Fisker plans to have these available for consumption in the middle of next year.
From Motor Trend:
Most of the cars at the annual Historic Automobile Races this weekend at Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, California, enter the track with bellowing, crackling exhaust notes and the heady aroma of spent high-octane gasoline, so it was quite a revelation - and a welcome refrain - to see Fisker's eerily silent Karma sedan prototype glide silently out of its holding tent and onto the legendary race circuit at the turn five track entrance. Emitting neither pop, gurgle, nor shriek, the Karma zoomed up the hill towards Laguna Seca's famous "Corkscrew" steep downhill left-right combination corner, and continued on for a full lap of the race track as legions of died-in-the-wool car guys (including Jay Leno) looked on. The lap marked the public driving debut of a car that had its fair share of skeptics. Still, a brief post-lap conversation with company founder Henrik Fisker revealed that the car is still on track for a May 2010 showroom launch.
Yes, according to Fisker, you will be able to buy the swoopy plug-in hybrid sport-luxury sedan you see in these photos around the middle of next year. Fisker noted that the car is currently scheduled for official U.S. government crash testing in the coming weeks, though official EPA fuel economy ratings may still be a while off. And what might that rating be? For now, Henrik Fisker is content to say that the Karma will be capable of "well over 100 mpg." But in light of the EPA's recent rating of 230 mpg for the upcoming Chevy Volt, Fisker believes that a rating of up to 140 mpg may be possible. It all depends on whether a new standard for EPA testing of plug-in hybrid vehicles comes into play before the Karma is subjected to the procedure.
Still, Henrik Fisker is to the point when the goals for his designer hybrid are discussed.
"We're not out to break any records," Fisker told us in Monterey. "We're building a sexy, good-looking car that you can drive every day like your 7 Series [BMW] or your CLS [Mercedes-Benz]."
After returning from the track, the Fisker Karma drew quite a crowd in Laguna Seca's infield, with Henrik lingering to chat with curious bystanders about the attention-getting sedan. That sedan, of course, features a lithium-ion battery pack and two electric motors that produce a combined total of 408 hp and a breathtaking 959 lb-ft of torque. Much like the Chevrolet Volt, the Karma also features an internal combustion engine that serves only as a generator of sorts, to charge the electric motors' batteries. In fact, the engine is even GM-sourced - it's a 260-hp 2.0L Ecotec unit.
Of course, the Karma has plenty of mass to propel. It's a large, heavy, luxury-oriented sedan, and while Henrik doesn't have an exact curb weight figured yet, he does admit that it will weigh in over 5000 lbs. While that may make the Karma sound bloated, keep in mind that 40% of the vehicle weight, according to Fisker, is in the drivetrain. Electric batteries are still not as small or lightweight as is ideal for automotive use. Henrik told us that within just three years, we could see batteries with comparable performance to those currently installed in the Karma prototype, but at one-third the weight. Such advancements could mean great things for the Karma's future, although Fisker claims even now, the Karma should be capable of 5.8-sec. 0 to 60 mph sprints and a 125-mph top speed - all while being able to travel up to 50 miles on electric power alone, and 300 miles while using the gasoline engine to charge the batteries. With that sort of electric range, Henrik guesses that there are would-be Karma drivers out there that would need to fill the gas tank just once per year.
Are you one of them? Let us know what you think of the Fisker Karma in the comments section below. And be sure to tell us if a Fisker Karma would be your daily driver of choice if you were in the market for a new luxury-sports sedan.
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