Over £275,000 of Unwanted Electric Cars Dumped on Roadside in Nottingham

Nine brand new electric cars with a total value of between £278,000 and £520,000 have been dumped on a roadside in Nottingham after the Tesla-rival manufacturer went into liquidation last year. The Mail has the story.

American EV brand Fisker filed for bankruptcy in June 2024 after months of rescue talks failed.

The Fisker Group, which operates the EV arm of the Californian business, had failed to meet sales targets for its Ocean SUV and was forced to cease trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) after its stock price consistently fell below $1 for more than 30 consecutive days.

Official records show that 419 Ocean EVs were registered in the UK between December 2023 and June 2024 – with nine of these currently sat dormant in the Midlands, having been left outside to rot at the roadside.

Prices for the Ocean – which was launched to challenge the dominance of Elon Musk’s EV brand – ranged from £30,900 to £57,900 in the UK depending on specification, though the trim levels of the nine discarded vehicles are unclear.

The cars have been abandoned by local dealer Premium Central Performance and Prestige Cars, which had been holding them for Fisker having signed a deal to be a UK distributor before Fisker went into liquidation, according to Nottinghamshire Live.

According to local news, multiple members of the public have reported the fleet of unmoved EVs on Colwick Road and Racecourse Road east of the city centre for seven months.

However, the 22 tonnes of dispensed electric cars are yet to be removed.

All nine cars appear to be registered, each fitted with a UK number plate.

They were likely pre-registered by the Nottinghamshire dealership, which was said to have been holding the EVs on behalf of the dissolved car company in case buyers could be found.

The car dealership reportedly contacted the liquidators in October to inform them that they were moving the cars to a public road ready for collection as they were no longer able to legally stock or sell them.

By parking them on the public road, the dealership claimed to have “relinquished itself from responsibility” for the vehicles.

Liquidators have been warned that Nottingham City Council would dispose of the expensive convoy of EVs if they remained at the side of the road for too long.

That threat has yet to see fruition, with all nine cars remaining – some still with import stickers on the windscreen, seat covers in place, and factory documents dumped inside.

The city council issued seven-day removal notices on the vehicles on March 3rd, but they were still in situ at the roadside on April 14th.

For the remaining 400 or so UK owners of Fisker Oceans who took delivery from December 2023, they face the real prospect of being left with unfixable vehicles.

A number of owners said last year that their electric SUVs have been plagued with issues even before the company filed for bankruptcy. This included brake failure, rapid battery draining and the random opening of windows when parked.

But after they reported the issues to Fisker, they found the firm’s UK representatives to be less and less responsive as the company’s financial situation worsened.

Worth reading in full.

Stop Press: Electric cars break down more often than petrol and diesel vehicles, the Automobile Association (AA) has warned. From the Telegraph:

Jakob Pfaudler, boss of the breakdown service, said electric vehicles (EVs) were prone not only to punctures and flat batteries, but also to a host of specific problems such as jammed charging cables and technical glitches.

He said: “There’s a common misconception that electric vehicles break down less frequently than petrol and diesel vehicles.

“Currently, at least, that is not the case. The breakdown rate is, in fact, slightly higher for electric vehicles than for internal combustion-engine vehicles.”