Hasta La Gadget!

Fisker has had more than its fair share of teething troubles with the Karma, but it has to be given credit for going out of its way to listen to early adopters. The hybrid car builder has confirmed to Autoblog that a question and answer session making the rounds is the official result of town hall discussions that have both acknowledged problems and promised fixes where they’re possible. The answers we’ve been given are a mix of sober realities and practical remedies. Drivers hoping for outright hardware upgrades to improve performance with existing Karmas will have to keep wishing; thankfully, a host of firmware fixes are on the way to improve at least the sedan’s Command Center system and mirrors. PR lead Roger Ormisher even hints that there could be an in-person council that would tackle concerns more directly than the remote pep talks. We’re mostly hoping for the day when Fisker stamps out the bugs and doesn’t need the Q&A to put Karma owners’ minds at ease.

Filed under: Transportation

Fisker confirms Q&A outlining Karma woes and fixes, may establish council to talk issues in person originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Aug 2012 06:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Fisker Karma hybrid car is certainly one mean looking machine, but that does not mean it has no issues of its own to work out. No thanks to a faulty cooling fan, Fisker has issued a recall for their set of wheels, the Fisker Karma – all 2,400 of them sedans. I suppose this has been long overdue, ever since we read about how a Fisker Karma actually burnt into a crisp while its owner went out for some grocery shopping, all $102,000 of it. Fisker claims that a faulty cooling fan is the main cause of the fire, and continued to stress that the fire was not the result of the lithium-ion battery pack. (more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Fisker Atlantic plug-in EV spotted, Fisker Karma passes 50 mile mark on electricity alone,

An official statement has been released regarding the Fisker Karma roadside fire incident that occurred back on the 10th of August. This incident has been provided with a detailed account by none other than Fisker representatives who speak in detail on what caused the fire and how a recall on a cooling fan inside the vehicle will be conducted. At the moment it appears that the recall campaign will not have a financial impact on Fisker.

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.

Fisker lends official statement to Karma fire is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Fisker hasn’t had what you’d call the best year so far, but it may have found the ticket to turning its hybrid vehicle business around. Meet Tony Posawatz, Fisker’s new CEO — and, until just weeks ago, GM’s Vehicle Line Director. Despite being the second new chief executive at Fisker since Tom LaSorda arrived in February, Posawatz needs little explanation for his sudden rise to power. He’s an original member of the Chevy Volt leadership structure and could very well know a thing or two about developing a hybrid car from start to finish. His influence might only be keenly felt when the Atlantic wheels its way towards driveways in 2014, but there’s no doubt he’s onboard to right the good ship Karma and improve Fisker’s reputation in the short term. We wouldn’t want to be in GM’s shoes as it watches one of its EV-friendly veterans so publicly jump ship, however.

Continue reading Fisker lands former GM exec and Chevy Volt guru Tony Posawatz as CEO

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Fisker lands former GM exec and Chevy Volt guru Tony Posawatz as CEO originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 15 Aug 2012 16:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This week the folks behind the Fisker Karma electric car have begun investigating the second auto fire since the launch of the next-generation vehicle. The incident occurred on Saturday in Woodside California for yet-unknown reasons, but Fisker has made it clear that they know it was neither “the lithium-ion battery pack, new technology components nor unique exhaust routing.” No injuries were recorded and no deaths occurred, and the statement from Fisker lends a small amount of information to the case as it stands now.

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]

Fisker investigates second Karma auto fire is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.