reduction in regenerative braking torque. In view of the recall action being taken by Fisker, ODI is closing this Preliminary Evaluation. The agency reserves the right to take additional action if warranted by future circumstances. To review the reports cited in the Closing Resume ODI Report Identification Number document, go to NHTSA.gov.
A Preliminary Evaluation is the first formal stage: NHTSA has decided the complaints and other information it screened are worth a closer look, and asks the manufacturer for its own data on the condition. The summary is the agency’s own text from its investigation file, unedited; the resumes carrying the full reasoning are linked below.
The paperwork NHTSA filed
Source: every document on this action, at nhtsa.gov- Opening resume — ODI’s own summary of why it opened this — the subject, what prompted it, and the vehicles in scope.
- Closing resume — ODI’s own summary of why it closed this, and what it concluded.
| Document | Code | Filed | At NHTSA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Opening resume | INOA | 2024 | |
| Closing resume | INCLA | 2024 | |
| Information request to the manufacturer | INIM | 2024 | |
| Manufacturer's response — data | INRD | 2024 | 37 files 12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031323334353637 |
40 of 49 documents shown; the rest are under this number at nhtsa.gov.
These are NHTSA’s own files, served from the agency’s site — the resumes are what ODI wrote when it opened and closed the action, and the rest is the correspondence behind them, including what the manufacturer sent when the agency asked. They are linked, not copied: where a document names the people who wrote in, that redaction is the agency’s to make and its copy is the one you should read.
What owners had already reported
Source: complaints on file the day it openedWhen NHTSA opened this on Jan 11, 2024, owners had filed 34 complaints with the agency about the model years above, of which 9 named the service brakes NHTSA went on to investigate. Owner complaints are the agency’s main early signal: ODI screens them, and a Preliminary Evaluation is usually where a pattern in them ends up.
This is what the complaint file held on that date, not a claim about which reports prompted the investigation — NHTSA’s complaint records carry no investigation number, so nobody can make that link from the data alone. The opening resume linked above names the reports ODI itself cited. Complaint records on this site begin with 2016.
What this means for an owner
Source: and what happens nextAn investigation is not a finding that a defect exists, and it puts no duty on anyone. NHTSA opens a Preliminary Evaluation when complaints and other reports suggest a condition worth asking the manufacturer about; it upgrades to an Engineering Analysis when the answers warrant testing; it closes either when it recommends a recall, when the manufacturer recalls on its own, or when no defect trend is found. The agency’s own goals are about four months for a petition, eight for a Preliminary Evaluation or a Recall Query and eighteen for an Engineering Analysis; many run longer.
This one became a recall. The campaign page carries the manufacturer’s filed defect, risk and remedy, the build window and every model year covered; whether one specific vehicle is included is settled by VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
Model years it names
Source: as NHTSA filed themA vehicle page’s investigation list carries the same action; a name here is the scope NHTSA opened, not a list of affected VINs.
Common questions
Source: NHTSA Office of Defects InvestigationIs PE24001 a recall?
No — it is the investigation that led to one. Recall 24V623000 is the campaign; its page carries the remedy.
Is PE24001 still open?
No. It closed on Aug 26, 2024 and led to recall 24V623000.
Which vehicles does PE24001 cover?
NHTSA opened it on 1 model year: 2023 Fisker Ocean. That is the scope of the inquiry, not a list of affected vehicles; a recall, if one follows, defines its own population by VIN.