Tag: documents

Internal documents show Fisker lost $35,000 on each Karma

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, Fisker

Fisker Karma

Anyone looking for a chilling plug-in vehicle warning tale should check out this detailed Reuters article, which digs into the financial history of Fisker Automotive and reveals that the company lost around $35,000 per vehicle.

That number comes from “internal financial statements and interviews with former Fisker executives,” Reuters reports, quoting a former executive saying the luxury plug-in hybrid, “cost far more to produce than we could ever charge for it.” All told, between 2008 and 2012, Reuters estimates Fisker lost $1 billion.

The losses were due, in part, to those many production delays two to three years ago as well as a reduction in the number of cars it was going to make and sell. Remember when the company said it would sell 15,000 units a year? Eventually, the company sold around 2,000 vehicles, total.

There is a lot worth reading in the source article, including how the Karma’s forward-placed exhaust – which hurt the vehicle’s performance and was too loud – was fixed using a metal “pizza box” that cost millions extra. Throw in salaries of around $600,000-$700,000 for co-founders Henrik Fisker and Barny Koehler, even while Fisker was laying people off, and you have a recipe for not succeeding. Here’s a taste of what Reuters has to offer:

In May 2011, the company co-sponsored a pre-race grand prix party aboard a 146-foot yacht moored in the Monte Carlo harbor. Guests drank glasses of champagne served with flecks of gold. Clad in a dark pinstripe suit and open-neck white shirt, Henrik Fisker navigated a crowd that included Prince Albert of Monaco, whom he described as the inspiration for the Karma. … The Monaco weekend, according to several sources familiar with the event, cost Fisker between $80,000 and $100,000. That wasn’t lavish by auto-marketing standards, but by this point every penny mattered. Within weeks, the Energy Department stopped payments on its loan.

You can read the whole thing here.

Internal documents show Fisker lost $35,000 on each Karma originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Mon, 17 Jun 2013 10:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Charge documents the first-ever Isle of Man TTGXP

Filed under: Motorsports, Etc., Videos, Motorcycle, UK, Electric

Charge documentary screen capture

Charge Isle of Man TTXGP documentary – Click above to watch video after the jump

Back in 2009, something a little different happened at the Isle of Man TT. Race fans had been gathering in the English countryside for over a century to watch the world’s fastest motorcycle racers fling themselves down public streets, but two years ago, a whole new class of bike took the course. You see, that’s when the Isle of Man TTXGP kicked off – a race just for all-electric motorcycles. Needless to say, the event saw some resistance from patrons who had grown accustomed to the scream of high-revving internal combustion engines.

Now, Mark Neale is set to unveil a documentary on that historic race. Charge follows in the footsteps of Faster – a film about the switch in bike racing from two-stroke to four-stroke machines – and promised to give us a glimpse into both the technology of the competing bikes and what the new EV machines bring to racing as a whole. The crew at Asphalt and Rubber have been so fortunate as to score a copy of the film for a world premiere in the greater San Francisco Bay area. Head over to A&R for the full details and click past the jump for a look at the Charge trailer.

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Charge documents the first-ever Isle of Man TTGXP originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 05 May 2011 18:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Automobile documents presidential limo build for Pinewood Derby

Filed under: Motorsports, Sedan, Etc.

pinewood derby presidential limo

The Pinewood Derby is a right of passage and an American institution. First run in 1953 in Manhattan Beach, California, the Pinewood Derby can help ignite fiery automotive passion in young men across the country. Automobile’s Joe Lorio recently put together a derby project car with his son and the results are impressive. The car they chose to model their own after? The presidential limousine.

After a three-year losing streak, the Lorios aimed not for first place, but rather the prizes awarded for creativity. Not only did they successfully recreate the limousine, they added sound by ripping the noise-making components out of an audio greeting card and sticking them to the bottom of the pinewood limo.

Joe and his son managed to eke out third-place finishes in each of their races with the limousine. Bigger victories, however, came in the form of the Most Original and People’s Choice awards they received for their efforts. Read the whole story at Automobilemag.com.

[Source: Automobile Magazine]

Automobile documents presidential limo build for Pinewood Derby originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 27 Mar 2011 19:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Videos: Cadillac documents return to racing with CTS-V Coupe race car

Filed under: Motorsports, Coupe, Videos, Cadillac, GM, Racing

cadillac cts-v coupe scca race car

Cadillac CTS-V Coupe Race Car comes to life – Click above to watch the videos after the jump

Cadillac is pretty excited to head back to the race track. It’s no simple task, however, to go from luxury sports coupe to competitive racer in a short amount of time. Thus, the automaker is spending plenty of time making sure its got the CTS-V Coupe race car completely dialed in before heading off to compete in various SCCA events.

Cadillac is documenting this return to racing with a series of YouTube episodes titled Refueled: Return of the CTS-V. We have the trailer and episodes one through three waiting for you after the jump, showing the race cars’ origins, the build process and the Cadillac race team testing out on the track.

[Source: YouTube via 0-60mag.com]

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Videos: Cadillac documents return to racing with CTS-V Coupe race car originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 23 Mar 2011 20:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Leaked documents out upcoming Aprilia Dorsoduro 1200

Filed under: Performance, Motorcycle

Aprilia Dorsoduro 750 – Click above for high-res image gallery

Rumors have swirled since the introduction of Aprilia’s in-house developed 750cc V-twin engine back in 2007 (in the company’s naked Shiver and supermoto-inspired Dorsoduro models) that a larger 1200cc version of the potent mill was in the offing. Well, it’s been nearly four years since its introduction, and we still don’t see a big-bore bike to go up against the likes of the Ducati Monster and Hypermotard.

However, it seems such a machine may finally be headed to a dealership near you. And interestingly enough, the news kinda sorta comes from Aprilia itself in the form of (what we assume to be) a mistakenly posted service manual for the upcoming bike. It appears that the new engine will sport higher compression in addition to the increased displacement, so we’re expecting plenty of power from the ride-by-wire platform.

We should also see a suitably beefed-up chassis with slightly more relaxed steering geometry, longer wheelbase and fully adjustable Sachs suspension. Anti-lock brakes will be optional and can be fully turned off. All signs point to a November debut at the upcoming EICMA Show in Milan, and we wouldn’t be surprised to see 1200cc versions of both the Dorsoduro and Shiver.

Gallery: Review: Aprilia Dorsoduro 750

Source: Aprilia via Hell For Leather]

Leaked documents out upcoming Aprilia Dorsoduro 1200 originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 09 Aug 2010 17:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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