Fisker Karma: You don't like it? So what. U.S. Dept of Energy is in for more than a half $billion$

By Rob Janicki

Have you even heard of the Fisker Karma? Probably not, but chances

are you will in the near future. The Fisker Karma is a very high end
hybrid gas/electric luxury automobile starting right around $100,000.
Here's a view of the Fisker Karma four door luxury model.

So, has Capitalist Preservation become a consumer product review blog? Not really, but the
story behind the introduction of the Fisker Karma in 2012 is one all
taxpayers should be concerned about and here's why.

The first thing to notice is that the Fisker Karma is a private
company originally financed by a venture capital group including Al
Gore and which has now been further financed to the tune of $529 million by
the U.S. Dept. of Energy and approved by Secretary Steven Chu of
Solyndra fame. "Okay, so what?", you might ask. Here goes.

The car is being manufactured in Finland, not the USA. Finish jobs
will be created. No American jobs will be created for the
manufacturing of the Fisker Karma. Again, no American manufacturing
jobs will be created from this venture.

Next, the engine will be built in China by Chinese labor. No American
jobs will be created from the manufacture of this engine.

You might suggest that new technology costs a lot more money to bring
to market and you might be right, just not in this case. The Fisker
Karma is using current technology and not very good technology at
that. Let's look at the performance numbers.

Although Fisker Karma has not submitted complete performance data to
the EPA, the gas mileage in conventional gas engine mode is 20 MPG,
which just about equals the MPG for the average SUV. No technological
gain here. Looking at the electric side of this hybrid is not much
more encouraging. In pure electric mode, the Fisker Karma has a range
of 32 miles. The Fisker Karma has a 54 MPGe (miles per gallon
equivalent) performance. This actually compares quite unfavorably
with the Chevy Volt.

[...] The only other series hybrid on the market, the 2012 Chevrolet
Volt--with a less powerful electric motor and smaller gasoline
engine--is rated at 94 MPGe in electric mode, and 37 mpg on gasoline,
with an electric range of 35 miles. [...]

[...] The most energy-efficient electric car in the U.S. is the 2012
Mitsubishi 'i' minicar, rated at 112 MPGe. [...]  Green Car Reports

What makes this venture really stand out is that a private company
producing a product in a foreign country with foreign parts and labor
is being financed by American taxpayers. An interesting fact already
noted is that Al Gore is a partner in the venture capital group that
produced the original financing for Fisker Karma and, along with
Leonardo Di Caprio, is on the advance list of purchasers of the Fisker
Karma. It's interesting to note that Gore and his partners managed to
get the federal government to throw in over half a billion dollars
into a foreign company to protect their investment. Not a bad deal
when you can get it.

[...] John Doerr, an advisor to President Obama .... is also a major
investor in Fisker Automotive. Can you say, “crony capitalism?” [...]  Fantastical Andrew Fox

Could this be another Solyndra? Only time will tell.