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

But then again, we don't yet know at what point the fires/explosions started. These cars were submerged, but maybe shorts started occurring when the water level reached the bottom of the under body.

For Karmas, perhaps driving in pouring rain for an extended period of time or driving over salt-infused slush in the winter months would be enough to cause safety issues. Water damage is very different than picking up a car and throwing it against a tree.

 

FUD ?

 

From that pic, it looks like a few didn't explode.

 

Yep, that pretty much is a textbook definition of FUD.

 

you know what stinks about this, look at all those cars sitting there in that lot(not the burnt ones). if all those cars were there and got submerged, its all SALT WATER!!. imagine in about what 2 yrs all the rust and corrosion problems the owners are going to have with them. I would not even buy one in an auction, rust bucket heaven. I may want to submerge each car in a fresh water river or the upper part of the chesepeake to get rid of the salt and recondition. Or destroy them, but what a waste of money either way. Thats a shame.

 

Oh and another thing, who is the fiddle futz that decided:: Hey look a superstorm hurricane, lets leave these cars all sit here, I mean really, a little common sense, you had a week to get those cars (not saying it would be easy) or at least most of them to higher ground. Now you have a fire, and cars that you cant even drive due to water contamination which makes getting these things out of there even harder. What now fiddle futz, how much paperwork and writing off to get that project under way. LOL

 

Complete non issue, the submerged cars are totaled. Rust is the last of those car's concerns. It is just that the cars that burned happen to be electric/hybrids that got all the attention.

 

Poor management. It happens at many companies, but it is especially damaging at a high profile start up. Fisker has raised the money to finish developing the Atlantic (perhaps poor name choice as well), but not enough to manufacture it. This will make it harder to raise funds.

Fisker's lawyers also delayed JCI from taking over A123, and that may bite them in the A$$ now. If their are problems with the battery packs now that require money, very little funds are available during the bankruptcy.

 

wasn't someone in another thread looking to do a group buy on some batteries?

 

Zythryn

you mean they are going to total all those cars (not just the burnt ones)
my goodness, all that money, gone. over a dumb decision, Way to go fiddle futz. And how will they recoup the wages, time, material, from the loss of those cars. From our wallets and those peoples paychecks and benefits that worked on those cars. I sure hope Im wrong on this.

 

For Fisker, they raised $100M for development of the atlantic. This will likely make them burn through that money faster, but it is not a high percentage. The bigger issue, as I said in the previous post, is whether bad publicity hurts future sales and the ability to raise more money.

When Tesla had supplier problems with the S, they were able to quickly raise more cash, and did not ship lower quality products. Adversity happens to all companies, but Tesla has handled their problem in a much better fashion. Fisker has many connections in both the car industry and Washington, and may be able to weather this storm. They need to make fewer of these mistakes. I want all these plug-in car companies to do well, but fisker is on the survival bubble.

 

stuff happens. perhaps they insured the vehicles.

 

I get the sense you thought I was just talking about the Fiskers. Just to be clear, any car, from any manufacturer, is pretty much totaled when completely submerged in sea water. It just does too much damage to too many of the components.

Most likely insurance will cover most, if not all of it. Which means everyone paying for insurance is basically paying for it.

As Austin said, the PR is worse than anything here (for Fisker). The cars from other auto companies is pretty much a non event.
And yes, it was a bad place to have the cars there, although I don't know if it was Fisker's choice, or the shipping company they were using.

 

Water and electricity simply don't mix. Some of the home fires during the storm may have started when water got where it shouldn't be and shorted some wires. A short in a starter battery could lead an ICEV burning to the ground.

This likely started in one car, since it appears to be isolated to one group parking. It could even have been small to begin, and even if noticed, deemed low priority with the other issues from the storm. Several gas lines were ruptured, and supposedly the smell of the odorant is everywhere in AC.

A few years back, a transport ship loaded with cars(Nissan?) developed a leak. Didn't sink, but developed a 15 degree plus list while out in the middle of the ocean. They limped back to port.

Since they had no idea what having the cars held at such an angle for such an extended period of time, the insurance and manufacturer decided to just scrap all those new cars instead of deal with potential, possibly serious, problems.

It's a waste as with flooded cars, but it's better than risking harm or death to a future owner. Plus, most of a car is recycled.

 

The topic was one brand of car catching on fire under conditions that others don't catch on fire. The car against the tree in your picture didn't catch on fire either.

 

Do we know how high the water level raised? The other cars in the background seems to be fine.

 

Here you go a huricane irene related toyota car fire

SH^t happens. The karmas is suspect though.

 

I just learned something, I Google, "car fire" ... and amazing as it sounds, I found thousands & thousand of photos of gasoline explosions. Wow ... who knew .. all that energy could run away in such a manner.

 

It will be interesting to see if there was a short that lit up the gas tank and then combustibles, or if it was a lithium run-away event.

As to apparent damage to other cars, the Fisker in the foreground also doesn't appear damaged. Very few facts to go on, poor reporting if you ask me.

 

Just because the cars are on a flooded dock does not necessarily mean that they
were destined for marine transportation. It could just be a low cost marshalling
yard with rail or truck connection nearby.

But yes, transportation by ship could have been next, but where to?
Europe most likely. While we don't know the cause of the fire, preliminarily we
can surmise that high water levels and incursion are sum part of the failure chain.

To have universal marketability in the European Union, every vehicle must have a
Homologation Certificate. Apparently at least two of the standards that must be
positively met deal with high water levels. The diminuitive THINK City was the first
EV to get the Certificate back in 2009. One test involved being driven through 30 cm
of water (~12 in.) the other being suspended in a 5% brine solution:



Tom Wood Th!nk | New dealership in Indianapolis, IN

Th!nk gets homologation in the Netherlands, ready to be sold in European Union

(Sorry, try as I might I haven't been able to find the exact specs/test procedures
that must be met.)

I have to wonder if having the Homologation issued in the Netherlands,
"The Low Country, " was a mere coincidence or a classic bit of tounge-in-cheek
Euro- humor.