Marlin is the software update the Fisker Owners Association can install on a Fisker Ocean. This is what it contains, who can put it on your car, and how to arrange it.
What Marlin actually is
Marlin is a name for a state, not a single file. A car on Marlin 1.0 is running FiskerOS 2.2 or newer, plus three components on top of it:
- VCU24 and PDU4000 - newer versions of the software for two of the car’s control units, which FiskerOS 2.2 already carries in an older form
- ADAS 3.1.1 - the driver assistance software
FiskerOS 2.2 is itself a package: updates for the car’s ECUs, the small computers that run the motors, the battery, the screens and the rest of it. OS 2.2 is the floor Marlin is built on rather than part of the job, which matters for how you go about getting it. If you want the version numbers untangled, we wrote Fisker Ocean software versions explained.
Who can install it
Getting to Marlin is two steps, and they are done by different people.
First, the operating system. Your car needs FiskerOS 2.2 or newer before anything else can go on. That install is done by a workshop with a SURF tool, and in the United States it can also be arranged through the recall programme by writing to oceanrecalls@fiskerinc.com.
Then the Marlin components. VCU24, PDU4000 and ADAS 3.1.1 are installed by an Advanced Installer: an owner or volunteer trained and equipped by the association. They do not install the operating system. They work on cars that already have it.
You are eligible for the Marlin components if your car is on FiskerOS 2.2, 2.2.2, 2.5 or 2.6. An incomplete 2.2.2 install still qualifies.
There is no over-the-air route with Marlin. Somebody has to be at the car with the tool.
What a membership changes
The Marlin components are for FOA members. Without a membership you can still have FiskerOS 2.2 put on the car by a workshop, and you keep the older VCU and PDU software that comes inside it. With a membership, an Advanced Installer brings those two up to VCU24 and PDU4000 and adds ADAS 3.1.1.
What you can do without a tool
Not everything needs an installer. With the OceanLink Pro app you can, from your own phone:
- read fault codes and diagnose what the car is complaining about
- calibrate the windows
- pair key fobs and key cards
Is it safe?
This is the question owners ask most, and it is a fair one. Nobody wants a car that will not start because an update went wrong halfway through.
So far, no Fisker Ocean has come out of a Marlin installation unable to drive. Not one. That is the association's own record across every installation its Advanced Installers have carried out.
That is a record, not a guarantee. It says the process is well understood and the tooling is sound. It does not mean nothing can ever go wrong.
Installing updates on a Fisker Ocean turned out to need a steady voltage on the 12V battery for the whole update. That is why Marlin is not offered over the air.
Why the operating system comes first
The Marlin components are not a larger version of what the car already runs. They go on top of an operating system that has to be there first, which is what the eligibility list is about: FiskerOS 2.2, 2.2.2, 2.5 or 2.6.
Below that, they cannot be installed at all, and no membership changes it. That is the practical reason to get the operating system sorted, whether or not you go any further.
If your car is on an older version, that is not a mark against you or against whoever has serviced it. FiskerOS 2.2 has not been available everywhere at the same time, and a great many Oceans are on 2.1 or earlier for reasons that were never in their owners’ hands.
What happens on the day
An installation is an appointment, not a drive through. The car needs to be stationary, with the installer's tool connected, for the length of the update. Plan for the car to be occupied for a couple of hours rather than a few minutes, and do not book it for the morning you need to drive somewhere.
Bring the car with a reasonable state of charge and be prepared to leave it alone while the update runs. Your installer will tell you what else they need.
What it costs
The software itself is free. Having it installed at a workshop is not: workshops set their own rates, so ask what the appointment costs before you book it.
How to arrange it
Start with the service points list. It shows the workshops around the world that will take a Fisker Ocean, with contact details, and it grows as owners bring their own garages on board.
If there is nothing near you, that is worth fixing rather than accepting. Getting your local workshop onto the SURF tool explains how owners have done exactly that.
The association's community is also where installations get coordinated in practice, and where owners in your country will tell you who they used. Membership is what gets you in there.
Booking an Advanced Installer directly is not possible yet. The association expects that to be running from October, at which point arranging the Marlin components becomes a matter of picking a slot rather than asking around.