Fisker, the company behind one of the world’s first high-end, high-performance electric vehicles, has issued a recall for its Karma sedan. The company investigated the vehicle after a roadside fire involving a Karma was reported in Woodside, California 0n August 10.
Fisker engineers working with an independent fire expert from Pacific Rim Investigative Services Group have identified the root cause of the incident.
The ignition source was eventually discovered in the left front of the Karma, forward of the wheel, where the low temperature fan is located. Investigators discovered that the sealed component had an internal fault that caused the device to fail, ultimately leading to overheating and a slow burning fire.
Fisker chose to voluntarily recall the vehicle in order to fix the cooling fan unit with the help of the responsible supplier.
The company has contacted its network of retailers, and they are expected to contact customers in order to alert them of the issue. Customers will also receive a recall letter in the mail to ensure they bring their vehicles in for servicing.
While any recall is bad for business, the financial impact is expected to be marginal, and, in some good news for the company, the fire wasn’t caused by a bigger problem such as their Lithium-ion battery pack, new components, or engine pieces.
According to Fisker Executive Chairman and Co-Founder, Henrik Fisker:
“We are committed to responding swiftly and decisively to events such as this to ensure total customer satisfaction. This incident resulted from a single, faulty component, not our unique EVer powertrain or the engineering of the Karma. As this situation demonstrates, Fisker Automotive is dedicated to doing whatever is necessary to address safety and quality concerns.”
In the meantime, the owner of the car that caught on fire, Rudy Burger, says he’s impressed with how Fisker has handled the situation since it was reported. The owner of the vehicle is the founder of Seventech Company.
If you are unfamiliar with the vehicle, here’s a quick overview video by the team at MotorTrend:
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