Fisker automotive: fraught with failure [Spectral Lines]

Does the U.S. Department of Energy have the guts to tolerate defaults on its loans? While driving a new and very expensive car around Manhattan, it's disconcerting to see the electronic instrument cluster fade to black, then to be told to pull over, put the car to sleep, wait a few minutes, and then restart it. Worse still is when the manufacturer's representative chirps, "We rely on our early customers to identify issues like this for us." That's something you'd never hear from General Motors, Toyota, or Volkswagen. But it's emblematic of the challenged development process of the US $106 000 Fisker Karma, a range-extended electric luxury sport sedan. Venture capitalists risk their own money backing such firms; should the government do so, too, using taxpayers' money? That's a question not just for Washington but for any government anywhere that might be tempted to bail out a green-tinted job-making concern. And the temptation is always high for concerns that make cars, central as they are to a country's sense of self.