The super-duper $100,000 electric car called the Fisker Karma costs a lot more than its price tag would suggest. The same applies to its “cheap” little brother, the $45,000 Nina. There are government subsidies – a.k.a. taxpayer money – involved, to the tune of over a billion dollars, generously provided as low-cost loans and direct grants. One also gets a $7,500 tax rebate for each Fisker car purchased.
Moreover, the Fisker cars are assembled in Finland. This means that Americans get no new jobs, but still have to ante up the extravagant subsidy.
So far, the most memorable episode in the life of Fisker vehicles has been a recall of 239 vehicles due to the potential of battery fires. This took place just a month after GM decided to recall that government-subsidized disaster, the Volt.
I ask myself how much of this billion-plus the American taxpayer will ever see again, whether or not Fisker eventually folds. My personal answer is: not a cent. But rich Democrats – who else could afford these things? – will have snazzy cars that will enable them to feel good about themselves while driving around town.
I’d love to see Fisker’s real balance sheets. I’d also like to know who in the Obama administration approved this hemorrhage of money to a purveyor of exclusive vehicles to the rich.
How much medical and dental care for poor and unemployed Americans can a billion buckeroos buy? Quite a bit, I’m guessing…
