Justin Bieber's chrome-plated electric supercar in the news - again

Teenage superstar Justin Bieber’s electrically-powered Fisker Karma supercar has  rarely been out of the news since the pop sensation took delivery of it in March as an 18th birthday gift.

In the latest twist, one of JB’s chief musical collaborators, rapper Sean Kingston, has claimed ownership of the car.

Snapped by papps ushering his date into the sleek plug-in electric car outside a ritzy steakhouse, Kingston intimated Bieber had given him the car as a gift.

“When you’re best friends with one of the biggest artists in the world, you get all different type of gifts, you know. He left it at my house and told me I could drive it whenever. That’s the real story,” said Kingston.

Bieber wasn’t happy, apparently, with celebrity gossip and entertainment site TMZ.com quoting him as saying: “Sean Kingston’s a Liar. I Didn’t Give Him My Car!”

Subsequently, J-Beebs tweeted a more polite: “I might let a friend drive my car but I didn’t give him my car.”

Insiders subsequently explained that Bieber, currently touring with his ‘Believe’ show, simply lent his mate the car to take his date out.

The car was presented to JB on the Ellen de Generis show in March by his manager, Scott ‘Scooter’ Braun, as an 18th birthday present.

Bieb’s accepted the car but then promptly went and replaced the original metallic black paintjob with end-to-end chrome plating.

The silver streak has since been sprung doing 80mph (130km/h) on a Los Angeles freeway, apparently trying to evade pursuing paparazzi.

“He was weaving in and out of traffic,” said witness Dennis Zine, an LA Councilman who claimed Bieber hit speeds upwards of 160km/h.

“There was hardly any space between cars as he weaved from lane to lane,” said Zine, adding that if he had his way, Bieber would have been cuffed and marched off to the cells.

Sounds a bit harsh to us, but anything’s possible in La La land.