$529 Million for Fiskers

$529 million for Fiskers.....it almost makes one cry to think of the number of public charging stations that could be built.....plus, this poor thing is DOA


http://industry.bnet.com/auto/10004721/fiskers-good-karma-529-million-in-federal-money/

sjfotos said:

$529 million for Fiskers.....it almost makes one cry to think of the number of public charging stations that could be built.....plus, this poor thing is DOA

Click to expand...

Hmmm .... this is a loan, not a grant.

At 4:34 p.m. on Friday afternoon, Fisker Automotive forwarded me the official announcement that the Department of Energy has closed its $528.7 million loan, which will create “over 2,000 jobs.”

Click to expand...

Loans are given in chunks depending on the progress. I don't see a problem with this. How much are we spending on wars, again ?

BTW, this month's Popular Science has an article on and interview with Fikar.

Oh yes, I do not disagree that our overall priorities are skewed. I am just looking ahead and knowing that this 'loan' is as DOA as the company is. Perhaps we will get a part of the monies back if someone buys out the name, the staff, or the technology. Unfortunately, I think this loan will be written off entirely.

sjfotos said:

Oh yes, I do not disagree that our overall priorities are skewed. I am just looking ahead and knowing that this 'loan' is as DOA as the company is. Perhaps we will get a part of the monies back if someone buys out the name, the staff, or the technology. Unfortunately, I think this loan will be written off entirely.

Click to expand...

But why do you think the company is DOA ?

There is definitely a niche market for expensive high performance hybrids. And they want to make less expensive ones as well. I look at fiskar as the PHEV version of Tesla.

I try not to be so negative, but having directly witnessed both several start-up companies, and the supply side of the automotive industry, I think of all the obstacles. There is a niche market for some of these folks for a limited amount of time. The ongoing development costs and support costs, etc. just wear these efforts down. I don't doubt that there are some opportunities for some amount of time, but I am very skeptical about anything lasting more than 5 years (including Tesla). It won't be the first or last time I have been wrong if they are successful, but I always think conviction is measured by money and a DOE loan is a necessary, but not sufficient amount, of evidence for that.

That I agree - they have the same risks as any other startup.