Scaremongering

No, not Fox News for once. Although they do cover this story, unusually for them they go with a headline that immediately reassures. Maybe they are still reeling from Obama's success so haven't got back to their vitriolic best yet.

The headline that grabbed my attention was in caradvice.com.au and reads "Toyota Prius joins Fisker Karma in Hurricane Sandy fire troubles"

Their story seems to add fuel to the fire (intentional pun usage) of the worries that electric cars can spontaneously combust.

Fisker have had a few issues with car-fires in the past which pleases the right-wing, Fox News watching, Oil-Industry tycoons but these have been identified and resolved.

Not sure if these non-electric ones have been yet although I have heard glue may be at fault.

Anyway, the caradvice site refers back to The New York Times home of this brilliant quote: “We can’t be certain exactly what happened at the port,” Russell Datz, a Fisker spokesman, said in a telephone interview. “But we think being submerged in 13 feet of saltwater had something to do with it.”

These latest fires do not seem to be connected to the fact that Fiskers and Prius's (what is the correct plural there?) are electric or hybrid so restraint is needed. Otherwise, this brilliantly eloquent man needs to get on the case:

I found him on the Car&Driver site when I read this excellent article which coincidentally mentions electric car fires and Toyota. I'm not sure why he has a European number plate in his picture but his rant is perfect - I could easily imagine Lewis Black coming up with it - and if you don't know who Lewis Black is, look him up on YouTube and prepare to hear some swearing.

So, in summary, don't park your electric car in the sea and, most of all, as the great Clive Dunn who passed away yesterday would say, "Don't Panic!! Don't Panic!!"

Bad Karma for Justin Bieber?

An embarassing story today from Caradvice.com.au
This is the latest in a series of problems that have hit Fisker over the last couple of months:
They are facing a fraud lawsuit over rights to stocks.
They've had a recall to prevent a potential battery-pack leak.
and the potential killer:
They've had to lay off staff to help sort out debt issues arising from a huge Government Department of the Environment loan.

Their problems were highlighted two weeks ago in this Autoguide article.

It would be a shame if time is, as a suspiciously un-named analyst suggests, running out for Fisker. The cars look good, and the idea of using a petrol (or diesel) engine to generate elctricity to power the car makes good environmental sense - the motor should never be over-revving or free-wheeling or doing anything too wasteful.

So why mention Justin Bieber?

Simply to get a few more hits to my Blog.

But he was given a Karma for his 18th birthday. Autoguide reported it thus. God that article made me want to throw up.

Particularly this line from his manager, Scooter (yes Scooter!) Brawn, "We wanted to make sure, since you love cars, that when you’re on the road you are always environmentally friendly,” said Braun, adding, “And we decided to get you a car that would make you stand out.”

Yuk! As if Bieber wasn't sickly enough as it is.

Fisker could end up with a reputation for making cars for children - their other famous owner is Leonardo DiCaprio who may be 73 years old but only looks about 12.

Let's just hope Fisker doesn't go down like The Titanic.