In addition to the debut of the production version of the Karma luxury plug-in hybrid, Fisker Automotive will also be unveiling a new concept at the Detroit Auto Show next month: the Fisker Sunset. We don't have much beyond the teaser shot above, but we do know that Fisker Automotive CEO and namesake Henrik Fisker will announce details about the Sunset at the company's press conference in Cobo Hall on January 12. Besides the green Karma, Fisker is perhaps best known for their coachbuilt SLs and BMWs, but Henrik Fisker is also one of the most influential designers in the last decade, with most of the current Aston Martin lineup and the late, great BMW Z8 attributed to his pen.
The Green Car Vision awards celebrate a car that's got its headlights pointed down the road of the future. Among this year's five finalists are two serial hybrids (Chevrolet Volt and Fisker Karma) two electric cars (MINI E and Mitsubishi i-MiEV), and one hydrogen fuel cell vehicle (Honda FCX Clarity). It seems like a pretty good breakdown of where things stand now, with serial, plug-in hybrids and electric cars duking it out in center court and a hydrogen vehicle thrown in to keep things honest. Three of those cars -- the MINI E, i-MiEV, and Clarity -- are on the roads right now, albeit in limited numbers, and the Fisker is due to hit the scene at the end of 2009, while the Volt bows in 2010. The winning car will be announced on February 3 at the Washington, D.C. Auto Show.
Henrik Fisker has a dream, and an honorable one at that. "We see no reason style and performance need to be sacrificed to attain fuel efficiency and environmental responsibility," says Fisker, designer of the Aston Martin DB9, V8 Vantage, BMW Z8 and the upcoming plug-in hybrid Karma sedan. That's a tough message to get out there, though, since many people can't seem to reconcile the thought of driving excitement with environmentally friendly design. To help break down those obvious barriers, Fisker Automotive has brought aboard Russell Datz, a man who has previously worked with Lotus for the U.S. launch of the Elise and Panoz, makers of Ford-powered boutique sportscars. Datz is also familiar with going as fast as possible, having owned an Audi 5000 Turbo Quattro and autocrossed a Honda CRX. Welcome aboard, Russell! We're happy to see a longtime gearhead filling another desk at Fisker Automotive and wish you the best of luck in your new position.
Fisker has just sent us a few more shots of the production-ready Karma plug-in so that we can get a better look at the car's newly revised face. The front intake has been mildly revised in order to let the GM-sourced 260-horsepower Ecotec engine breath a bit more fresh air. It's a subtle change, but we like the results and think that it makes a big difference to the overall look of the car. We also get a good look at those unique exhaust ports that emit the turbocharged mill's spent gases just aft of the front wheels.
Lastly, we have an interesting view beneath the slinky bodywork, which shows off the aluminum space frame chassis that holds the car together. We presume that the pronounced center tunnel will house the lithium-ion battery pack. The chassis also shows the new flush B-pillars that were absent on the concept and are necessary to meet future safety requirements. Fisker plans to show the Karma, including its never-before-seen interior, at the Detroit Auto Show in January. We'll be there to deliver the goods in person.
Just one short year after Fisker debuted its plug-in hybrid Karma show car at the Detroit Auto Show, the house that Henrik built will be returning to the Motor City to debut the production version of its ambitious project. Fisker says the production model, which is shown above in this just-released official pic, will only vary slightly in design from the show car, including a different upper grille that's a bit larger towards the outer edges and a larger lower air intake. The exhaust pipe from the internal combustion engine will also exit from an odd place: behind the front wheels. We'll also get our first view of the Karma's production interior in Detroit next month.
Fisker announced last month that it had chosen General Motors' turbocharged, direct-inject 2.0L four-cylinder as its ICE of choice, and after sampling that engine in the Chevy Cobalt SS Turbo, we're very eager to see what it will do in a hybrid set-up designed to make one very large luxury saloon move like the wind. Combined with the hybrid system's 22.6 kWh electric motor, the drivetrain as a whole is said to produce 408 horsepower and propel the car to 60 mph in 5.8 seconds and onto to a top speed of 125 mph.
Fisker Automotive is going to have its work cut out for it when it comes to meeting its self-imposed deadline of bring the Karma sedan to market by the fourth-quarter of 2009. To complicate matters even further, the automaker is now rumored to be working on three more plug-in hybrids. That would represent a truly serious undertaking for such a small automaker. To ease matters slightly, all four models would use the same basic underpinnings -- including the most important piece of all, the lithium ion battery and its assorted bits. Fisker has recruited Quantum Technologies, a company which has seen success building vehicles for the military, for help in creating the drivetrain for its electric vehicles. Reportedly on the drawing board are a coupe, a convertible and an SUV, all of which should go a long way towards meeting Fisker's goal of selling 15,000 vehicles a year by 2011.
The Fisker Karma has the looks of a luxury vehicle, the plug-in technology everyone craves, and now it has a plant to be built. According to Fisker, Valmet Automotive of Finland, which currently builds the Porsche Cayman and Boxster, will produce about 15,000 Karmas per year beginning in 2010, with North American sales will begin in fall 2009.
Fisker also released some performance numbers for the $80k sedan, and they're pretty impressive. Thanks to lithium ion batteries, owners can expect to go 50 miles without using a single drop of gasoline, and the overall range of the Karma is a Volt-like 350 miles. The Karma will have a top speed of 125 mph, and a 0-60 time of about 5.8 seconds. With the price of gas rising by the day, by the end of 2009 a 100 mpg plug-in hybrid could be a steal, even at $80k.
A few months back, Tesla Motors sued Fisker Automotive for allegedly stealing information related to the production of its upcoming plug-in electric sedan named Whitestar and using it to develop its series-hybird, the Karma. Yesterday, a judge ruled in favor of Fisker Automotive by allowing the case to go into arbitration outside the courtroom, which was apparently part of the original agreement between Tesla and Henrik Fisker in the first place. It appears that Tesla went outside that original agreement by bringing forth its lawsuit in the first place, though Tesla may have considered that contract void as the original lawsuit alleged that it was signed merely to gain access to confidential information.
Although the arbitration is to be handled outside of court, the judge has scheduled a management conference this August, perhaps to be sure that negotiations are moving along. This is good news for Fisker, which is currently working to get its Karma PHEV sedan to market by the fourth-quarter of 2009.
German coachbuilder Karmann could be on the block soon. The company, a longtime supplier to German automakers, has been having trouble getting contracts lately. The family that owns the company is reportedly considering all options, and some talks with potential buyers have already taken place. No decision about whom to sell to has been made yet, but within a month Karmann may decide which suitor's offer to accept. The convertible roof business is going well for Karmann, but deals to assemble vehicles for automakers are way down, threatening the painting and assembly operations. Karmann has already cut 500 jobs from its German workforce of 5,000, and another 1,000 are slated for elimination. Perhaps a buyer will swoop in and snap up Bertone and Karmann? Mr. Tata, you listening?
Isn't it fitting that Fisker Automotive's upcoming series-hybrid sports sedan is named Karma?. After having commissioned Fisker to help design its second product, the Whitestar sedan, Tesla Motors sued Fisker claiming it stole trade secrets that were then used on the Karma. Following that lawsuit, Tesla was then sued by Magna, one of its former transmission suppliers, and now Fisker is slapping the upstart electric car company with its own arbitration suit. That's karma for you, right there.
Fisker will attempt to first derail Tesla's original lawsuit by seeking to have it moved from San Mateo, CA to Orange County, after which it will then try to prove that Tesla is attempting to divert attention away from its delayed all-electric Roadster by suing Fisker. To that end, Henrik Fisker himself called the whole mess "ridiculous" and referred to Tesla's behaviour as "sour grapes". An arbitrator will likely determine whether he's right or not, but until then we lowly consumers must await ramped up production of the Tesla Roadster and the eventual arrival of the Fisker Karma.
