The Fisker Karma was supposed to be an incredible environmentally friendly luxury car: a plug-in hybrid backed by image-conscious individuals like Leonardo DiCaprio and Al Gore. The company fell far short of that goal. After shipping only 2,000 cars — one of which caught on fire and another which stunningly failed in a Consumer Reports test — the company has laid off three-quarters of its staff, and seems to be teetering on the verge of bankruptcy, faced with lawsuits and debt. How did the company go from obtaining $1.2 billion dollars in capital and a $200 million government loan to this sorry state? GigaOm and PrivCo each trace the story at our source links.
How the Fisker Karma, an electric sports car, became a billion-dollar failure
is a senior editor and founding member of The Verge who covers gadgets, games, and toys. He spent 15 years editing the likes of CNET, Gizmodo, and Engadget.
Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.
Most Popular
Most Popular
- It’s not just LG. Every TV company is spying on you
- OpenAI and Microsoft knew they were starting a ‘doom loop’ for the web
- Gemini went rogue, hacked three companies, and Google hid it
- The 2.5-hour AI-generated Odyssey movie is 2.5 hours too long
- The Apple Watch Series 12 is the start of a new wearable era
