Over a Dozen Government Subsidized Fisker $100,000 Cars Catch Fire and Explode in NJ Port

Let's start with the fact that the federal government has agreed to subsidize Fisker Automotive to the tune of $529 million for the purpose of building luxury sport cars for the rich.

Why Is the Government Subsidizing a $104,000 Car?

Fisker Automotive suspended efforts in Delaware last week to retool an abandoned GM production plant into a manufacturing facility for its new electric hybrid NINA, derived from the $104,000 luxury Karma.

Fisker's problem is that it is the recipient of a $529 million loan from the Department of Energy. Having already pocketed $193 million to help push the $104,000 Karma onto the market...

Fisker Automotive is an Al Gore project because, well, forcing American taxpayers to subsidize sport cars for the rich is sooo Al Gore - a typical Al Gore calling card. Even worse is that these taxpayer funded luxury sport cars for the rich are being built in Finland and not the US.

OBAMA ADMIN GAVE HALF-BILLION-DOLLAR LOAN TO GORE-CONNECTED ELECTRIC CAR COMPANY TO BUILD CARS IN… FINLAND?

An electric car company that received more than a half-billion-dollar Obama administration-approved loan is reportedly now assembling its first line of cars in rural Finland, rather than in the United States. What’s more, the car company, Fisker Automotive, is funded by a venture capital firm whose partners include former Vice President Al Gore.

As if the Fisker Automotive story isn't bad enough already, it gets worse. It's being reported that over a dozen Fiskers caught fire and literally blew up in a New Jersey port right after Hurricane Sandy hit.

More Than A Dozen Fisker Karma Hybrids Caught Fire And Exploded In New Jersey Port After Sandy

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.

As far as we know, no other vehicles caught fire and exploded as a result of Hurricane Sandy. Business Insider and Wired  have also reported on the Fisker cars that caught fire.  Zero Hedge especially had some fun with its headline:

Fisker Karma Is First Car To Burn Underwater  Zero Hedge

16 Fisker Karmas Caught Fire During The Hurricane  Business Insider

At Least 16 Fisker Karmas Drown, Catch Fire at New Jersey Port  Wired

Furthermore, the taxpayer subsidized Fisker has a long and problematic history.

Fisker Looking Into Another Karma Fire

Fisker Automotive has another fire to put out.

Fisker, the Anaheim, Calif.-based maker of luxury plug-in hybrid sports cars, says it is investigating why one of its Karma models caught fire Friday in a parking lot in Woodside, Calif.

For Fisker, images of one of its $100,000 cars mysteriously going up in flames represent another detour for the company’s efforts to regain momentum....

The Woodside fire comes as Fisker is fighting to rebut charges in the German magazine Autobild that the Karma’s design presents a high risk of fire. The company and federal and state officials also are investigating a May incident in which a Fisker Karma was one of three cars destroyed in a garage fire near Houston, Texas.

Late last year, Fisker recalled about 260 Karmas to fix potentially defective hose clamps that could lead to battery coolant leaks.

Meanwhile, Fisker’s been reshuffling its top management, and looking for new funding to replace a $529 million U.S. Energy Department loan that was frozen earlier this year after the company fell behind schedule in developing a new plug-in hybrid model, the Atlantic. Fisker has stopped work equipping a former General Motors Co. assembly plant in Delaware that had been targeted to build the car.

It appears clearly evident that Fisker's Karma has some really bad taxpayer funded karma and may end up being the worst vehicle ever manufactured.  But what the heck, it's only taxpayer cash!