DailyTech - Fisker Loses 320 Karmas to Hurricane Sandy

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Auto Fisker Loses 320 Karmas to Hurricane Sandy
Tiffany Kaiser - November 7, 2012 11:41 PM

34 comment(s) - last by maugrimtr.. on Nov 13 at 4:51 AM

(Source: Car and Driver)

Sixteen were destroyed by a fire while the rest had flood damage

As a result of Hurricane Sandy, Fisker Automotive lost 320 Karmas to either flooding or fires on the east coast.

According to Roger Ormisher, a Fisker spokesperson, 320 Karmas parked on a New Jersey port were destroyed during Hurricane Sandy last week. This meant a $32 million loss for the company.

Of the 320 Karmas, one had a short circuit that caught fire and due to high winds, 15 other Karmas caught fire as well. The rest of the Fisker plug-ins parked along the port were damaged by floodwaters.

These Karmas were shipped from Finland and destined for U.S. dealers. Ormisher said there may be a temporary shortage of certain color or trim options for the Karma, and that he doubts this loss will impact the price of the Karma in the U.S.

This year has been quite a rollercoaster ride for Fisker. The automaker had two incidents where Karma vehicles caught fire while in the possession of a customer. One occurred in May 2012, when a Karma plug-in was responsible for a house fire in Houston, and the second occurred in August 2012, where a Karma parked in a Woodside, California grocery store parking lot had went up in flames.

Before that, A123 Systems, the battery maker for Fisker's Karma, had recalled over 200 batteries for the Karma. However, Fisker said the battery wasn't the issue in the two fires this year.

Just last month, Consumer Reports flunked the Karma for its design and execution, saying that the vehicle has a cramped interior, limited visibility, awkward access and poorly-designed dashboard controls.

Source: Inside Line

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RE: PR disaster

By talikarni on 11/8/2012 3:16:50 PM , Rating: 2

quote:
But these cars have an extrememly low carbon footprint.

Unless you include their manufacturing and shipping process. Manufacturing and transport through conventional methods actually make these cars much worse overall; from manufacturing parts out of a factory that actually puts out more pollution (creating the specialized parts than a typical vehicle) to shipping with polluting boats, trains and trucks, to the transport of the heavy batteries.

quote:
Toyota admits that the production of its lightweight Prius requires more energy and emits more carbon dioxide than the production of its gas-only models.

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