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The Environmental Spectator
Why Is the Government Subsidizing a $104,000 Car?
Is Fisker Automotive the next Solyndra? Maybe, but that misses the larger point.
Fisker Automotive suspended efforts in Delaware last week to retool an abandoned GM production plant into a manufacturing facility for its new electric hybrid NINA, derived from the $104,000 luxury Karma.
Fisker’s problem is that it is the recipient of a $529 million loan from the Department of Energy. Having already pocketed $193 million to help push the $104,000 Karma onto the market, Fisker is now “failing to meet DOE benchmarks” in converting the Wilmington, Delaware factory into an assembly line for the $40,000 NINA. In the kind of accounting the government likes in order to show it isn’t just throwing away money, DOE wanted some proof of performance. Fisker is already far behind schedule, and so it had to lay off 26 of the 100 construction workers on site and tell subcontractors to hold the phone. Negotiations on whether DOE will come through with the second $336 million installment are now expected to take months.
Pundits immediately pounced, asking whether this was the next Solyndra. Some said yes, others said no. Yet through all the editorial fulminating, no one asked the much more obvious question: Why on earth is the government subsidizing a $104,000 luxury sports car in the first place?
Fisker Automotive is the brainchild of Henrik Fisker, a 48-year-old Danish auto designer who first made his mark working at BMW’s advanced design studio in Munich. Among his accomplishments were the Z07 concept car showcased at the 1997 Tokyo Motor Show and the exterior of the BMW Z8 roadster. He then headed to Newbury Park, California, where he founded DesignworksUSA, a BMW subsidiary concentrating solely on futuristic designs. In 2001 he jumped to Ford, where he was creative director of Ingeni, Ford’s London-based design center, then back to California, where he became director of Ford’s Global Advanced Design Studio in Irvine.
Like many ambitious auto executives before him — John DeLorean comes to mind — Fisker’s real dream was to build his own car. So in 2004 he left Ford to found Fisker Coachbuild, a boutique designer of one-of-kind luxury cars. He also produced the initial design for the Tesla Model S, the scaled-down version of the $109,000 Tesla Roadster that is supposed to reach auto showrooms this year. In 2008, Fisker unveiled his own luxury hybrid, the Karma, designed to compete with the Roadster at $104,000. Although still headquartered in southern California, Fisker elected to build the Karma in Finland at a plant that once produced the Porsche Boxster and Cayman. Fisker promised to deliver the first Karmas by 2009. He claimed to have 1,300 orders already.
Like all electrics, the Karma would have some severe limitations. Without its gasoline engine, its range is limited to 35 miles — meaning it only goes 35 miles before requiring another charge, which can take several hours. Fortunately, it is also fitted with a 2-liter, turbocharged Ecotec engine that extends its range to 230 miles and its top speed to 125 mph. The EPA rated the Karma’s mileage at only 20 miles per gallon for its gasoline engine, but 52 mpg for full hybrid mode. The company offered rooftop solar panels that extend the range another four miles. Time named the car to its “Green Design 100” list in 2009, before it had even been produced.
Fisker Automotive received initial funding of $500 million from Kleiner Perkins, Silicon Valley’s premier venture capital firm, which had started to follow board member Al Gore’s advice in moving away from computers and into “green” investments. In the old days, such venture funding primed a company for its initial public offering, when the early backers would recoup their investment. Since the Gore era began, however, the target for second-round investment has become the federal government. Almost as soon as the Obama administration arrived in 2009, Fisker was at the door with a proposal for a loan under the Department of Energy’s new Advanced Technologies Vehicle Manufacturing Loan Program, a $25 billion pot of money thrown in with the auto bailout of 2008. The investment fund would allow Washington bureaucrats to point the auto industry in the right direction. Solyndra, remember, was a loan guarantee, where the federal government promises to indemnify private lenders if things go wrong. Fisker received a check directly from the U.S. Treasury. The first $193 million went to save the floundering Karma venture, while the next $336 million would launch the NINA, a “people’s” version of the Karma that would sell for $45,000 — only $39,000 with federal tax credits.
By October 2009, less than ten months after Obama had taken office, Fisker signed an agreement to take over an abandoned General Motors assembly in — wouldn’t you know — Wilmington, Delaware. Whether Vice President Joe Biden had anything to do with bringing home the bacon is still anyone’s guess, but the VP was on hand for the ceremonies, gushing that this cutting-edge green machine would “only cost $40,000!” As the Fisker press release described it:
Production is scheduled to begin in late 2012. Fisker Automotive anticipates Project NINA will ultimately create or support 2,000 factory jobs and more than 3,000 vendor and supplier jobs by 2014, as production ramps up to full capacity of 75,000-100,000 vehicles per year. More than half will be exported, the largest percentage of any domestic manufacturer.… Fisker plug-in hybrid cars will help remove the country’s dependence on foreign energy by eliminating the need for 42 million barrels of oil by 2016. They will also offset 8 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions.
Meanwhile, back in Finland, Fisker was having a little trouble meeting its Karma production schedules. Although promised for 2009, the first models did not roll off the assembly line until July 2011. Instead of the 1,300 supposedly already under wraps, the first delivery to the United States consisted of 239 cars. Six months later, when a leak in the cooling system that might cause battery fires prompted a recall, an inventory discovered fewer than 50 cars sold. The rest were still sitting on the lots. To compensate for poor sales, Fisker upped the price to $116,000.
Not that the green establishment hadn’t given the Karma its four-star treatment. As Fortune reported, the Karma “has been celebrated by environmentalists, blessed by the federal government with a guaranteed loan, and endorsed by celebrities. Leo DiCaprio ignited a swirl of publicity when he took delivery of the first production model.… The seating foam is made from soy-based bio fiber, the carpet backing composed of recycled post-consumer materials, and the trim sourced from ‘fallen, sunken and rescued wood,’ including some that has spent the last 300 years resting at the bottom of Lake Michigan.” Nonetheless, the fanfare hasn’t produced many sales, and DOE was reportedly concerned about revenue. Company officials refused to release figures, however, and the DOE cooperated by blacking out sales numbers in a copy of its report released to the Delaware News Journal.
Whether or not this constitutes “another Solyndra” is still up to the press to decide. The real question, though, is this: Why on earth is the federal government subsidizing a $104,000 car being manufactured in Finland? Supposedly the answer is to promote its little brother the NINA. But the NINA is barely distinguishable from the Chevy Volt, which also costs $40,000, has had its own battery fires, and is selling so poorly that dealers are refusing further shipments. Autodata Corp. recorded seven months’ worth of unsold inventory in January. The unheralded Chevy Cruze, on the other hand, had a poor month in November when it only sold 13,000 cars. The Nissan Leaf is hardly bettering the Volt, selling only 676 in January and 10,000 all last year. The Tesla Roadster — which received its own $465 million loan from DOE — seems to have cornered the market for $100,000 hybrids, selling 2,500 in 2011, although the company is still losing money. But 100,000 NINAs by 2014? Where else but in the federal government would you find anyone willing to accept such projections?
But the Karma is not just an investment. It is another milestone in the Obama administration’s effort to build an entirely separate economy, where coal is forever banished, cars no longer emit exhaust, and there is a windmill in everyone’s backyard — all subsidized by the federal government. In that sense, the $193 million thrown at the Karma isn’t really a loss at all. It’s just another step in watering the shoots of the Green Economy — this time sprouting in Joe Biden’s back yard.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (78) | Leave a comment
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Richard Baker| 2.14.12 @ 6:25AM
Notice that without the Ecotec engine this turkey has a 35 mile range. Electric/hybrids are expensive pieces of junk that require massive government subsidies to make any sales at all. The Dolt, as I understand, has gone from a $7,500 subsidy up to a $10,000 subsidy. There is no real market for these vehicles and the only way they get sold is to the high income folks. The author has a point. Why in the world is the government subsidizing a $104,000 (now up to $116,000) car? The investment community and the public want nothing to do with them. Welcome to the new Brave New World, at taxpayers expense. A turkey is a turkey is a turkey. Gobble those dollars.
Timothy L. Pennell| 2.14.12 @ 9:25AM
Hmmmmmmmm.
I wonder what we'd find, if we Followed the Money?
I wonder if George Soros' name would pop up?
I'm just saying.
Dick Nome| 2.14.12 @ 6:33AM
Oh dog poo. I was set on getting a Porkulus grant to buy one. My hope is gone. Things will have to change.
Mike Hawk| 2.14.12 @ 6:37AM
I heard DiCrapio's car is composting itself as it sits recharging. Anyone able to verify that??
Lee Ghume| 2.14.12 @ 7:03AM
Some black bears broke into Leo's car and ate the seats, then termites did in the backing and wood trim.
fckewe| 2.14.12 @ 2:04PM
ROTFLMAO
Sad thing is, without the clunky ENIAC computer, your cell phone wouldn't be able to do laundry too. (mine does)
Without the research investment of time and money, you would still be getting stock reports via tickertape. Just in time to know you had crashed and are broke.
Compared to the investment in WAR, which only has life long dividends like permanent care for the wounded and no actual victory to show for it... this car is a success already. you know, the Republicans did the same thing to Tucker in the 40's. Through stonewall politics, he built an ahead of it's time machine, made the production minimum on time despite relentless sabotage, and if he had the same backing that the EDsall had, we would be driving cars that do dry cleaning today.
The saddest part, that after all the millions and billions the Automakers and other Republicans spent lobbying to keep fuel milage down on cars, the model T got 25 MPG and cost less than $3000 today's dollars to build.
O.F. A.N. A.S.S.| 2.14.12 @ 8:49PM
In our quest to end the sodomization of sheep, we believe knowing the enemy is vital.
Our best efforts to break the sheep sodomizing code to date of the meaning of ROTFLMAO is:
Ram Ovines Transgressed by Fckewe who Lustfully Molests the Anal Orifice
Any helpful information in this endeavor will be gratefully received.
Ovines For
A Nation
Absent Species Sodomization
The Bruce| 2.15.12 @ 12:49AM
"The saddest part, that after all the millions and billions the Automakers and other Republicans spent lobbying to keep fuel milage down on cars, the model T got 25 MPG and cost less than $3000 today's dollars to build."
Well, with all the billions of dollars the government has spent to produce the Chevy Volt, the Volt has a range of 40 miles, just like the original electric car built in 1894. Except that you could by the original battery car for $1000 in today's dollars, versus the Volt, priced for $40,000 in today's dollars. That seems about right, given the government's new normal in government in spending... "spend $40,000 today for what you could have bought for $1,000 in yesteryear." (Yes, the $1,000 is adjusted for today's inflation).
jstwndring| 2.15.12 @ 5:37PM
You are absolutely correct in that there is indeed a conspiracy afoot. However, it is not one being created by the Republican Party. It is one being perpetrated by those most devious of villains collectively known as the free market. Didn't see that one coming, did you? Yes, those greedy bastards are constantly looking for ways to selfishly maximize both their ROE as well as the money they spend purchasing goods and services. Unbelievable, I know! Fear not, concerned comrade! The Marxist-in-Chief is doing much to counter this gross Imperialism by "investing" taxpayer money in technologies that the idiots who dominate the free market foolishly oppose. Further, the Obama Youth are being educated to hate evil Imperialist Capitalist Slave Masters that trick people into participating in this so-called, "free-market". For, as you know, the best choice to make is the one that Big Brother tells you to make.
Oh, and for the thick-headed:
/s
c. j. acworth| 2.14.12 @ 6:53AM
I am an unemployed (since Nov.) mechanic who just did my income taxes, and figue I have to cut Uncle Barak a check for about $450.00. I think I will enclose with it the following note.
Dear Mr. President;
Although I have been without work for the past 4 months, I understand the need for all of us to share the sacrifices required in these difficult times. I would be pleased if you would accept this check and give it to some deserving Hollywood millionaire/billionaire so he can purchase a clean green solar-powered auto. Whatever you do, don't give it to the evil oil & gas people, they will just use it to despoil Mother Earth by drilling nasty holes in Her.
Still Hopefully waiting for Change,
c. j. acworth
fckewe| 2.14.12 @ 2:05PM
CJ, ifeel for you man. Working for only 9 months this year and having to pay tax on earnings. Life sucks, looks like YOUR only real solution is to eat your gun you whiney little spoiled prick!
Von Mises Jr.| 2.14.12 @ 3:26PM
The fine gentleman c.j. wants job, and all you want is a free lunch, you greedy little SOB. But actually, c.j. is too principled to take blood money from a traitor to manhood, you begging little squeegeey pest.
The Bruce| 2.15.12 @ 1:02AM
Spoken by a "man" on the welfare dole of the government, paying no taxes, yet sucking the system dry.
Do the country a favor and whore yourself out for hand-jobs in your local Best Buy parking lot. At least you'd be providing a useful service for someone.
jstwndring| 2.15.12 @ 5:43PM
Life does indeed suck in the world created by Democrats. Thanks, Obama, Reid, Pelosi, and Co..
Appleby| 2.14.12 @ 6:56AM
I am holding out for a Koenigsegg; you can get an ecologically correct version for $1.9 million and the only faster production car is the Bugatti Veyron.
By the way, they tested the Nissan Leaf here in Toronto and discovered that the hideously cold weather we have here seriously reduces the battery's charge...and that you cannot use the car heater if you actually want to get farther than the end of your street with it. Tellingly the test driver said the thing becomes a paperweight when the battery is dead, and that it comes with two years of free towing so you can get it home.
I already have a subway system that is unreliable. Why would I buy a car that is equally unreliable to replace it?
Timothy L. Pennell| 2.14.12 @ 9:31AM
To save the Planet, silly.
I wonder when, exactly, FACTS stopped being important?
Don't you, Appleby?
When did 2+2 become, everything BUT, the number 2?
Al Adab| 2.14.12 @ 10:34AM
Just wait for the next federal mandate; that every second car must be a Chevy Volt or other electric. If they can mandate insurance or a particular type of health product, they can mandate anything.
Barnacle| 2.14.12 @ 11:14AM
Every SECOND car?
SUBVET| 2.14.12 @ 2:05PM
All this in the name of GREEN ENERGY just another word for a "slush fund" for my friends.
jstwndring| 2.15.12 @ 5:41PM
From President Obama:
We all have to make sacrifices. And by mean "we", I mean, you.
WillianInWien| 2.14.12 @ 6:57AM
Hey! If you need to go any further than 25-35 miles, you are supposed to take public transportation! Obama's rail improvement program will arrive about the same time that the kinks in the electric car are worked out and all the USG subsidies will be forgotten! Right?
Moe Blotz| 2.14.12 @ 6:58AM
Those 300 year old trees at the bottom of Lake Michigan were not waste, someone paid a few bob to lift them to the surface. The old timber is quite desirable in that the timber is more dense than new growth trees and well preserved by lying in the cold depths of the lake.
Good old Joe can't grow his own hair, much less grow the manufacturing base in his home state. Sunoco just bailed out of the First State as well. No one would buy the refinery.
My senators and representative will hear from me today about abolishing the Dept. of Energy.
Mike Hawk| 2.14.12 @ 8:34AM
Sunoco and Conoco-Phillips are closing the refineries in Mucus Hook. They will be dismantled and sold to China and India. As for the storage, the plan is to import refined product from a new giant refinery in India. Seems it was too expensive to meet all the EPA and union demands. SO, Bon Soir y'all. The Union guys tried to appeal to the Oborg and Plugs Biden to stop it. Did they really think this Administration was interested in saving refinery jobs??
fckewe| 2.14.12 @ 2:09PM
Why are you NOT mentioning that they have NOT invested in NEW, modern facilities in more than 3 decades? Why are your sainted petromonsters still getting subsidies for NOT making progress?
WHY are you REALLY worried about a scraped 70 year old facility that the Chinese will have to figure out how to reassemble when the SAME GUYS built the refinery in INDIA, stealing yet more subsidized jobs from Americans?
It's not just your head that is not in reality.
O.F. A.N. A.S.S.| 2.14.12 @ 10:41PM
Why do you sodomize sheep?
Ovines For
A Nation
Absent Species Sodomization
Doctor_X| 2.14.12 @ 7:24AM
I don’t understand why the car makers can’t make a good hybrid car! The company I work for has been making diesel electric train engines that are the industry standard. We retrofitted two Navy assault ships with a diesel electric motor system and saved the navy $2 million on the FIRST trip one the ships made! The DDG-1000, the Navy’s new destroyer runs the same hybrid electric motor system.
If we can make hybrid trains and ships that perform better and save fuel and cost why can’t the auto makers? By the way our systems do NOT use batteries. Our diesel engines run generators that run the electric motors, not really green but with a fuel savings of $2 million a cruise who’s to argue!
JimH| 2.14.12 @ 8:19AM
As always, follow the money. Look at which companies produce the batteries and which countries produce the metals and rare earths used to manufacture them.
Von Mises Jr.| 2.14.12 @ 9:30AM
JimH, I bought SQM just above $30 and it is now almost $60. They are one of the few sources of Lithium other than Afghanistan where you might step on a landmine or get beheaded by the Taliban.
Electric cars have Lithium batteries. It is a shame smart investors need to follow legislation and government policies, instead of free markets and well run companies to return profits.
Al Adab| 2.14.12 @ 10:31AM
To follow up on Dr. X question why could not the Navy operate any number of new nuclear power plants across the country? They have an exemplary record operating their own shipboard systems. A new President could order the construction of several as a national defense requirement under the Navy Dept.
Now to the car. This is what happens when we let ideology drive public policy. Activist government is simply dangerous to freedom. This is how the fascists operated their system, choosing favored companies and granting them contracts to manufacture. All in the name of the greater good of course.
Von Mises Jr.| 2.14.12 @ 11:33AM
The other animals in "Animal Farm" believed that they pigs were building a windmill for their benefit to reduce work and increase food.
http://www.americanthinker.com....._care.html
There is a sucker born every minute. But hopefully more and more will figure out that liberal elitist are the smart kids that would rather scam others than put in a day's work.
fckewe| 2.14.12 @ 2:10PM
Just like the Bush Regime and just like Romney plans for your aging and decrepit future.
stan redmond| 2.14.12 @ 3:22PM
Are you aware Bush is not president anymore? Really, he's not.
Tradcon| 2.14.12 @ 3:42PM
So Bush wasn't fascist enough for you? I don't understand your argument..........
jstwndring| 2.15.12 @ 6:05PM
Hmm. I don't remember Bush pushing for a national health program that would feature an end-of-life counseling panel that would determine via a mathematical formula whether or not you had enough "quality of life years" left to justify giving you continuing health care. I know that Obamacare has exactly that. Just like every other socialist state in the world has. Just like in Britain, where, once men reach the age of 59.5, they are no longer eligible to receive treatment for certain types of heart disease. Nice. You finally reach the age where the health care system you paid into your entire life is needed the most, and they cut you off to save money. How's that for compassion?
Moe Blotz| 2.14.12 @ 9:42AM
Are the ships and locomotives sensitive to weight reduction? A hybrid automobile must be extremely light in order to facilitate fuel savings. Caterpillar also makes a hybrid track vehicle that uses diesel electric technology, with no worries about weight. When automobile hybrids are affordable without being subsidised by taxpayers, more people will buy them.
stan redmond| 2.14.12 @ 3:25PM
There's no reason to include the "electric" part of a diesel electric system. A plain old diesel engine works just fine. Go anywhere else in the world and you will see brand new sharp looking diesel vehicles. But not in the US. Try to find a VW diesel anything. Even Mercedes turbo diesels are hard to find.
SUBVET| 2.14.12 @ 2:12PM
Sounds like a 1942 Guppy II WW2 diesel/electric pig boat made at Electric Boat Company, Groton Conn.
JAWilson| 2.14.12 @ 7:37AM
"Instead of the 1,300 supposedly already under wraps, the first delivery to the United States consisted of 239 cars. "
That's the money quote. There's no business like no business!
Tim the Enchanter| 2.14.12 @ 7:55AM
When you sup with the devil, you need a long spoon.
numbatdog| 2.14.12 @ 8:15AM
This crony green crap is only the tip of the iceberg if Obama wins another term. He told us yesterday in no uncertain terms he intends going full steam ahead on all his socialist projects. Another 4 years of this and we'll all be driving a Trabant - if you can get a permit from the commissar.
Fred Farkel| 2.14.12 @ 8:35AM
Do you think the Trabant could be made as a hybrid??
C. S. P. Schofield| 2.14.12 @ 9:11AM
The mind boggles.
Fred Farkel| 2.14.12 @ 9:16AM
The possibilities are endless. WHen it came to building crap, Socialist/Communist Eastern Europe had a lock on it. The Oborg wants to revive it.
OregonBuzz| 2.14.12 @ 8:48AM
Unbeknown to many folks it seems is the fact that the American taxpayer also forks out $250,000 for every Chevy Volt which sells for $40,000.
I don't understand the math.
C. S. P. Schofield| 2.14.12 @ 9:12AM
Good thing so few of them sell, then.
Except I expect it's that much for every one BUILT, regardless of how well they sell.
Moe Blotz| 2.14.12 @ 9:48AM
The 250 large figure includes the subsidies paid to the battery manufacturer. Perhaps the figure may include our taxpayer "investment" $$$$$$ that Barry allocated to GM.
Fred Farkel| 2.14.12 @ 11:54AM
While the Fisker self composts, the Volt self - immolates. Great planned obsolesence.
Al Adab| 2.14.12 @ 12:23PM
But guys, "It's the right thing to do." What was that about the road and good intentions?
fckewe| 2.14.12 @ 2:12PM
Read catch 22. Milo buys eggs for 7 cents and sells them for 4, making a profit of ham, cheese, bread, shirts, sheets and tires along the way.
stan redmond| 2.14.12 @ 3:26PM
But they make up for it in volume...
I understand the math perfectly. GM is a wholly owned subsidiary of the democrat party. What better way to shore up the UAW then the money laundering function of the Volt.
Bob K.| 2.14.12 @ 8:57AM
Follow the government trail of money. Right on back to Al Gore.
fckewe| 2.14.12 @ 2:13PM
you think Al GOre is getting rich on this?
Tradcon| 2.14.12 @ 3:50PM
Yes, all their cronies do. Afterall, good old Warren Buffet benefitted greatly from the strike down of the Keystone. He owns the Canadian Railway that ships *gasp* COAL. He also made a boatload through the newest mortgage loan scam through BofA. It would do the planet a great service if algore and mr. "i don't pay enough in taxes" would just shut up and stop abusing real taxpayers.
C. S. P. Schofield| 2.14.12 @ 9:17AM
The finances of bringing electric cars to market could be as straightforward and honest as one could ask for, and they's STILL be an awful idea. Let us suppose that tomorrow GM unveils an all-electric car in every way comparable to a four door sedan with a conventional engine, costing $1.98.
Where do we get the electricity? And what do we do with the batteries when they wear out?
*crickets chirping*
Von Mises Jr.| 2.14.12 @ 9:32AM
In "Animal Farm," the pigs were always promising to build a windmill, and then the other animals would have plenty of ground grain and live better. Of course, there was no windmill and the other animals never saw it for that reason.
http://www.americanthinker.com....._care.html
albert constantine jr.| 2.14.12 @ 10:03AM
I have literally lived a majority of my life in the shadow of the former GM plant referenced here. Several of the local suburban developments were created to provide affordable housing for the employees. Once upon a time, when the du Pont family held significant shares of GM stock, locating a plant here made some kind of economic sense, with good access to the rail infrastructure necessary for heavy manufacturing.
Chrysler also located an assembly plant in Newark, less than 20 miles away. Delaware became a magnet for workers from the South looking for high paying jobs that didn’t require education. As the union rolls swelled, Delaware evolved from a moderate patriarchal country club Republican state to a reliably Democrat state, with no Republican winning as governor or the electoral votes for President since 1988.
For their loyalty, where are the benefits for the blue collar folks? Most of the jobs that paid $75,000 a year to high school dropouts are gone, as both plants are now closed. The broken promise that is Fisker is revealed here. The public schools perform poorly, there’s a high infant mortality rate, Wilmington has one of the highest HIV infection and homicide rates in the country. Instead of attracting folks from the West Virginia hollows looking for work, we’ve become a haven for Blood gang members from New York who fled the crime crackdown of the Giuliani administration.
Such is the legacy of the left during more than 40 years of public service by Joe Biden. Is it any wonder that together with Obama he’s been able to do so much to the rest of the country in so little time?
C. S. P. Schofield| 2.14.12 @ 10:33AM
AT THE MOMENT, Republicans are concerned with holding opportunities open for their own use, and so (as a side effect) for other people. Democrats are concerned with 'taking care' of those less fortunate than themselves ... and incidentally with polishing up their moral superiority.
But there was a time when the Democrats were genuinely occupied with prying open opportunities and the Republicans were the elitist swine.
Fred Farkel| 2.14.12 @ 11:52AM
You are full of crap. Have you always been this way??
fckewe| 2.14.12 @ 2:20PM
he's only partially full of crap. The democrats in this government are the gaping sphincter, trying to develop new turds, and calling them progress. The republicans are the old, moldy turds klinging to the butthole hairs of the ass, wishing they were fresh and as full of promise as the Demoturds.
stan redmond| 2.14.12 @ 3:29PM
I think your mom has some corndogs ready for you upstairs.
Mike Hawk| 2.14.12 @ 8:17PM
I think this clown needs an enema. Any orifice will do as they are all the same in this case.
RJ| 2.14.12 @ 11:24AM
Government loans, bailouts and subsidies are not a function of governing, they are examples of corruption and must be brought to an end. These green car and solar energy episodes are a grotesque joke on the taxpaying public.
Coincidentally, I was in a Tesla Roadster a few weeks ago. It is very low to the ground and cramped, making getting in and out a fairly slow and awkward process. I found the side and aft visibility to be pretty poor. It didn't seem to me that this car was designed to be built. I doubt any significant number will be sold, even setting aside the limitations of its electrical power plant and batteries.
fckewe| 2.14.12 @ 2:21PM
Have you EVER sat in a Ferrari? Not even a Porsche 911? These are NOT minivans lardass!
RJ| 2.14.12 @ 2:57PM
I have owned sports cars, Troll
marshall roath| 2.14.12 @ 12:23PM
The buyers of these lux toys probably are in Obama's over $250,000 tax target so the goverment will get our money back. Yah sure.
stan redmond| 2.14.12 @ 3:30PM
An I guarantee you every one of these people is a liberal. Who else would be stupid enough to buy a $116,000 car that goes a whopping 25 miles on an ideal day. OH. and don't forget the $5000 addition of a solar panel on the roof to get that extra 4 miles.
Mike Hawk| 2.14.12 @ 8:27PM
They don't want to drive them anywhere, they just want you to see how cool it looks sitting in their driveway...... Well, they probably have that circular drive up to the front door to give you the impression they live on an estate.
RichTex| 2.14.12 @ 12:51PM
Why is the federal government subsidizing Fisker Automotive? The answer really is simple. The intent of the Leftists and the Obama administration (but, I repeat myself) is to eliminate the private automobile. Too much freedom there. Instead, everyone will be forced into public transit.
But really not everyone. The Leftist Elite will still require private transport, just like the Soviet commissars did. Where the Soviet commissars had the ZIL, the American commissars will have the Fisker. And of course, Leftist Elites don’t spend their own money; they spend other people’s money.
In order to placate the proletariat, it’s a “green” vehicle, so the commissars can be excused for using it. (It’s just the proletariat which needs to be placated, because actually, the Algores of the world don’t care, as long as they get to use them.)
Al Adab| 2.14.12 @ 2:40PM
Since they (we) are already paying for the car through subsidies, maybe the government could just deliver one to every family. Might be cheaper.
stan redmond| 2.14.12 @ 3:31PM
I still wouldn't want one of those turds
roger lake| 2.14.12 @ 6:21PM
Excellent piece about the outrageous government spending involved.
But the question remains, is it a good car?
I don't think so.
It's heavy. I have read curb weight was near 5000 pounds, and one early review didn't even list vehicle weight, which is standard in vehicle specifications. This will negatively impact performance.
Top speed is only 125 mph. Yeah, I get, "where are you going to drive that fast" but in this class, like the Mercedes AMG, Porsche Panamera and Audi A6/8 performance sedans, that are typically limited to 140-150 mph, buyers are conscious of performance status.
Finally, there's the mundane items like interior space and trunk room. 1%-ers like their space when they're on the road. Summed up, compared to its competition, I think the Karma is in last place.
The Bruce| 2.15.12 @ 1:14AM
Well, given the cost/performance ratio of this car, don't you think the name "Karma" is rather ironic, don't you?
I do.
The Bruce| 2.15.12 @ 1:15AM
Wow, that sounded dumb. Edit button, or grammatical check, please, AS?
POST American| 2.14.12 @ 11:41PM
------Great '90's Show' breakdown.
NOW
----anytime for that FIRST piece tackling
the UN-Globalist 'Agenda 21' and the
unfolding of a world police state and
the full spectrum implementation of
--------------TOTAL EUGENICS-------------.
d| 2.15.12 @ 2:01PM
Henerik Fisker was NOT the founder of DesignworksUSA. The founder was Chuck Pelly.
Richard Baker| 2.16.12 @ 8:19AM
Fisker will eventually go down in automotive history as another, like Delorean, who was able to fleece a government. Ask the Irish about John D.
markenoff| 2.17.12 @ 2:20AM
The government doesn't pick winners and losers. They onlu pick losers.
old white guy| 2.17.12 @ 7:03AM
question. how much was kicked back to obama and the dems???