Over a dozen Fisker Karmas have been damaged after storms from hurricane Sandy pummelled the Eastern Seaboard of the United States this week. An assembled batch of the electric plug-in hybrid cars was submerged in water before a fire broke out at Port Newark, New Jersey. If the reported number of 16 cars proves accurate, then the total damages will amount to at least US$1.6 million.
According to reports, after being flooded by rain, the fleet of US$100 000 cars then mysteriously caught fire and exploded. The cause of the blaze has yet to be explained, but Fisker have launched an investigation. The situation in New Jersey is yet another unfortunate turn of events in a long line of misfortunes for the brand. Earlier in the year Fisker’s battery supplier, A123 Systems, declared bankruptcy and two cars caught fire, prompting the electric vehicle maker to recall 1 400 Karma sedans.
Fisker has released a statement on the flood / fire damage saying that there is restricted access to the port, which is hampering their investigation, but that no injuries were sustained during the fire. The Karma has been the subject of multiple fire investigations, the most recent of which concerned a parked car that spontaneously self-combusted in California in August.
The most likely explanation is that the battery packs are shorting when coming into contact with water, although they are usually designed to withstand flooding and fires; as the battery pack in the Nissan Leaf proved after surviving a massive fire recently.
You can read Fisker’s press release here…
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. We will issue a further statement once the root cause has been determined.
