Obama 'Admin' knew electric car maker Fisker was faltering.

Obama 'Admin' knew electric car maker Fisker was faltering.(CBS).Newly obtained documents show the Obama administration was warned as early as 2010 that electric car maker Fisker Automotive Inc. was not meeting milestones set up for a half-billion dollar government loan, nearly a year before U.S. officials froze the loan after questions were raised about the company's statements.

An Energy Department official said in a June 2010 email that Fisker's bid to draw on the federal loan may be jeopardized for failure to meet goals established by the department.

Despite that warning, Fisker continued to receive money until June 2011, when the DOE halted further funding. The agency did so after Fisker presented new information that called into question whether key milestones -- including the launch of the company's signature, $100,000 Karma hybrid -- had been achieved, according to a credit report prepared by the Energy Department.

The December 2011 credit report said "DOE staff asked questions about the delays" in the launch of the Karma "and received varied and incomplete explanations," leading to the suspension of the loan.

Fisker had received a total of $192 million of the $529 million loan before it was suspended.

In the June 2010 email, Sandra Claghorn, an official in the DOE's loan program office, had written that Fisker "may be in limbo due to a lack of compliance with financial covenants" set up by the Energy Department to protect taxpayers in the event of default. Another document, from April 2010, listed milestones that Fisker had not yet met.

Vice President Joe Biden announced in late 2009 that Fisker would reopen a shuttered former General Motors factory in Wilmington, Del., to produce plug-in, electric hybrid vehicles. The plant was never completed and never produced any cars.

Fisker said the company was hurt badly by the 2008 recession and by the bankruptcy of A123 Systems, a Massachusetts company hired by Fisker to make batteries for the Karma. A bankruptcy judge granted Fisker $15 million in a claim against A123 for breach of warranty, a fraction of Fisker's initial claim.

Fisker has not built a vehicle since last summer and has failed to secure a buyer as its cash reserves have dwindled.Hmmmm.....Obama: "All the Choices We've Made Have Been the Right Ones".....Makes a nice motto for the Post United States of America, doesn’t it?Read the full story here.

The World From Berlin 'Electric Cars Are Far Too Expensive'

The World From Berlin 'Electric Cars Are Far Too Expensive'.(Spiegel).The electric car fits neatly into the German government's plan to leave the dirty world of fossil fuels behind it by mid-century. Just over a year ago, Chancellor Angela Merkel set the bold goal of increasing the number of electric cars in the country to 1 million by 2020. But today there are only 4,600 of them driving on German roads, a mere 0.01 percent of all registered cars, despite years of research. So much for a high-voltage success story. German drivers don't want electric cars, and it's not hard to understand why not. Part of the problem is that most e-cars can't travel further than 100 kilometers (62 miles) before needing a recharge.
Prices, too, can run as much as €10,000 ($13,000) higher for an e-car than one with a traditional internal combustion engine. On Monday, Merkel hosted a meeting with the heads of Germany's major automobile manufacturers, including BMW, VW, Porsche and Daimler, to talk about e-cars. She admitted that, as of today, it "wouldn't be easy" to meet the government's goal and that 600,000 electric cars by 2020 is more likely. The chancellor noted that as the technology advances, those numbers might quickly change for the better.

The country has already pumped €500 million in state aid into the promotion of electromobility as part of its fiscal stimulus measures during the global economic crisis. By 2013, Berlin is expected to provide an additional billion euros in funding for research and development projects. However, the chancellor has refused to offer incentives or tax breaks to consumers to fuel spending on e-cars, saying it won't happen during the current government's term. With fiscal belt-tightening and the euro bailout, there's greater competition today for funding. Meanwhile, Merkel's transportation minister, Peter Ramsauer, and Economics Minister Philipp Rösler have refused to back buyer incentive programs, arguing that road repair and construction should be given a priority.
Of the CEOs who came to the Chancellery, Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche was the only one to turn up in an electric car. Was it symbolic of the lack of enthusiasm German carmakers have for battery-operated vehicles? Zetsche told German public broadcaster ZDF that Berlin should be happy if it succeeds in getting 500,000 to 600,000 e-cars on the road by the end of the decade. Like other auto sector executives, he is also calling for purchasing incentives like those sponsored by the French and American governments.Read the full story here.

Fisker Automotive now says it may never assemble cars in the U.S. if it doesn't receive more taxpayer money.

Fisker Automotive now says it may never assemble cars in the U.S. if it doesn't receive more taxpayer money.(Heritage).President Obama and his surrogates have repeatedly insisted that federal backing for green energy companies like Solyndra is somehow superior to private equity investing, since federal bureaucrats are concerned with more than enriching investors.
But “investors” in an Obama presidency – i.e. his top supporters – have reaped the benefits of many of his administration’s green energy projects, at the expense of taxpayers who see no substantive return.
Take Fisker Automotive, the Energy Department-backed electric vehicle manufacturer that announced last year that it would assemble its luxury Karma model in Finland, despite having drawn nearly $200 million of its $529 million federal loan.
Fisker now says it may never assemble cars in the United States. In an interview with ABC News published Wednesday, a company spokesman warned that if DOE does not reopen the taxpayer spigot, Fisker may consider “other options” for the location of the assembly plant for its newest model, the Atlantic.
If the company opts to assemble the car overseas, American taxpayers will have sunk nearly $200 million into a company that created jobs that no American will fill.
That’s not to say that no American will have benefited from the federal loan to Fisker. The folks at California venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers will enjoy returns on their investment in the company even if it does assemble the Atlantic overseas.Kleiner Perkins is teeming with political connections and ties to the Obama White House. One of its senior partners is none other than former Vice President Al Gore.Less known members of the Kleiner Perkins team still enjoy strong relationships with Obama and other administration officials. Partner John Doerr hosted the president at his Silicon Valley home for a meeting with top technology executives last year. Other attendees included Google chairman Eric Schmidt and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
Doerr isn’t just an Obama supporter. He has played an active role in forming green energy policy over the last few years. He sat on the president’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board, and even submitted detailed recommendations for green energy subsidies to Congress in the weeks before Obama took office.
Other Kleiner Perkins executives have also been key supporters of the president. Partner David Blood helped organize a $2,300-a-head fundraiser for then-Senator Obama during his 2008 campaign. Obama has received $19,000 in contributions from the company’s employees, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
The president disdainfully discusses private businessmen seeking nothing more than a higher return for their investors. But some of the administration’s forays into venture capitalism – such as its work with Fisker – have enriched key Obama “investors” without yielding much for the American people.
Washington Post columnist Marc Thiessen detailed even more examples in a recent column.Hmmmm.....All the choices we've made have been the right ones..............FOR WHOM?Read the full story here.

Justin Bieber's new birthday 'TOY' - A Fisker Karma Car Costs $112,000, but Costs Taxpayers $529,000,000.

Justin Bieber's new 'TOY' A Fisker Karma Car Costs $112,000, but Costs Taxpayers $529,000,000.(IH).(PJM).Pop singer Justin Bieber turns 18 today and to celebrate his birthday, he’ll be presented with the car of his dreams on the Ellen DeGeneres Show. So why are we so excited about this? Well because Bieber’s fantasy car isn’t a Ferrari or top of the line Mercedes-Benz – it’s the recently released Fisker Karma plug-in hybrid luxury sports sedan!
The car will be presented to Bieber by his manager, Scooter Braun who told him,”You work really really hard. I always yell at you, ‘Don’t get anything flashy!’ You know, we’re not about that. Be humble, be humble. And I kind of broke my own rule.”
Braun also stated, “We wanted to make sure, since you love cars, that when you’re on the road you are always environmentally friendly. And we decided to get you a car that would make you stand out.”
Somehow there are people who have a different view on how " Green Design Will Save the World".
(PJM).Recently, I attended an event where a new 2012 Fisker Karma sports car was on display. Up until this time I had never heard of a Fisker Karma and after looking at the price tag I know why. It was a shocking $112,000.
The Fisker Karma, manufactured by Fisker Automotive, looks like it should have a starring role in a Mission Impossible movie.
It is a sleek cutting edge masterpiece of Finnish manufacturing.Apparently sales have been brisk. Great news I say! After all, this is America where an awesome car made in Finland equals a new status toy for the one percent… or in this case more like the one half of one percent.
As I was ogling the car, my friend told me the Fisker company received a US government loan to help with the design of the car’s electric battery.
It turns out the Fisker Karma is a “green” electric car and part of Obama’s energy/manufacturing plan to lead our nation out of the “Great Recession.”
Fisker Automotive, a California based company with an Al Gore venture capital firm connection was given a $529 million loan from the Department of Energy to provide manufacturing jobs and produce these high-tech electric cars.
But there is only one problem — the cars are built in Finland.
Why Finland?
Here is the answer provided by Fisker Automotive company founder Henri Fisker. “There was no contract manufacturer in the U.S. that could actually produce our vehicle,” he told ABC News, “They don’t exist here.”
Given the dismal state of U.S. manufacturing, Fisker’s statement does not surprise me. But what does surprise and infuriate me is $529 million of our hard earned tax money went into building this lavish product that only one half of one percent of our population could ever dream of driving.
Tuesday night when President Obama gave his State of the Union message he conveniently forgot to include this tawdry tale of economic excellence in his “America is Back” themed speech.
Obama-nomics means the smallest fraction of the population — the same ones Obama says need to pay more taxes — now have the opportunity to pay $112,000 for sporty new set of electric wheels. Meanwhile, the rest of us already paid $529 million for a car we have never heard of, let alone can afford, while the Fins got the jobs.Hmmmm.......'Cheap' advertising ...."Leanardo Di Caprio and Justin Bieber".Read the full story here.

" In Frack's Name " - US wants natural gas as major auto fuel option.

" In Frack's Name " - US wants natural gas as major auto fuel option.(NWW).Natural gas has never been much of an option for US car drivers and its going to take a lot of effort by the government and auto manufactures to make it a viable alternative to gas.
But that's just what a $10 million program from the Department of Energy's advanced project development group The Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E) aims to start anyway. ARPA-E's Methane Opportunities for Vehicular Energy (MOVE) program wants to develop system "that could enable natural gas vehicles with on-board storage and at-home refueling with a five-year payback or upfront cost differential of $2,000, which excludes the balance of system and installation costs."
From ARPA-E: "Specific aims include technological advancements in the area of 

1. new sorbent materials for low-pressure storage of natural gas and
2. new high-strength, low-cost materials and manufacturing processes for conformable tanks capable of high-pressure (250 bar) natural gas storage. Low-pressure approaches inherently reduce the cost on home refueling; however for high-pressure approaches this program also seeks.
3. innovative low-cost, high-performance compressor technology."

According to the agency, there are over 13 million natural gas vehicles on the road worldwide but only 120,000 in the United States. But with what the agency termed as massive increases in the US natural gas reserves over the past decade, there is now an "unprecedented opportunity for advancing the economic, national, and environmental security of the nation. Spurred by technological advances in shale gas production, increased natural gas reserves have led to a decoupling of domestic natural gas with global petroleum prices, and historically low natural gas prices relative to petroleum."
"Natural gas vehicles have the highest deployment in regions of the world where governments have artificially altered market conditions to favor natural gas. For example, in most of Europe, compressed natural gas is about $4.00/GGE (gasoline gallon equivalent) less expensive than gasoline due to high gasoline taxes.
By contrast, natural gas vehicles in the U.S. must compete with gasoline and diesel vehicles based on commodity market prices.

As a consequence, the US currently has limited deployment of natural gas vehicles and in only small, specific market sectors. These include buses and fleet vehicles, in addition to some heavy-duty trucking applications, such as refuse trucks that benefit from both high fuel use and predictable daily routes," ARPA-E says.

In terms of refueling infrastructure, the US has five times fewer natural gas refueling stations per natural gas vehicle than nations with wide-spread adoption of natural gas vehicles. However, a change appears to be on the horizon for heavy-duty, long-haul natural gas trucks as the private sector is beginning to finance CNG (compressed natural gas)and LNG (liquefied natural gas) refueling stations along major highways without the use of public funds, ARPA-E says.Furthermore, the current cost of a natural gas refueling station is about $1.6M, compared to about $100k for gasoline.
With 65 million US homes using natural gas service, the natural gas light-duty vehicle infrastructure problem could be overcome with at-home natural gas refueling. That requires a new home storage system that would also be developed as part of the MOVE plan.Hmmm..........Home gas storage......a terrorists dream come true.Read the full story here.

General Electric (which paid no taxes on billions in income), now 'forcing' employees into Chevy Volts

General Electric (which paid no taxes on billions in income), now 'forcing' employees into Chevy Volts.(GCR).Sixteen months ago, General Electric announced it would place the "largest order in history" for electric cars, to be used by its employees who are issued company cars.
Now, those cars are starting to arrive and be placed with employees.
And where changes are made, personnel policies are sure to follow.
A person inside GE recently forwarded a memo to us that covers some of the nuts and bolts of using the 2012 Chevrolet Volt range-extended electric car. It's from the fleet operations manager for GE Healthcare.
Among the interesting points:

• "All sedans ordered in 2012 will be the Chevrolet Volt"
• Crossovers and minivans will be replaced by electric-vehicle sedans, i.e. the Volt
• Field engineers (who presumably have to carry equipment and spare parts) are the exception to the Volt-only rule
• Home assessments for installation of a 240-Volt Level 2 charging station will be provided to all Volt drivers
• If it's not possible to install a Level 2 station, employees should use standard 110-Volt charging
• If no electric power is available, driving the Volt using only its gasoline range extender is permitted
• Employees should expense both public charging-station costs and the Volt-recharging portion of their monthly electric bills
• If new GE drivers opt out of the fleet-vehicle program and choose to use a personal car, GE will not reimburse those expenses
• Existing drivers will not be reimbursed for personal-vehicle use after January 1, 2013

Hmmmm..........Meanwhile French 'Entrepreneur' Renault cars Zoe Pure-electric Car Could Have a 220 Mile Range. Read the full story here.