"All or virtually all of the vehicles [destroyed] were subject to a safety recall requiring the replacement of cooling fans before they could be distributed lawfully to retail dealerships."

The sad story of the flooded-out Fiskers took an ironic twist this week, as it was revealed that the 338 Karma sedans that were destroyed at Port Newark had been stored there only because some necessary service was delayed. As fate would have it, Superstorm Sandy struck while the vehicles sat there waiting, in all probability, for some paperwork to be done, and all the lovely new Karmas were totaled, a few of them catching fire. Insurer XL Insurance America has refused to pay, and Fisker is now suing it in New York State Supreme Court.

Jalopnik, the news outlet that first broke the story of the star-crossed supercars, found this passage in public court documents:

Although more than 900 other Fisker vehicles from the same ocean shipments previously had been transshipped to inland conveyances…the 338 vehicles remaining in port were delayed to address various service requirements. All or virtually all of the vehicles were subject to a safety recall requiring the replacement of cooling fans before they could be distributed lawfully to retail dealerships. In addition, some of the vehicles required replacement of lithium ion batteries and software updates. These requirements resulted in delays of varying lengths in transshipping the vehicles to dealers via domestic conveyances.

The news adds insult to injury for a company that’s had an unprecedented string of bad news lately. As Jalopnik put it, “[Fisker’s] attempt to prevent the cars from catching on fire led to them catching on fire.”

Image: Fisker
Source: Jalopnik