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Fisker Hybrids Get Bad Karma From Superstorm Sandy
New submitter slas6654 writes with this excerpt from Jalopnik: "Approximately 16 of the $100,000+ Fisker Karma extended-range luxury hybrids were parked in Port Newark, New Jersey last night when water from Hurricane Sandy's storm surge apparently breached the port and submerged the vehicles. As Jalopnik has exclusively learned, the cars then caught fire and burned to the ground.' Apparently Fiskar super-duty lithium ion batteries are neither water-proof or water soluble."
the 'submerged in water' use case?
Come on, editors, get your act together already.
The cars were totalled the minute they were submerged. If they were destroyed later, why does that matter?
Pretty basic chemistry going on here....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxhW7TtXIAM
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Because they caught on fire?
It looks like several were close together, while others parked a little bit away were unscathed. Perhaps one caught fire and that burnt adjacent cars? They were parked pretty close, and there's a Karma in one of the photos that didn't suffer the same fate.
We have flash floods every summer in Texas. Most cars that run into a few feet of water simply stall. If instead, your car explodes and kills all the occupants, then you've got a potential death trap.
Because most cars don't burst into flame when submerged.
The party's over
It's a witch!
If you are driving your car during a flash flood you are none too bright. Lots of ways to die in a conventional car that way.
Most cars that ingest water don't just stall. They also manage to ruin the engine.
Let me explain it simply. On Earth, water falls from the sky, very frequently, sometimes with great force. Having a consumer level bomb that is activated by water is a bad idea whilst operating on Earth. It is a very volatile condition. These cars BURNED by being put in water and you dont think that is cause for alarm? Not one or two but over a DOZEN.
Good-bye
DO NOT DRIVE in a foot of water.
A single foot of water moving sideways is more than enough to take your car off the road. If you cannot see the bottom do not drive through it.
Why did you write Idiots twice?
Driving through water is dumb, driving through water that you do not know the depth of is suicidal.
So you want to kill people who have a different viewpoint than you. Dude you need help.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
The point of "flash" in flash flood is that it happens extremely rapidly - one doesn't exactly plan ahead for it.
The article has four pictures.
Just because I can hook a shark from a boat, I do no offer to wrestle it in the water.
Totaled does not mean not working. It means worthless.
That Hilux was rendered worthless. I would not want to drive it nor would Toyota suggest anyone drive it after that treatment.
That's the point of "flash" flooding. It's unexpected. Perfectly good drivers turn a bend in the road on a rainy night and run straight into a gulley with 4 feet of water. We've got a lot of country roads with no lighting and poor visibility. Happens every summer around here - except deaths are extremely rare. But - if your car exploded before you could get out? Very bad.
I wonder how much CO2 a burning hybrid produces?
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If you are driving your car during a flash flood you are none too bright. Lots of ways to die in a conventional car that way.
I'm going to assume that where you live, flash flooding is rather uncommon.
One cannot predict when or where a flash flood will occur - hence the 'flash' in the name. So, to say that people who drive "during a flash flood" are "none to bright" only serves to prove your ignorance on the topic.
Were we discussing regular, predictable flooding, I would wholeheartedly agree.
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
Fisker does not represent what electric vehicles are capable of- they represent what you get when you combine lots of money with shotty engineering. So who does it better? Well, if you haven't heard of them- Tesla motors is making a lot of headway.
Because it had higher storm surge than most category 5 hurricanes do. It also covered a much wider area than any normal hurricane does. The problem was that it was really 3 storms and some very strange weather conditions including the placement of the jet stream and some cold air moving into the area.
You can't rate this just on a simple hurricane scale just like not all magnitude X earthquakes do the same damage. You could have a 6 that does almost no damage and a x that does staggering damage just based on the type of quake and duration the result is the same for storms.
Computer modeling for biotech drug manufacturing is HARD!
As someone who also lives in Florida, I can explain.
1. Very little preparation for the type of weather that a hurricane can cause. In Florida, we have storm drains that take away most of the water that a hurricane causes. Add in building codes that require buildings to be designed for hurricanes (typically category 3) and utilities that are designed specifically for hurricanes, and you'll find that down here, things are pretty robust by design. New Jersey and New York didn't have that type of preparation and you had buildings collapse.
2. Record storm surges. In some places, the storm surge was over 13 feet where the harbor was only designed to handle the (then historic record) 12 feet, causing massive flooding.
3. Fires. Gas lines caught fire, causing over 100 homes to burn to the ground.
4. In New Jersey specifically, they had a berm go under water due to the storm surges, causing even more damage.
Ultimately, take a look at the damage predictions and you'll see why its called a superstorm. Wind was only part of the issue.
The batteries used in the Tesla don't suffer from this problem. Each individual battery has independent internal circuitry to disconnect the battery if a short is detected or if the voltage goes too high or too low. Additionally, the battery carrier is designed to direct the gases safely away from the car in the event that runaway battery failure does occur to protect the vehicle and any occupants.
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What kind of car can handle a foot of water?
Any Jeep or equivalent. Your estimates are way too conservative.
But even a MINI Countryman can handle a foot of water... it's in the manual. It's not exactly a high-clearance vehicle.
A lot of modern cars can handle much deeper water than you would think, the tire height alone is not a good indication.
All of the things you mention have to be pretty well sealed anyway to keep various fluids within from getting out... It's all about keeping water out of any air intakes, but those are always at the top of the engine. Modern passenger compartments are usually quite well sealed as long as you are not submerged too deep for too long.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Sea water is not likely going to look like a short, but rather some impedance.
What's worse, that conduction is going to electrolyze the water into its component H2 and O2 gases.
What do we know easily happens to a mixture of H2 and O2? Nice source of fuel for a fire (and/or explosion).
I've seen testing - the electronics system will work for at least a few minutes, long enough to get the window down even when fully submerged. Your mileage may vary depending on details of the accident that results in submersion as well as age and make of the car and battery.
But unconscious AND the windows up is a bad way. I carry a spring punch - a hammer won't work as well under water. Useful not only for me, but if I have to be a rescuer.
I don't read AC A human right
Hasn't happened to me - don't know why you're busting my balls. I drive carefully in the rain, and I know where the water builds up and I avoid it. However, there's no denying that a lot of cars do get caught out here. We simply have a lot more country roads with water crossings where the county or the state hasn't built a bridge.
"Totaled does not mean not working. It means worthless."
No.
"Totalled" means "beyond what the insurance company considers a cost-effective repair". It is possible to "total" many vehicles with damage which is EASY to repair if you have access to parts.
For example, you can have a car with fired airbags, cracked windshield, and enough damage to easily-removed front end parts such as hood, fenders, bumper cover, etc that the company cuts the owner a check for its value. That car goes to auction, and a buyer with a similar car with REAR end damage picks it up to make one sound car of two. It's even easier with pickup trucks. Been there, done the work, driven the results. No problem.
That said, a SALT WATER bath (think "storm surge") is a death sentence due to corrosion. A scrap car like that would go to the shredder for a few hundred bucks.
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