Fisker Wraps Investigation of Karma Fires at New Jersey Port, Blames One Car's Vehicle Control Unit

Last week, Sandy's furious tempest resulted in 16 brand-new Fisker Karma sedans and three Toyota Prius hybrids going up in flames at a shipping facility in New Jersey after being submerged in seawater for many hours.
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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Mega Storm Sandy Submerges 16 New Fisker Karma EVs, which Then Catch Fire at New Jersey Port

The bad news for Fisker continues. Among the many victims of Hurricane and then Tropical Storm Sandy are approximately 16 brand new Fisker Karma extended-range hybrids that were parked in Port Newark, New Jersey.
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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Fisker CEO Says Carmaker is Looking for Partners, Shopping Out its Hybrid Technology

Having cars like the Aston Martin DB9 and V8 Vantage and the BMW Z8 in your portfolio is quite an achievement. Building your own car company from scratch beats that – even more so, when you factor in that you haven’t celebrated your 50th birthday yet.

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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Batteries Not Included: Fisker Halts Karma Production Until A123 Battery Supplier is Sold

As if it wasn't facing enough setbacks already, Fisker Automotive is now forced to deal with a new one through no fault of its own. The California-based carmaker announced today that it has halted production of its Karma plug-in hybrid luxury sedan due to a shortage of battery packs.

Fisker CEO Tony Posawatz said at the LA Auto Show that the carmaker is waiting for the outcome of the December 6 auction of A123 Systems, the company’s sole battery supplier that has filed for bankruptcy.

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Fisker to Build New Technical Center in the Midwest, Continues Development of the Atlantic

Despite facing more than a few setbacks, Fisker Automotive is pushing ahead with its plans and announced today that it will establish a new technical center in the Midwest as it continues development of the Atlantic, its second model after the Karma.

Although a location hasn’t been selected yet, South Eastern Michigan has been named by the company as a likely site for the new facility that’s scheduled to open in spring 2013.

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Sandy, Bloody Sandy: Mega-Hurricane Destroys 200,000 Vehicles, Including 15,000 New Cars

The biggest Atlantic storm ever in U.S. history, which hit New Jersey, New York and the surrounding regions with 100 mph+ (160 km/h) winds that caused at least 100 deaths, has left the East Coast counting its losses and trying to fix the damages.

The catastrophe brought about by mega-hurricane Sandy damaged or completely destroyed thousands of new and used vehicles owned by dealerships as well as individuals. According to initial estimates, Toyota, Chrysler, Nissan and Honda will have to write-off around 15,000 brand-new cars.

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Fisker Karma Gets Colorful Wraps for its First Visit to the SEMA Show

Even Fisker cannot resist the lure of the SEMA aftermarket show, which it will be attending along with re-skinned examples of its Karma plug-in hybrid luxury sports sedan.

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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Fisker's New Atlantic Mid-Size Hybrid Reportedly Pushed Back to Late 2014 or 2015

Building a car company from scratch is quite an achievement. Deciding that your first product will be a US$100,000+ hybrid saloon is very bold. Launching it to the market means, you’ve arrived, even if it’s a little later than originally planned and your first-ever model faced some recall issues soon after its sales began.

Henrik Fisker did all of the above in four years. He knew very well though that you can’t sustain a company with a single model; especially one that costs more than US$100K. That’s why Fisker Automotive revealed the Atlantic, a mid-size petrol-electric hybrid, at the New York Show last April.

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Fisker Karma Once Again Lambasted by Consumer Reports in its Latest Tests

With over 8 million subscribers and more than 50 labs, Consumer Reports claims to be the world’s largest independent product-testing organization. As far as the automotive industry is concerned, falling short of CR’s standards could spell bad news or at least bad publicity for any new model.

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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Fisker Says Karma Hybrid Luxury Saloon Already Surpasses 2025 CAFE Standards

The launch of Fisker’s first product, the Karma, has not gone as smoothly as the automaker would have liked to. Delays in production and recalls over a battery-related fire risk wasn’t exactly the publicity company founder Henrik Fisker was expecting for the luxury hybrid saloon.

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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What do You Say About a Chrome-Wrapped Fisker Karma with Neon Underglow Lights?

We cannot confirm if this Fisker Karma sports sedan does indeed belong to Justin Bieber as claimed by YouTube user "Speedracer39" who shared the video, but we can say that the owner of this six-figure plug-in hybrid has gone a bit overboard with the mods.

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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Fisker Hosts Largest Karma Gathering Ever, All Cars Keep Their Cool

Fisker has been through a lot lately – and we're not only talking about its financial issues but more about the Karma-related recalls and fires.

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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Fisker Finds that Cooling Fan Unit to Blame for Latest Karma Fire Incident, Announces New Recall

Fisker in cooperation with an independent fire expert from Pacific Rim Investigative Services Group has completed an investigation regarding a recent incident in which a Karma plug-in hybrid saloon caught on fire while sitting at a parking lot outside of a grocery store in Woodside, California, on August 10.

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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Fisker Looking to Raise $150 Million To Fund Upcoming Atlantic Model

Amidst all the not-so-great situations currently surrounding Fisker and which range from car fires to the ushering in of a new CEO, another bombshell has just hit home for the California based company. They need $150 million (€121 million), and they need it soon.

Since their inception in 2007, the Fisker brand has raised over $1 billion (€809 million) in private finances to back its automotive projects, but now they need an extra cash flow in order to finalize production of their newest Atlantic model in the very near future.

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Former Chevy Volt Boss Tony Posawatz in as Fisker CEO, LaSorda Out

Effective immediately, Tom LaSorda will be stepping down from his role as the CEO of Fisker to be replaced by former vehicle line director for the Chevy Volt, Tony Posawatz.

In a time when Fisker is facing battery issues and the lack of money flow, the company believes a veteran in the field will bring his wealth of knowledge to help the ailing brand.

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Fisker Investigating Latest Karma Fire in California, Releases First Findings

Fisker made headlines for all the wrong reasons this past weekend when one of its Karma plug-in hybrid sedans burst into flames at a parking lot in Woodside, California on Friday.

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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More Bad Karma for Fisker as Another Model Goes up in Flames

Fisker just can't seem to get a break. Only months after the Karma was said to have been the source of a fire that broke out in a garage of a Texas house, another example of the hybrid-electric luxury sedan went up in flames while parked outside a grocery store in Woodside, California.

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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Fisker Expands Previous 2012 Karma Recall Over Battery Fire Risk

As it turns out, Fisker's existing voluntary recall of 239 Karma sedans in December 2011 did not cover all the affected models.

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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Officials Say Fisker Karma was the Origin of a Texas House Fire

The Fisker Karma is once again under the spotlight following two widely publicized incident regarding a recent recall for its A123-supplied battery pack that posed a fire risk and a car that shut down only a few days after Consumer Reports purchased a brand new example from a dealer.

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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Fisker Officially Unveils New Audi A5 Rivaling Atlantic Plug-in Hybrid Sports Sedan [Pics & Video]

It's show time for the maker of the Karma hybrid, as Fisker officially presented its new Atlantic mid-size sports sedan at a special event on Tuesday night in advance of the car's world premiere at the New York Auto Show on Wednesday, April 4.

Revealed here as a design prototype, the Atlantic will be Fisker's first mainstream and mass produced vehicle. The company said the car is aimed at young families who want to drive "an impactful, high-end vehicle while making a positive statement about responsibilities".

The California-based automaker declined to get into specific details, but it is believed that the Atlantic will start from under $50,000, not including any federal green tax credits, which could reduce the price to a little over $40,000, or less than half the cost of the Karma.

Just like the Karma sedan, the Atlantic is a plug-in series hybrid that allows the driver to switch manually or automatically between electric and gasoline driving modes and sustain the charge of its lithium ion batteries on the move.

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