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.