Advertisement

Also, due to poor work quality from technicians formerly of BMW and described as “cocky” and “talking so much shit” by one of our sources, Karma’s Dodge-based Level 4 Autonomous demonstrator van has been deemed to be a “major safety hazard” and has been pulled from all testing duties.

Through its attorneys, Karma denies that its Dodge-based Level 4 Autonomous demonstrator van has been deemed a “major safety hazard” and has been pulled from all testing duties. They reiterated their offer for Jalopnik to come visit their operations — an offer that Jalopnik has not yet accepted given the ongoing pandemic.

Advertisement

The amount of responses I got from insiders at Karma have described an alarming litany of abuses, from poor treatment of employees to poor quality workmanship to outright deception and even a fruit fly problem in their cafeteria.

But hey, I’m still up to check out what you’re working on, if you’re still here, Karma!

Advertisement

We have reached out to Karma for comment and will update if we hear anything.

UPDATE Sunday, June 28: Though we did not receive any comment from Karma prior to publication, on Thursday, June 25, an attorney for Karma wrote to Jalopnik denying that Karma had been considering Chapter 11, denying that it would be paring its staff to 38 employees in contemplation of a bankruptcy filing and denying that Karma’s Autonomous Demonstrator van was pulled from testing duties for safety reasons. Jalopnik stands by its reporting but has updated the story to reflect new information and the responses provided by Karma’s attorneys.

Advertisement

In addition, sources tell Jalopnik that following publication of this story, the Wanxiang Group, the Chinese company funding Karma, appears to have been convinced to continue to provide funding for the company leading Karma to forego consideration of bankruptcy.