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Old 10-31-2012, 02:06 AM   #1
skywaffles
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Default 16 Fisker Karmas burn to the ground due to Hurricane Sandy




Quote:
Approximately 16 of the $100,000+ Fisker Karma extended-range luxury hybrids were parked in Port Newark, New Jersey last night when water from Hurricane Sandy's storm surge apparently breached the port and submerged the vehicles. As Jalopnik has exclusively learned, the cars then caught fire and burned to the ground.

Our source tells us they were "first submerged in a storm surge and then caught fire, exploded." This wouldn't be the first time the vehicles, which use a small gasoline engine to charge batteries that provide energy to two electric motors, had an issue with sudden combustion.

The vehicle, despite only being in limited production, has already experienced numerous fires due to equipment failures and electrical shorts. How, exactly, they caught fire after being submerged in sea water is unclear. It's possible the salt water caused a short that led to a fire.

Calls to Fisker and the Port Newark Container Terminal have not been returned as of publication time.

UPDATE: Fisker released the following statement:

"It was reported today that several Fisker Karmas were damaged by fire at the Port of Newark after being submerged in sea water during Superstorm Sandy. We can report that there were no injuries and none of the cars were being charged at the time.

We have confidence in the Fisker Karma and safety is our primary concern. While we intend to find the cause as quickly as possible, storm damage has restricted access to the port.

We will issue a further statement once the root cause has been determined."
http://updates.jalopnik.com/post/346...aught-fire-and

Wow, just wow.
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Old 10-31-2012, 06:12 AM   #2
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Weird thing is there are others sitting next to them unaffected. Did one go bad and torch the ones next to it? I would argue that it seems likely that it wasn't just the 16 that happened to be parked next to each other. And the one next to them was fine. Unless of course they were parked by lot or something like that so perhaps they all had the same defect. Anyway salt water and electric vehicles seems a harsh combination
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Old 10-31-2012, 06:52 AM   #3
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Hahaha we have been powering locomotives with generators and traction motors for decades and fisker completely screwed it
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Old 10-31-2012, 07:50 AM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 12.9$500rex View Post
Hahaha we have been powering locomotives with generators and traction motors for decades and fisker completely screwed it
You cant be that stupid. How many locomotives have been submersed in salt water and not had any issues?
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Old 10-31-2012, 07:51 AM   #5
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Mental note...
Do accept offer to ride in a fiskar near the ocean or when it rains...
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Old 10-31-2012, 08:35 AM   #6
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I'm not sure what is more crazy: the fact that these Cars just spontaneously combusted ***8230;.
or the fact that all those New cars in that lot were under Sea Water !!!


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Old 10-31-2012, 09:36 AM   #7
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I'd bet one of them had the battery compartment breached, which led to a fire (due to the battery being exposed to oxygen.) Breached lithium batteries are super sketchy.

Once that one went up the ones near it went up.
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Old 10-31-2012, 10:03 AM   #8
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Karma is a bit**?

-Mike.
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Old 10-31-2012, 10:12 AM   #9
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I'd laugh if Fisker torched them in order to collect on insurance. It would be the perfect cover story.

"The insurance company calls it fraud. Here at Fisker, we call it a fire sale!"
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Old 10-31-2012, 10:55 AM   #10
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Originally Posted by Italiano View Post
I’m not sure what is more crazy: the fact that these Cars just spontaneously combusted ….
or the fact that all those New cars in that lot were under Sea Water !!!
This always amazes me, someone is on the hook for those losses. Did they really think a seaport was the best place to keep so much product? I'm sure they considered other options (trucking them away, leaving them on the ship and boating away from the area), but i suppose there is only so much they can do. But it's not like this storm was a surprise, we had days or warning.
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Old 10-31-2012, 11:04 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sniper1rfa View Post
Once that one went up the ones near it went up.
This.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Snowphun View Post
This always amazes me, someone is on the hook for those losses. Did they really think a seaport was the best place to keep so much product? I'm sure they considered other options (trucking them away, leaving them on the ship and boating away from the area), but i suppose there is only so much they can do. But it's not like this storm was a surprise, we had days or warning.
Seaports are PACKED with vehicles. Only so many cars/trucks can be loaded on trains & trucks to clear out lots. Especially when people/companies are getting themselves and their assets away from the storm.
The cost of 16+ dead Fiskers doesn't come close the cost of a single locomotive; and I don't think many shipping companies would want to take the extra liability (ie truckload of $100k+ cars through a Hurricane).
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Old 10-31-2012, 11:25 AM   #12
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More bad news for Karma

What a shame.


BWA HAHAHA
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Old 10-31-2012, 11:37 AM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Snowphun View Post
This always amazes me, someone is on the hook for those losses. Did they really think a seaport was the best place to keep so much product? I'm sure they considered other options (trucking them away, leaving them on the ship and boating away from the area), but i suppose there is only so much they can do. But it's not like this storm was a surprise, we had days or warning.
How do you these many cars... "someplace else?" in time?

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=port+...rt+Newark&z=15

I can't imagine the manpower, realestate and time (never mind the logistics) it would take to have these cars moved. I sincerely doubt that 1/2 of these could be moved in time. Sure, more the more expensive ones, but that's why insurance exists.

--kC
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Old 10-31-2012, 12:04 PM   #14
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That is such an awesome picture...
also, be aware of buying a car that came from that port folks. You do not want a flood car.
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Old 10-31-2012, 01:50 PM   #15
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Originally Posted by KC View Post
How do you these many cars... "someplace else?" in time?

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=port+...rt+Newark&z=15

I can't imagine the manpower, realestate and time (never mind the logistics) it would take to have these cars moved. I sincerely doubt that 1/2 of these could be moved in time. Sure, more the more expensive ones, but that's why insurance exists.
I'm not disagreeing, as I said I'm sure they looked into it and made a decision based on risk vs costs. Moving any amount of them seems like a victory over throwing your hands up because you can't move them all.
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Old 10-31-2012, 02:14 PM   #16
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INSTANT KARMA
No body wanted the cars anyway. The orders were all canceled as they are going bankrupt right after the elections. As Obama gave them $530 million they will wait till next month in appreciation with pockets full.
The old GM boxwood Delaware plant is still empty with NO Fisker employees or cars.
here are recent photos geo tagged and dated what $530 million bought taxpayers
https://plus.google.com/photos/10298...721?banner=pwa
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Old 10-31-2012, 05:13 PM   #17
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I really liked those cars.
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Old 11-08-2012, 03:10 PM   #18
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Exclamation

Automakers will scrap 15,000 new vehicles damaged by Sandy

Alan Ohnsman
and Craig Trudell
UPDATED: 11/7/12 9:23 pm ET

Read more: http://www.autonews.com/article/2012...#ixzz2BfCqJJyZ


Quote:
Fisker Automotive Inc., a startup maker of luxury plug-in hybrids, lost 338 of its $103,000 Karma sedans at the port of Newark, New Jersey, including 16 that burned in a fire triggered by salt water, said Roger Ormisher, a spokesman for the Anaheim, Calif.-based company.
Quote:
Nissan alone estimates more than 6,000 Nissan and luxury Infiniti brand cars and light trucks are "un-saleable" because of the storm, Travis Parman, a company spokesman, said late this week.
Quote:
Some 4,000 Toyota and Lexus vehicles were at the company's port facility in Newark when the storm hit, said Jana Hartline, a spokeswoman for Toyota's U.S. unit in Torrance, Calif.

"We have about 1,300 that we are taking a second look at" that may be salvaged, she said. "A little bit under 3,000 will likely be scrapped."
Quote:
Honda and Acura dealers expect to have to scrap about 3,440 vehicles, said Chris Martin, a spokesman for Honda's U.S. unit in Torrance, California. Scrappage decisions will be determined by dealers and their insurers, he said.
Quote:
Chrysler dealers lost about 750 vehicles from their stock due to hurricane damage, said Ralph Kisiel, a spokesman for the company.
Story also carried by:
http://www.autoblog.com/2012/11/07/h...y-have-ruined/
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Old 11-08-2012, 03:36 PM   #19
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I want to cry just looking at these pictures
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Old 11-09-2012, 06:34 AM   #20
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Yet they use a picture of the Porsche at someones house as the lead-in photo.

--kC
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Old 11-09-2012, 09:01 AM   #21
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that 's, like, your
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Masterauto View Post
INSTANT KARMA
No body wanted the cars anyway. The orders were all canceled as they are going bankrupt right after the elections. As Obama gave them $530 million they will wait till next month in appreciation with pockets full.
The old GM boxwood Delaware plant is still empty with NO Fisker employees or cars.
here are recent photos geo tagged and dated what $530 million bought taxpayers
https://plus.google.com/photos/10298...721?banner=pwa
Again.. they received $193M, not $530.. but lets not get hung up on facts when there are political rants to make.

The remaining loan which was not payed out, was earmarked for starting production on the Atlantic in Delaware, but the gov froze that money before they got the chance... so now they've pushed it back 2+ years. It's political BS like your own post that has kept the Delaware plant from opening... so please, take a minute to absorb the grand irony of your argument.
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Old 11-09-2012, 09:16 AM   #22
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Originally Posted by mpaone View Post
Karma is a bit**?

-Mike.
Booo...
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Old 11-09-2012, 01:24 PM   #23
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Originally Posted by Calamity Jesus View Post
Again.. they received $193M, not $530.. but lets not get hung up on facts when there are political rants to make.

The remaining loan which was not payed out, was earmarked for starting production on the Atlantic in Delaware, but the gov froze that money before they got the chance... so now they've pushed it back 2+ years. It's political BS like your own post that has kept the Delaware plant from opening... so please, take a minute to absorb the grand irony of your argument.
It is financial BS really. The government loan was predicated on Fisker raising a certain amount of capital on their own. See the idea is the private investors must be satisfied it is a good idea. They were not satisfied. Fisker did not raise enough private funds. The government did not give them the loan. It all seems legitimate to me.
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Old 11-09-2012, 01:44 PM   #24
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There were some legitimate setbacks that Fisker face and attempted to appeal for the rest of the funds despite not meeting the original goals. The politics surrounding the deserted Delaware plant played heavily into the public perception of the company. I agree that it's a good idea to only back up private investors (that way the loan is a booster rather than a driving force for industry), but the politics have really hurt their ability to pull private funds in the first place.
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Old 11-09-2012, 02:52 PM   #25
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They would not be able to anyway IMO. Tesla has sporty electrics sewn up already. Nissan, mitsubishi, etc have plebian electrics. GM, Toyota, Ford (c-max engergi) have PHEVs. Regardless of what a person thinks of fisker they would have had quite a hard go. The Nina was supposed to be different and target a low cost PHEV. If they could have actually done it then great, but otherwise they had very little to offer in terms of performance or efficiency. I am not saying they are bad, just that they mistimed the market and now have to compete against regular companies. Tesla was ahead.
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