By Rob Janicki
Have American taxpayers funded technology, which may now be headed to China? Only time will tell, but the circumstances don't look good for taxpayers.
Henrik Fisker, founder of electric car company Fisker, announced today he is leaving the company over “major disagreements” with management.
Fisker Automotive, which makes the Karma plug-in electric car, is weighing selling a large stake to Chinese company Geely, according to Forbes...
This makes perfect sense for the Chinese since they already bought most of the bankrupt battery maker, A123 Solutions, which was the battery supplier for the Fisker Karma.
A123 Systems’ failure halted Karma production completely. Fisker has sold fewer than 2,000 of its Karma, which sells for more than $100,000, CNBC reports...
Let's not forget the taxpayer's role in funding Fisker.
The troubled company was the recipient of a $529 million federal Advanced Vehicle Technology Loan by the Department of Energy, and borrowed about $193 million of that loan. But the DOE froze the unused portion of the loan because of failure to meet production deadlines...
Will taxpayers ever see any of that $193 million dollars? Certainly not the entire amount. But what must be remembered is that Fisker was supposed to develop proprietary technology to be applied to product production in America, thus creating good paying jobs in America. As it stands, what technology in all electric automotive production that was gained at taxpayer expense may well find its way to China, while leaving no high paying jobs in America.
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