One of the most astoundingly under-reported stories of the Obama era is the tendency of those lavishly-subsidized electric cars he loves to burst into flames. Here’s yet another story you won’t hear much about, concerning the super-expensive electric sports cars Obama sent half a billion dollars of your money to Finland to produce:
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.
That’s from Jalopnik, which neglects to mention the obvious silver lining here: at least you can warm yourself over the burning wreckage of your six-figure subsidized electric sports car. It’s pretty chilly up in Jersey right now.
Jalopnik got hold of an amazing statement from Fisker in response to the string of Karmas blowing off like firecrackers in the flood water:
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.
Oh, well, that’s okay, then. Maybe they only explode when they get hit by water from “Super” storms. It’s remarkably apt that these cars are called “Karma,” isn’t it?
