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How Owners of EVs from Bankrupt Fisker Saved Their Cars With an Open Source Nonprofit (electrek.co) 45

Posted by EditorDavid from the fight-to-repair dept.
An anonymous reader shared this report from Electrek: When Fisker Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in June 2024, it left roughly 11,000 Ocean SUV owners holding the keys to vehicles that cost them anywhere from $40,000 to $70,000 — and that were rapidly losing the software brains that made them work. No more over-the-air updates. No more connected services. No more warranty. The manufacturer was dead.

What happened next is one of the most remarkable stories in the history of the electric vehicle industry. Instead of accepting that their cars would become rolling paperweights, Fisker Ocean owners organized, reverse-engineered their vehicles' proprietary software, hacked into CAN bus networks, built open-source tools on GitHub, and effectively stood up a volunteer-run open-sourced car company from the ashes of Fisker... Within months of the bankruptcy filing, thousands of Ocean owners formed the Fisker Owners Association (FOA) — a nonprofit that quickly grew to 4,000 members and began operating as something between a car club, a tech startup, and an independent automaker. The FOA hired independent tech experts who began reverse-engineering Fisker's proprietary software patches. Members taught each other how to flash firmware. They organized bulk purchases of replacement parts — negotiating the price of key fobs down from roughly $1,000 each to a fraction of that through coordinated group buys. They hosted free global key fob pairing events, saving each owner $100 to $250...

What started as desperate troubleshooting has evolved into a genuine open-source ecosystem around the Fisker Ocean. On GitHub, a developer named MichaelOE reverse-engineered the API behind Fisker's official "My Fisker" mobile app and built a Home Assistant integration that exposes every cloud API value as a sensor — with all the app's buttons available as Home Assistant controls... [Community members have also been systematically mapping CAN bus files.]
The article noes this "is not an isolated incident. Nikola also filed for bankruptcy, leaving its owners in a similar bind. Canoo and Arrival are headed for liquidation auctions..." Consumer advocates are now pushing for structural changes: mandatory software escrow funds that would keep vehicle software running even if the manufacturer disappears, open-source mandates in bankruptcy proceedings, and shared repair data requirements... European automakers, meanwhile, are moving in a different direction entirely — Volkswagen, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and eight suppliers signed a memorandum in 2025 to develop a shared open-source automotive software platform....

The Fisker Owners Association has proven that a dedicated community can keep orphaned EVs on the road. But they shouldn't have had to... [O]wners shouldn't need to become hackers and parts brokers and quasi-manufacturers just to keep driving the cars they already paid for.

How Owners of EVs from Bankrupt Fisker Saved Their Cars With an Open Source Nonprofit More | Reply

How Owners of EVs from Bankrupt Fisker Saved Their Cars With an Open Source Nonprofit

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  • What's the down-side? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Valgrus Thunderaxe ( 8769977 ) on Sunday May 17, 2026 @12:41PM (#66147523)
    No more over-the-air updates. No more connected services.

    I would be thanking FSM for this miracle from heaven.

    • No more over-the-air updates. No more connected services.
      I would be thanking FSM for this miracle from heaven.

      You're focusing only on the small part of "connected services" that you hate, and ignoring the problem of connected services you don't know about. Security certificates will eventually expire which could potentially lead to bricking cars as for example Rivian pushing the wrong security certificate out with an update https://techcrunch.com/2023/11... [techcrunch.com], or anti-theft devices deciding to brick cars due to loss of communication with servers as our Porsche owning communist comrades are aware https://www.themoscow [themoscowtimes.com]

      • *TCAM module

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Ocker3 ( 1232550 )
        Oof, those are some brutal realities that make me want to wait a few years to get an EV, although perhaps I shouldn't hope so much that they won't introduce Different major problems in that time!

        • This is not an "EV" issue. This is a new car issue. My father's 2025 ICE car is more connected than my Polestar. Software defined cars have little to do with the type of powertrain under the bonnet.

    • For real. Why do people buy this crap?

  • No more spyware (Score:5, Interesting)

    by PhantomHarlock ( 189617 ) on Sunday May 17, 2026 @12:47PM (#66147531)

    The key point here is the ability to disable all telemetry leaving the car. We need open sourced EV car software that does not spy on you or sell your information. It sounds like they're on their way.

    Guides to disable the cellular modem or antenna in all popular model EVs would be a good way to start as well. Using wrecked examples from a junkyard would be an economical way to experiment.

    • Not just EVs. ICE cars spy on you in the same way, and they out-sell EVs 9:1 in the US, easily.

    • This is about the closest we have now. https://www.slate.auto/en [slate.auto]

      Let's see how many people put their money where their mouth is.

      • This is about the closest we have now. https://www.slate.auto/en [slate.auto]

        Let's see how many people put their money where their mouth is.

        Oh please. There is no reason a new Ford, GM, Kia, BYD, or any other car needs to be running full-time telematics on private cars. Heck it should be flat out illegal at least to sell this data if not make it illegal to collect. This is just one more reason that the United States (in particular) needs much harsher versions of the GDPR, DMA, and DSA. One could, in theory, make an argument for EV owners reporting the odometer (quarterly? yearly?) directly to their state DMV so they could be charged the equiva

        • Re:No more spyware (Score:4, Interesting)

          by dunkelfalke ( 91624 ) on Sunday May 17, 2026 @02:10PM (#66147643)

          Harsher? Even just GDPR would be far more than they have presently. When I worked for an American company (not voluntarily, they bought a German company I used to be employed at) I had to go through the same training the American colleagues had, and how I laughed at the explanation of GDPR ("It's an EU thing"). Fact is, most Americans don't even understand what privacy is.

          • While that is true, we need to send a message that the fine is always going to cost you more than what you make breaking the law.

            In the USA the problem is paying fines has become nothing more than a cost of doing business. Companies break the law, litigate it in court for a few years, get the fine reduced. They then pay the pittance where, even after accounting for legal fees, they make a large amount of money. We need to change that dynamic.

            The new fine structure should erase all income derived in wh

      • This is about the closest we have now. https://www.slate.auto/en [slate.auto]

        Let's see how many people put their money where their mouth is.

        1. The vehicle is only at the preorder stage; they're not shipping any as best as I can ascertain. Pricing isn't listed, either.

        2. The vehicle is only available as an SUV/Pickup. While the modular design has merit, there is no sedan available.

        3. The website makes no claims regarding privacy, except in its privacy policy regarding the website. The closest indicator is the absence of an infotainment system, but that doesn't mean that it lacks a telemetry module; there is no specific indication that it lacks o

    • Guides to disable the cellular modem or antenna in all popular model EVs would be a good way to start as well.

      Before you even contemplate this you need to be sure the car itself won't brick itself due to lack of connectivity. We have ample evidence from multiple manufacturers that this is a problem. I myself have had issues when the Telematics and Connectivity Antenna Module (TCAM) of my Polestar locked up. Yay no data, no problem right? Well suddenly I couldn't change the maximum charge limit on my infotainment system.

      Also are the communications systems for emergency calling and for the infotainment system separat

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

        There was an issue for a couple of days with MG car connectivity in the UK a month or two ago. Simply going to the menu and turning off connectivity fixed it until the servers came back up. So it seams that there at least the connectivity switch does actually work.

        Android Auto kept working, of course.

    • tampering with 'safety' systems (defined by insurance companies and the gov't) will conveniently let the insurance company drop you like a hot potato when someone makes a claim against you.

      I'd love to have what you describe...but the realities of liability will never let it happen.

    • Better chuck your phone away, it's giving more of your data up than any vehicle

      • Better chuck your phone away, it's giving more of your data up than any vehicle

        That [grapheneos.org] can [calyxos.org] be [lineageos.org] rectified. [e.foundation]

        Even on a stock Google Android phone, one can at least SOMEWHAT mitigate data collection by not-installing certain apps. To my knowledge, Meta doesn't get data if you don't install FB/IG/WA. Also, one could leave their phone at home and drive somewhere if tracking was undesirable; while by definition, one cannot avoid that if the car itself is doing the tracking. Even if tracking is unavoidable on the phone, 'airplane mode' can assist in certain contexts.

        Also, crazy as this is, there

  • US laws suck (Score:3)

    by TheMiddleRoad ( 1153113 ) on Sunday May 17, 2026 @01:06PM (#66147547)
    If it weren't for the fact that they'd be sued out of existence, devs would be doing this all the time. Can't bypass that security though. No!

  • Waiting for the seizures and arrests to begin (Score:5, Interesting)

    by spazmonkey ( 920425 ) on Sunday May 17, 2026 @01:16PM (#66147565)

    In the United States, simply keeping their cars running after the manufacturer died is a fairly substantial set of crimes.
    Since they have admitted to conspiracy by forming an interstate group to do it, major Federal organized crime laws have been broken.
    Land of the free and all that.

    • In the United States, simply keeping their cars running after the manufacturer died is a fairly substantial set of crimes. Since they have admitted to conspiracy by forming an interstate group to do it, major Federal organized crime laws have been broken.

      Is it? What crimes, exactly? They might be defeating some copy protection, but the entity that owned the software is defunct, so no one has standing to sue.

    • In the United States, simply keeping their cars running after the manufacturer died is a fairly substantial set of crimes.

      Source on that? Or have a bunch of Saturn owners been arrested over the years and I just haven't heard about it?

    • LOL that is one of the most deranged things I've heard. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. I expect you to quote the statute you are claiming makes this a crime (should be easy for you to do since you said it's a federal issue).

      Right now I'm more inclined to take the existence of Bigfoot at face value than anything you have to say going forward, such is the magnitude of your unsubstantiated claim.

  • Finished products? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by lucifuge31337 ( 529072 ) <daryl@i[ ]ospect.net ['ntr' in gap]> on Sunday May 17, 2026 @01:26PM (#66147583) Homepage

    Consumer advocates are now pushing for structural changes: mandatory software escrow funds that would keep vehicle software running even if the manufacturer disappears, open-source mandates in bankruptcy proceedings, and shared repair data requirements...

    Now I know this sounds crazy, but stick with me for a moment: How about we require car manufacturers to deliver finished products to customers? And how about we also require them to provide meaninful service and repair data along with the vehicles? No more connected services unless they are non-essential to the car and trivially switched off, removed or replaceable. So that means no more repeated software updates will be required.

    • The automakers would spend a fortune to have that killed.

    • How about we require car manufacturers to deliver finished products to customers?

      There's nothing "unfinished" about cars. The fact that they can stop working without connectivity is more an issue of incompetent design, especially software and the way it interacts with connected services.

      And how about we also require them to provide meaninful service and repair data along with the vehicles?

      Meaningful service and repair data isn't the issue here. It's loss of connectivity to connected services on account of those services no longer existing.

      The next point you made was correct, but then you conflate it with updates which again is off topic. For the most part software updates being required m

      • It doesn't sound like you know much about or work on cars. You've dunning-kruger'd your way into demonstrating that.

        There have been increasingly more updates for vehicles for powertrain and safety systems for years and it accelerated with connected services because they can now be pushed without bring a car into a dealership. It's very clear to everyone working in and around modern cars and has been confirmed by automotive sofware engineers that this is intentional and they are simply doing the bay area
  • Does it run Linux?
    I advocate Linux on everything

    • No not a dupe. Not only is this a different story which expands on the previous one, but your link to the previous story is already linked right there in TFS.

  • https://outrider.org/climate-c... [outrider.org]

    Chinaâ(TM)s Abandoned, Obsolete Electric Cars Are Piling Up in Cities

    "A subsidy-fueled boom helped build China into an electric-car giant but left weed-infested lots across the nation brimming with unwanted battery-powered vehicles."

  • I am sure this is Elon Musk's fault somehow.

  • ... the subject line icons for Open Source, Right to Repair, Abandonware, Killing Online Games, etc?

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