Henrik Fisker is the man who has done all of the above. Fisker Automotive may have rolled out its Karma luxury plug-in hybrid sedan but is facing some problems, the most pressing of which is the lack of finance.
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While we have yet to hear from Toyota, Fisker's engineers finished investigating the incident and have just released their findings through a press statement.
According to the manufacturer, the culprit turned out to be a low voltage Vehicle Control Unit in one Karma, which after being under salt water for several hours, short-circuited and caused a fire that then spread to the other 15 extended-range plug-in hybrid models parked nearby due to the strong winds blowing at the time.
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An eyewitness told Jalopnik (which like the rest of the Gawker websites, continues to be down after Sandy drowned its data center but is broadcasting temporarily from this site), that the Karma sedans “first submerged in a storm surge and then caught fire, exploded.”
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To be honest, there's nothing really dramatic about Fisker's SEMA show Karma saloons as the California-based automaker has simply chosen to display a car dressed in protective film wraps from 3M to highlight its newly formed partnership with the company, and a second custom-painted model dedicated to synthetic motor oil brand Mobil 1.
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In its latest issue, the publication tested the Ford Escape Titanium and SE compact SUVs and the Infiniti JX, while also conducting two comparison tests: one in the compact upmarket segment, where the Acura ILX faced the Buick Verano, and the other in the luxury sedan category with the Fisker Karma placed against the Porsche Panamera S.
Read more » In its latest issue, the publication tested the Ford Escape Titanium and SE compact SUVs and the Infiniti JX, while also conducting two comparison tests: one in the compact upmarket segment, where the Acura ILX faced the Buick Verano, and the other in the luxury sedan category with the Fisker Karma placed against the Porsche Panamera S.
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On Tuesday, though, the upstart manufacturer announced that the Karma already surpasses the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards that were finalized on August 28 by the NHTSA and EPA and will come into effect in 2025.
Read more » On Tuesday, though, the upstart manufacturer announced that the Karma already surpasses the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards that were finalized on August 28 by the NHTSA and EPA and will come into effect in 2025.
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Besides the full-body chrome wrap, the blacked-out alloy wheels and heavily tinted windows, the owner came up with the bright (literally) idea of adding so-called "neon underglow lights" that change colors while the car is on the move.
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Fortunately for Fisker, no one had to call the fire brigade during the largest gathering of Karma sedans at the company’s global headquarters in Anaheim, California over the weekend.
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The company's engineers and the fire expert said that the ignition source and root cause of the fire was traced to a cooling fan unit located ahead of the left front wheel.
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Following a short statement on Saturday, Fisker issued a more detailed announcement today saying that its engineers in cooperation with independent investigators from Pacific Rim Investigative Group have begun preliminary examination and testing on the Karma model involved in the fire.
The automaker has already shared some of the findings.
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The details surrounding the incident are extremely thin and we still do not know the cause of the fire.
Jalopnik reported that according to an eyewitness, the owner of the Karma went inside the grocery store and came out shortly after to discover smoke seeping out of the vehicle. The driver then called Fisker who told him to call 911.
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Today, the California-based automaker issued a supplementary recall that adds to the list a further 19 cars manufactured from September 22, 2011, through January 20, 2012, ten of which have already been delivered to customers, according to Fisker.
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This time, a Karma is under investigation for a fire that broke out in a garage and quickly spread to a house in Houston last week, fortunately, without anyone being hurt in the incident.
The chief fire investigator for Fort Bend County, Texas, Robert Baker, told Autoweek magazine that the Fisker Karma started the fire.
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Now, Fisker is trying to counter the bad publicity through a letter sent to customers by its newly appointed CEO and former executive at General Motors and Chrysler, Tom LaSorda.
Fisker's CEO stated in the letter that the Karma shut down during the drive to protect itself from further damage.
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Now, a former Fisker employee claims to know the root of the company's issues with the Karma. The unnamed whistleblower told GiGaom that as the project was behind schedule, Fisker decided to roll out the hybrid before it was actually ready in order to meet the deadlines dictated by the Department of Energy-provided US$529 million loan.
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On the downside, receiving an EPA consumption rating far-far away from your own figures, issuing a recall over a potential fire risk just a couple of months after deliveries started and having your US$529 million federal loan blocked are quite serious setbacks.
Now Fisker has to face another publicity disaster after the US$100,000 Karma evaluated by Consumer Reports went kaput during speed testing. We'll remind you that Consumer Reports buys its test vehicles from regular dealers.
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In addition, Henrik Fisker, the company's co-founder and the original CEO, was appointed executive chairman.
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The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has frozen Fisker’s access to the federal loan it was awarded for engineering of the Karma (US$169 million) and production of the midsize Nina sedan (US$359 million), which will be priced much lower than the $100K Karma.
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