Fisker Automotive

Today I found out there is an electric car you might actually consider buying! My world was totally crushed, I was always a bit skeptical about the whole 'electric-powered vehicle for everyday use' thing. Why? It's very simple - you wake up in the morning, have a coffee and comute to work. Let's say it's about 100 kilometers away, you jump into your electric car, because you want to save the environment... And the battery dies somewhere in the middle of your journey. You pull out the cord and recharge your car, 10 hours later it's fully charged and you can finally get to work... Or turn around and go home tell your wife you've been fired. Your choice.

   So what is this miraculous car? Let me introduce you the manufacturer first - Fisker Automotive. Founded in 2007 in California by Henrik Fisker (designer responsible for iconic cars such as Aston Martin DB9 and BMW Z8), the company decided to produce luxurious hybrid cars (aiming at Porsche and BMW customers). First one was Fisker Karma, powered by a combination of an electric engine and 2-litre turbocharged four-pot. The combined range is 480 km (80 km on batteries, 400 km), it produces 400 bhp and nearly a thousand torques. For the same money as Porsche Panamera... Brilliant!

Fisker Karma

They have unveiled a new model in Frankfurt - the Fisker Surf. It's a shooting brake (like the new Ferrari FF) and if you found Karma's design stunning, just wait until you see this one! Power output is slightly better, it produces less CO2 than Toyota Prius and the range is unchanged. Here it goes:

Fisker Surf

I am speechless! I just hope all future electric cars look this good...

BMW recalls 120k cars

Have you worked hard and finally decided to buy a decent car? Yes! So you pay a visit tou your local car dealership and for some unknown reasons it's a BMW dealership. But which one should I buy? There are so many models... You finally decide to go for a 5 series and because the petrol prices went through the roof recently you buy a diesel one. What a smart choice... or is it? One day a telephone wakes you up in the morning and it's a BMW employee histerically screaming your car is dangerous and in some rare cases it can even burn you to death. Oh hell no, I should have bought an Audi or a Mercedes instead, runs through your mind. Yes, you really should have... But that's not the point.

   It seems lately the car manufacturers really mess up. BMW now recalls 120k cars because of a fuel filter malfunction and it's not just the 5 series, it's actually 1, 5, 7, X3, X5 and X6! You think this is the only case?

• GM recalled 1.5 million cars because of a screenwasher malfunction (fire possible)
• GM recalled 250k cars because the seat belts weren't working properly (death possible)
• GM recalled 100k Cadillac CTS's, the airbag didn't work (death possible) ...Jeez, GM, do something about it! 
• Toyota recalled 100k Priuses (every single car of the first generation) - steering and transmission issue

   And the big one: Toyota recalled 14 million!! cars over the last two years, no biggie, just the gas pedal jammed flatout from time to time. This could lead to some serious performance! Or, you know, a nearby tree.

  I mean how could this even happen? Apparently they just don't test the cars properly to discover some serious issues. Shame on you! And you would think that Toyota's and BMW's build quality and reliability were bulletproof.