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Uploaded: Tuesday, August 14, 2012, 9:01 AM
Woodside: Fisker Karma hybrid car catches fire in parking lot
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by Dave Boyce
Almanac Staff
Photo
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A Fisker Karma, a plug-in hybrid luxury sports sedan, burst into flames while sitting unoccupied in the parking lot of Roberts Market at the corner of Woodside and Canada roads at about 5:50 p.m. Friday, Aug. 10, firefighters from the Woodside Fire Protection District said.
The fire occurred in the front left side of the car, which costs more than $100,000.
Firefighters quickly extinguished the fire with water and there were no injuries, but the heat did blister paint on an adjacent SUV, Fire Chief Dan Ghiorso told the Almanac.
A fire in a hybrid vehicle can involve electricity and liquid fuel, substances normally extinguished with foam, but this fire endangered neither the battery pack nor the fuel tank, Chief Ghiorso said.
The 2012 Karma, a dramatic looking vehicle from Anaheim-based Fisker Automotive, went into production in December 2011 and costs between $103,000 and $116,000, Fisker spokesman Russel Datz told the Almanac in an email.
The driver told firefighters that he noticed "steam or smoke" before parking the vehicle and had called the manufacturer, who advised him to call 911 upon seeing the flames, Chief Ghiorso said.
The investigation into the cause of the fire has shown, so far, that it was not "the Lithium-ion battery pack, new technology components or unique exhaust routing," a Fisker statement said.
This is the second Karma to catch fire; the first happened in Houston and in that case, the cause is still unknown, Mr. Datz said.
Click here to see a video of the fire from MotorAuthority.com.
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Posted by umimpressed, a resident of the Atherton: West of Alameda neighborhood, on Aug 14, 2012 at 12:34 pm Wow what a concept, spend $100,00 and get unlimited service calls from the fire dept !
AAA better watch out..
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Posted by Johns, a resident of the Menlo Park: Allied Arts/Stanford Park neighborhood, on Aug 14, 2012 at 1:22 pm Fisker is fishy.
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Posted by Joe, a resident of the Menlo Park: Allied Arts/Stanford Park neighborhood, on Aug 14, 2012 at 2:05 pm When you drive a car named Karma, you're almost asking for trouble. Better a car than a motorcycle, I guess, or a horse. Never name an airplane Karma.
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Posted by Darrell Batchelder, a resident of the Woodside: Woodside Glens neighborhood, on Aug 14, 2012 at 8:33 pm Thousands sold. Two fires. I'm sure the manufacturer wants to know how and why? I've got 183k miles on an 2004 Honda Hybrid -- no fires so far. Trust the Almanac will do a follow-up in a few months and give us the scoop.
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Posted by CHANGE, a resident of another community, on Aug 17, 2012 at 2:55 pm Was this part of Elon Musk's group? He abandoned so many projects in Silicon Valley in order to go into space...(I actually like him but think he has always had an office in the stratosphere and beyond)
All of the fallen bank billionaires are so bored with not having any joy from riches, that I understand one is working on a thermonuclear egg beater which is being assemble in undersea headquarters near the Titanic.
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