Luckily, Fisker thought ahead and had each and every Karma insured. The cars were destroyed when the port flooded, though some of the Karmas actually caught fire when the saltwater shorted their batteries. The wind from Hurricane Sandy made things worse, spreading the fire to other cars. In the end, 16 Karmas had caught fire, but Fisker says there weren’t any explosions.

Even though having 300 cars destroyed is a pretty big loss, Fisker says it probably won’t suffer too much of a financial setback and that this shouldn’t cause any immediate problems with stock in the US, since there already cars in the States waiting to be sold. All in all, it sounds like Fisker will be relatively okay despite the fact that Sandy destroyed 300 completed and ready-to-be sold Karmas.

Fisker hasn’t been having the best of luck lately. Earlier in the year there were reports of Karmas randomly catching fire, and it wasn’t too long ago that we heard of one of Fisker’s manufacturing partners running out cash and selling off assets. Fisker could really use a pick-me-up right about now, but at it least it sounds like the company dodged a very expensive bullet when Sandy came to town.

[via Wall Street Journal]

Fisker had originally landed a low-interest loan from the US Energy Department, only to have the loan blocked when the company was late bringing the vehicle to market. When the company had its loan pulled, there was concerned about its ability to launch its Delaware plant to build its vehicles. Fisker has now reaffirmed that it will be opening the Delaware plant.

Fisker recently raised over $100 million from private investors and is continuing work on plans to produce a second vehicle model, the Atlantic, at a new plant in Wilmington, Delaware. Fisker says that issues that led to federal regulators suspending access to its government loan have been resolved. Fisker’s Tony Posawartz said, “At an appropriate time, we will revisit the discussion with them of the possibility of accessing the remainder of the loan.”

Fisker and its battery manufacturer have also been forced to conduct a recall to replace battery packs in some of the initial Karma vehicles at a significant cost. Fisker has also had to replace cooling fans on some Karmas. Fisker offered no indication of a timeframe for the opening of its Delaware plant.

[via SF Gate]

Consumer Reports has now published its official review of the Fisker Karma and slammed the car saying that the vehicle is “plagued with flaws.” The reviewers complained that the vehicle has tight confines and limited visibility. Reviewers also complained that the touchscreen system in the car was poorly designed and that the dash controls were an economic disaster.

Fisker isn’t the first automaker to land in hot water with reviewers and consumers over difficult to use dash controls and touchscreens. Ford has had its share issues with its infotainment systems. Consumer Reports does note that the vehicle has “sound” ride, handling, and braking performance. The publication also lauded the first-class interior materials.

However, Consumer Reports’ Jake Fisher, the director of the publication’s Auto Test Center, said that the bad points outweighed the good with the vehicle. It’s also worth noting that Consumer Reports says its engineers noticed continuing intermittent glitches related to gauges, power windows, warning lights, and the radio since Fisker replaced the battery packs of the Karma in a recall earlier this year.

[via CNN]

The incident at hand has been described as a fire in the left front of the vehicle which sat specifically forward of the wheel and started near the low temperature cooling fan. This fan has been accused of starting the fire, and will be the subject of a recall. Fisker has decided that the sealed component here had an internal fault, this causing it to fail and overheat, starting a slow burning fire.

A part of the full Fisker statement on the subject included how the recall will take place and how the owner of the vehicle involved in the incident has responded as well.

Fisker has already contacted its retailer network. Customers are expected to be contacted by retailers, ahead of their receiving formal notice from the company by mail, to have the cooling fan replaced with a unit that meets the required specifications. At the same time an additional fuse will be installed for added protection.

In their investigation, independent experts established that the incident was not caused by the Lithium-ion battery pack, new technology components, engine component packaging or unique exhaust routing of the Fisker Karma.

“We are committed to responding swiftly and decisively to events such as this to ensure total customer satisfaction,” says Executive Chairman and Co-Founder, Henrik Fisker. “This incident resulted from a single, faulty component, not our unique EVer powertrain or the engineering of the Karma. As this situation demonstrates, Fisker Automotive is dedicated to doing whatever is necessary to address safety and quality
concerns.”

The owner of the car involved in the Woodside incident, Mr. Rudy Burger commented: “I have been incredibly impressed with the way Fisker has handled this incident. I have personally started seven technology companies and know from direct experience that the US needs more innovative companies of this type, especially in the automobile sector.

“Fisker is a great company and one that I am personally planning to invest in. I look forward to getting behind the wheel of my next Fisker.”

Check out our timeline below to see recent information on this subject as well as our Fisker portal to keep up to date on all things related to the next-generation automobile company.

The first incident with this vehicle line occurred earlier this year in Sugar Land, Texas. The Texas fire is still part of a US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration investigation now, and no cause has yet been determined. This vehicle has also been part of two manufacturer recalls thus far in its short lifespan. The statement released today from Fisker read as follows:

“The area of origin for the fire was determined to be outside the engine compartment. There was no damage to the passenger compartment and there were no injuries.” – Fisker

This plug-in hybrid vehicle works with 50 miles to the battery before it needs to switch to a normal gasoline engine. There are just about 1,000 of these vehicles out on the streets at this very moment, with no less than a $103,000 USD price tag attached to each. Have a peek at the timeline below to see the short history of this vehicle and its exploits galore.

[via The Register]

In other news, one of Apple’s studies claims that people buy Android phones largely out of a feeling of loyalty to their carrier, and it seems that the iPhone maker licensed out patents to Microsoft while Samsung declined to bite. Fisker has made a new statement about the Karma that spontaneously caught fire in California this past weekend, and the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 was given a release date in the UK. RIM is looking to get rid of NewBay as it seeks fast cash while BlackBerry 10 development continues, and Samsung has announced that a new black Galaxy S III is coming soon.

Sad news for Nintendo fans living in Europe today, as Nintendo pushed the Wii U’s release date back to December. We had a couple pieces of news about Motorola today, some of it good, some of it not so much. The Motorola PHOTON Q 4G LTE is releasing on August 19, but Motorola Mobility announced today that it will be laying off 20% of its workforce. Electronic Arts is eyeing Windows Phone 8, and Amazon is looking to capitalize on the back to school frenzy by putting its tablets on clearance.

Researchers at the University of Warwick have come up with a way of making fat-free chocolate that apparently tastes like the real deal (yes, really), and President Barack Obama shared some words of encouragement with the NASA Curiosity team earlier this morning. He even promised continued support for what NASA is doing, and that is definitely a good thing. Speaking of space, it seems that the Google Earth satellites have discovered something very interesting: additional Egyptian pyramids. The ARM-based IdeaPad Yoga has been revealed as Lenovo’s Windows RT tablet, and it would seem that the LG Optimus Vu is arriving in the United States before the end of September.

The Neo Geo is getting another shot at life with the Neo Geo X Gold, the Steam Community is about to undergo a makeover, and App.net hit its crowd-funding goal with just two days left to go. That does it for the day’s news, but be sure to check out this freshly-posted review of the Lenovo IdeaCentre A720 by Chris Burns. Enjoy the rest of the evening, everyone!

No one was injured in either blaze and with two Karma vehicles now having spontaneously caught fire; Fisker certainly has a PR nightmare on its hands. Fisker issued an official statement on the latest blaze this morning noting that its engineers are working with independent investigators from Pacific Rim Investigative Group. Fisker and its outside investigators have begun a preliminary investigation into the blaze and have begun testing the Karma the caught fire Friday in Woodside, California.

Fisker reports that so far the area where the fire originated has been determined to be outside the engine compartment. The automaker points out that there was no damage to the passenger compartment and there were no injuries in the blaze. So far, evidence supports the fact that the ignition source was not the lithium-ion battery pack.

Fisker says that the evidence also supports that the source of the fire was not new technology components or the exhaust routing used in the vehicle. Investigators are primarily focusing on a specific area of original located forward of the driver side front tire according to Fisker. The carmaker promises more details will be announced after the full investigation report has been completed.

Official statement from Fisker:

Fisker engineers, working with independent investigators from Pacific Rim Investigative Group, have begun preliminary examination and testing on the Karma involved in a fire in Woodside, California Friday, August 10.

Evidence revealed thus far supports the fact that the ignition source was not the Lithium-ion battery pack, new technology components or unique exhaust routing.

The area of origin for the fire was determined to be outside the engine compartment. There was no damage to the passenger compartment and there were no injuries.

Continued investigative efforts will be primarily focused within the specific area of origin, located forward of the driver’s side front tire.

Further details will be announced after a full report is completed.