The Securities and Exchange Commission closed its investigation into bankrupt electric vehicle startup Fisker last September, about a year after it began its investigation.
TechCrunch has learned that the investigation ended when financial regulators responded to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request in January. The SEC’s FOIA Division announced that it had identified “approximately 21.7 gigabytes of electronically stored records” in connection with the investigation. The agency typically does not release records when an investigation is still ongoing, but said in a follow-up email that the “investigation ended in September 2025.”
It is unclear how far the investigation has progressed. The SEC disclosed the existence of the investigation in an October 2024 filing in Fisker’s bankruptcy case. The agency sent a subpoena to the company at the time, writing that it “may be necessary to request or subpoena additional documents in the future in connection with the ongoing investigation.”
A spokesperson for the agency declined to comment. Henrik Fisker, the company’s founder and former CEO, did not respond to messages seeking comment.
The closure of the Fisker investigation comes amid a significant decline in enforcement actions and settlements during President Trump’s second term. The SEC filed 313 enforcement actions in 2025, the lowest in a decade and a 27% decrease from the final year of President Biden’s term, according to an analysis by law firm Paul Weiss. Only four of these enforcement actions were against public companies. Total monetary payments decreased by 45% from 2024.
Fisker was one of the last remaining electric vehicle startups to be investigated by the SEC. Over the past several years, the agency has resolved fraud and other charges brought against Nikola, Lordstown Motors, Canoe, Hyzon Motors and others. In 2023, the investigation into Lucid Motors was concluded without filing a lawsuit.
The only active investigation currently known of electric vehicle startups is that associated with Faraday Future, which is now about four years old. In July 2025, the SEC sent Mr. Faraday and several executives a “Wells Notice,” a letter informing the subjects that investigators were recommending enforcement action. However, no action has been taken since those letters were sent, and Faraday’s own regulatory filings show that the company has not yet responded to the Wells notice.
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Fisker filed for bankruptcy in June 2024 after experiencing numerous problems with its first EV, the Ocean SUV. Over the years, the company has made bold promises to develop radically new technologies, but has pivoted from that idea multiple times. The company also suffered major financial difficulties leading up to its collapse. The company used Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings to sell Oceans’ remaining inventory to a company that leases vehicles to ride-hailing drivers and liquidate other assets.
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