Consumer Reports Karma Fisker Dies During Testing

Consumer Reports is likely re-thinking their decision to purchase a luxury plug-in hybrid car after the car, a Fisker Karma, failed after less than 180 miles. The Karma, which Consumer Reports bought last week from a dealer in Connecticut, is worth over $100,000, and became popular in the United States after Justin Bieber was gifted one for his 18th birthday.

The Consumer Reports test-drivers had just started to calibrate the car’s speed, driving 65 mph on their test track, when a light came on on the dashboard. CR states that the driver finished with the calibration test and parked the car, but were unable to restart. In a statement made by the Manufacturer, two Fisker engineers had been sent to the test track to diagnose the car. In the statement released by the magazine, they stated that, “We buy about 80 cars a year and this is the first time in memory that we have had a car that is undriveable before it has finished our check-in process.”

This is very bad news for Fisker, whose Karma model has already seen a recall due to a software malfunction that caused the navigation system to freeze. There are currently 400 Karmas on the roads in the United States, and the company also plans to start manufacturing the Nina sedan at an old GM plant in Wilmington, Delaware. Thankfully though, the car’s malfunction will not affect the reliability rating that Consumer Reports publishes, as those ratings are decided by subscribers who own the car.

Hopefully the start up car manufacturer will be on the end of better karma in the future.