A suggestion for Fisker and A123
As we heard in the webinar yesterday, the battery problem affects only about 1% of all Karma’s that have been delivered. Also, if you have already driven a few thousand miles, there’s a high chance your battery is okay. According to Fisker the problems usually appear fairly quickly (with the Consumer Report-car after just 200 miles).
The problem poses no danger to the car or the driver, it will only affect the life expectancy of the battery. The replacement program will take many months, as new batteries have to be produced for both existing cars and new cars. It may take until later this year before all batteries have been replaced. But, and this is where it gets interesting, it is not mandatory. If you are happy with the way your battery has been functioning, you can decide to keep it.
Deciding to keep the battery has several advantages:
- It saves the environment; the production of a large battery pack has quite an impact on the environment. And the environmental friendliness is one of the foundations of the Karma.
- It frees up new batteries for new Karma’s, thus not slowing down the delivery of new Karma’s and improving the chances of success for Fisker
- It saves A123 – a sympathetic company – a lot of money.
There’s also a disadvantage to keeping the old battery:
- With a new battery you will get an extra free ½ or ¾ year of battery life.
Despite of this last point I’m considering keeping my current battery (I’ve already driven 3400 miles without any battery problems). I wonder if Fisker and A123 can give us the extra nudge to do so (as it is in their advantage to have us keep our batteries if they are functioning well).
#1. Can we get a guarantee that if we keep the old battery and the problem occurs anyway after a few months over years, we will then be able to get the battery replaced?
# 2. Can we, instead of a battery now, get a substantial discount on an improved battery in a few years time? I heard Fisker will – in about two years time – start selling improved batteries (more capacity? lighter?). With battery prices coming down those batteries might even be cheaper.
It would be nice if Fisker could offer us, the early adopters, this incentive, which according to me could be beneficial to everyone involved (Fisker, A123, owners).
As we heard in the webinar yesterday, the battery problem affects only about 1% of all Karma’s that have been delivered. Also, if you have already driven a few thousand miles, there’s a high chance your battery is okay. According to Fisker the problems usually appear fairly quickly (with the Consumer Report-car after just 200 miles).
The problem poses no danger to the car or the driver, it will only affect the life expectancy of the battery. The replacement program will take many months, as new batteries have to be produced for both existing cars and new cars. It may take until later this year before all batteries have been replaced. But, and this is where it gets interesting, it is not mandatory. If you are happy with the way your battery has been functioning, you can decide to keep it.
Deciding to keep the battery has several advantages:
- It saves the environment; the production of a large battery pack has quite an impact on the environment. And the environmental friendliness is one of the foundations of the Karma.
- It frees up new batteries for new Karma’s, thus not slowing down the delivery of new Karma’s and improving the chances of success for Fisker
- It saves A123 – a sympathetic company – a lot of money.
There’s also a disadvantage to keeping the old battery:
- With a new battery you will get an extra free ½ or ¾ year of battery life.
Despite of this last point I’m considering keeping my current battery (I’ve already driven 3400 miles without any battery problems). I wonder if Fisker and A123 can give us the extra nudge to do so (as it is in their advantage to have us keep our batteries if they are functioning well).
#1. Can we get a guarantee that if we keep the old battery and the problem occurs anyway after a few months over years, we will then be able to get the battery replaced?
# 2. Can we, instead of a battery now, get a substantial discount on an improved battery in a few years time? I heard Fisker will – in about two years time – start selling improved batteries (more capacity? lighter?). With battery prices coming down those batteries might even be cheaper.
It would be nice if Fisker could offer us, the early adopters, this incentive, which according to me could be beneficial to everyone involved (Fisker, A123, owners).