OC Fisker Karma Hybrid Cars Burned in NJ Hurricane Sandy Fire
Over a dozen Fisker Karma plug-in hybrids were burned at a shipping facility in New Jersey after first being submerged in seawater as a result of Hurricane Sandy.
While the storm happened in the East Coast of the United States, its devastating affects reached the Pacific. It is reported that at least sixteen vehicles produced by Anaheim based Fisker Automotive were burned at the Port Newark fire after being submerged during the storm.
According to the OC Register the company has confirmed that these vehicles marked at a $100,000 base price were lost because of the fire.
Fortunately there were no reported personal injuries at the time of the fire and the vehicles were the sole burned victims at the facility. The automaker was devastated over the loss.
“If you had a piece of work that you dedicated your life to developing and to see them just burned to the ground like that, from a natural disaster, don’t you think that would be hard to see?” Fisker spokesman Russell Datz told the publication.
As of Wednesday power at the Port Newark Container Terminal, where the fire occurred, remained nonoperational. Attempts to connect to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey via phone were rejected by busy signals.
The electric vehicles made by Fisker are manufactured in Finland and have had a history of causing fires. They also h
ave a small gas generator on board that is designed to recharge a battery to extend its range. An August fire in Silicon Valley prompted a recall for over an estimated 2,000 Karmas. To alleviate that problem, they had to replace a faulty fan on the front of the car. Another fire that occurred in Texas earlier in the year has remained a mystery and unsolved.
Having risen over $1.2 billion dollars in private funding, the company is searching to gain even more monies apart from renegotiating a loan with the Department of Energy. The new funds are aimed to produce a lower production hybrid vehicle, the Atlantic. Fisker hopes that this new vehicle may help them meet the production demand set as condition by the government for the loan. Financial woes and having not met the demand earlier this year forced the automaker to shut their Delaware facility, however.
The hybrid vehicle industry is doing what they can to reach new horizons in vehicle efficiency. Some of these vehicles that are released fail to meet all safety requirements. And because they are newer technology, the risk of a mishap is higher and may cause you injury.
Contact our electric hybrid car accident lawyer if you have been injured during an electric vehicle fire or accident.