Electric vehicle (EV) OEM, Fisker, says it’s working on a customer service improvement update in the U.S. and Canada based on feedback from customers and is expanding its collision repair network, including hiring technicians.

“Customer service is our top priority,” Chairman and CEO Henrik Fisker said. “We realize, based on customer feedback, that we need to make improvements so we are ramping up our service operations globally, enhancing our service process, and growing our service team.”

Fisker has added regional management oversight of service and is growing a team of service staffers who call customers in response to service-related issues and book service appointments. The company currently has more than 30 customer relations associates, which is supplemented with call centers to support inbound and outbound calls, Fisker said.

Fisker is also sending surveys to its customers to better understand and improve the service experience. A newly hired technical services director will begin in January to provide additional leadership and support for handling technical cases.

Fisker is also expanding its collision repair network and is actively recruiting technicians. The automaker plans to hire “many more” in the coming months. Its team of mobile technicians will also be expanded.

To accommodate customers who require collision repair, Fisker currently has 40 shops in its repair network located in 10 states and three Canadian provinces. Five new shops were added last week, and Fisker plans to increase the U.S. total by 80 shops across the country. To add to its overall capabilities, Fisker has brought a service partner on board that will assist with PDI and related services at Fisker facilities.

“We are also reaching out to customers to understand any hardware needs and ensure we are supporting both in-warranty and outside-warranty requests,” Fisker said. “In the U.S. and Canada, Fisker currently has nearly 100 service technicians, more than 30 of whom are mobile technicians, assisting customers in 20 states and two Canadian provinces.”

Fisker says it is getting in touch with every U.S. customer who owns an Ocean to assess their needs. Version 1.10 Ocean software was released in November and over-the-air (OTA) updates are being completed in a phased rollout. Eighty percent have received the update and customers have reported an enhanced and improved experience, Fisker said.

Version 1.11 is also being released with 300 customers receiving updates per day. All customer vehicles are slated to receive the update by the end of January.

Fisker has also reached out to customers who have older versions of the software to upgrade them to the latest release.

EV demand and regulations are growing in controversy across the U.S.

Although sales increased 1% year-over-year for the first half of 2023, a “stark division is emerging” between states where adoption is growing, and others where it’s stalled, according to J.D. Power’s “E-Vision Intelligence Report.”

J.D. reports that while California, the highest adoption state, is expected to reach 94% EV share by 2035, the state where EVs are least adopted — North Dakota —might remain below 20%. Michigan is expected to reach a 41% adoption rate during the same period.

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Featured image: Fisker Ocean (Provided by Fisker)

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