Car Fans: fisker

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Fisker Karma: TopSpeed Test Drive

Ah, the Fisker Karma. It is likely one of the most well designed and heavily debated cars available today. Some people love it and cannot get enough of it and others can't stand it. It's truly one of the most polarizing cars on the market and a lot of that is because of some of the issues it has run into and the massive DOE loan that Fisker took out to help produce it.

We pretty much sit right in the middle. We've loved its looks from the day we saw the concept model that no one believed would ever be produced. Its issues and some of the sub-par reviews, on the other hand, pushed us back toward the middle..

Well, the only way we can really find out if we truly love it or hate it is to test drive it. And that is exactly what we did, as we took a road trip to Fisker of Tampa Bay at 320 East Fletcher Ave. in Tampa, and met up with Fisker brand manager Jackie Daly and general manager Bryan Mobley for an exclusive viewing and test drive.

So, did we walk away impressed or did the Karma underwhelm?

Click past the jump to find out.

Fisker Karma: TopSpeed Test Drive originally appeared on topspeed.com on Wednesday, 14 November 2012 14:00 EST.

Monday, November 5, 2012

Report: 16 Fisker Karmas Burn Following Hurricane Sandy

Fisker had some issues with Karmas and spontaneous combustion, as of late, and even mentioning the word "Fire" in Fisker's home office is likely an offense likely worthy of firing. Wait, but you can't say "Firing" either, so how about "Termination." Reports out of New Jersey of Karmas catching fire following Hurricane Sandy couldn't have possibly come at a worse time.

According to the reports, a group of Fisker Karmas were sitting at port in New Jersey when seawater submerged them. A short time after their submersion, 16 of the stored Karmas burst into flames. From the images we are seeing, they are total losses and we will likely never know the precise cause, but Fisker is diligently investigating the situation.

One thing is for sure here, this will likely not have anything to do with a flaw in the Karma’s design. It's likely no more Fisker's fault than a blow dryer's fault for you getting electrocuted while drying your hair in the bathtub. It's simple: deep water + electronics = "zap" and "boom." This is multiplied when you add in the corrosive salt in the ocean and the fact that these cars were likely submerged for a long time.

We are more concerned with whether these cars were already sold to customers or if they were just dealership stock. Plus, with the financial eggshells that all startups walk on, we are concerned with how losing this large of a percentage of Karmas produced will affect Fisker's 2012 and 2013 outlook.

We've reached out to Fisker to try to get a better grasp on the situation. We'll pass any information we get along to you.