Fisker's hybrid-electric Karma is being blamed for a house fire in Sugar Land, Texas that occurred last week. Three minutes after the owner pulled into his garage, his electric luxury sedan burst into flames, torching his two other cars and a sizable chunk of his house.
This is the second time the government-financed Fisker has had to deal with major technical problems and this particular model is reportedly a vehicle assembled after the last recall address vehicle fire risks.
The vehicle's owner claims he drove the Fisker Karma into the garage of his house in suburban Houston last week without plugging it in. A few minutes later he found the car on fire. Robert Baker, Fort Bend County's chief fire investigator, estimated the damage to the house to be $100,000, not including the Mercedes Benz SUV and Acura NSX destroyed in the blaze.
It's worth noting the car was less than two months old and was newer than the recall instigated to fix a potential fire issue.
If all of this sounds familiar it's because fire risks with EV and EV-like hybrids led to a wider investigation following the Chevy Volt fire at a testing facility last year.
Fisker, in a statement to AutoWeek, essentially said they're going to withhold comment until they learn more:
We have not yet seen any written report form the Fort Bend fire department and believe that their investigation is continuing. As of now, multiple insurance investigators are involved, and we have not ruled out possible fraud or malicious intent. We are aware that fireworks were found in the garage in or around the vehicles. Also, an electrical panel located in the garage next to the vehicles is also being examined by the investigators as well as fire department officials. Based on initial observations and inspections, the Karma's lithium ion battery pack was not being charged at the time and is still intact and does not appear to have been a contributing factor in this incident.
We've reached out to the fire marshall to get more details on why this car suddenly burst into flames.
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