[Correction Appended.] High-flying luxury hybrid maker Fisker Automotive received a black eye last week when its new vehicle, the Fisker Karma, died in a parking lot during testing at the Consumer Reports automotive test facility in Connecticut. "This is the first time in decades where we had a car that was undriveable and immovable," David Champion, senior director of Consumer Reports' Auto Test Division, told Design News. "It was just stuck in the middle of our car park."
The incident, described in detail on a Consumer Reports blog, occurred moments after the magazine's engineers drove the vehicle onto a test track to do a speedometer calibration. One of Karma's dashboard warning lights turned on, causing the engineering team to drive it back to the auto test shed to check out the problem.
A 2012 Fisker Karma luxury electric car became bricked after being driven onto the track at Consumer Reports' automotive test facility in Connecticut.
"We put the car into park to look at the owner's manual, and then it wouldn't shift back into 'drive' or 'reverse,' " Champion told us. An explanation in the owner's manual indicated that the vehicle had experienced a "high-voltage problem." The manual advised the engineering team to contact the dealer. Consumer Reports had purchased the car at a Fisker dealership in Connecticut for $107,850 and had picked it up just four days earlier. A photo on the Website shows the Karma being hauled away on the back of a flatbed truck.
In a statement, Fisker described itself as a new company introducing a new technology into the marketplace. "With about 2,000 Karmas built to date, 1,000 at retailers and 500 in customer hands, there are many satisfied Fisker owners around the world, driving without incident," the statement said. Satisfied owners include Justin Bieber, Ashton Kutcher, and Leonardo DiCaprio.
When you say "bricked," does that mean the battery pack died and has to be replaced for $40,000 and isn't covered by the warranty? Seems like we just discussed this very same problem with the Tesla.
Yes, we did cover it. But the Tesla story said the battery became a "brick" in that it was totally useless and had to be replaced for $40,000. We don't know in this case if it is another bricked, useless battery that has to be replaced, or--like you say--the car itself just has an electronic problem and needs to be fixed.
I suspect that, because it is Consumer Reports having the problem, that Fisker will fall all over themselves to straignten it out at no charge under warranty. I wonder if they would do the same for any other consumer?
I agree that they wood fix it under warantee. They will do the same for its clients, as if you look at their names, I'm sure that their attorneys would demand that.
As you may recall from the Tesla story, Tesla doesn't replace a bricked battery pack under warranty, no matter how old the car is. Even if it's only a few weeks old, like this Fisker. So it's not a certainty that Fisker will replace it for free. Being Consumer Reports, of course, I'm sure they will--but what about others?
I do feel that due to such a response to this issue all ove the net, Fiscar would do all possible to look good. When it come to Tesla, I was very surprized by their negative treatment of consumers. I'm sure they will lern or be gone.
Now there are a lot of players that will have electric cars or hybrids to compete with Tesla, so if they do not change their attitude, they will become history.
My Macbook had a glitch too, big deal. Besides a mandatory recall which is common for new cars, each of the Fisker Karma's (that's two now) that needed service since have been directly somehow related to Solyndra. Political football? Yeah slightly. These cars are made in the same factory that produces Porsche Cayman, a car that also had its glitches in the beginning (google it). No evidence of bricking here mate, sensational journalism is all.
I doubt if the battery here costs $40K to replace, like in the Tesla. The Tesla is an all-electric vehicle. This battery is smaller. On the other hand, if the electrical system completely froze up it may not be cheap. I think one of the problems with these vehicles is the battery technology that requires active measures to keep it running.
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