Since Car and Driver just road tested this vehicle, I thought some of our Forum members might want to learn more about this exotic design. Our American members might also want to see how their tax dollars have been spent to support the development of this green hybrid that has a base price of US $103,000.
Background
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/fisker...ry?id=15524021
Fisker is another auto company that received federal taxpayer money (US $529 million in federal loan guarantees) to help develop the electric car industry in the US and create more American jobs. However, after receiving $193 million, the company admitted that production of the car has been outsourced to Finland. Fisker claims that the bulk of its government funds will be used to launch a 2nd Gen vehicle (no details available) that would be assembled in a currently closed GM plant in Delaware which is supposedly being reconfigured to produce Fiskers here in the US. With 26 Fisker employees hired to prepare the plant having just been booted from the Delaware factory, the start up date of production there has been moved to 2013. Fisker states that Finland has so far delivered between 250 to 300 Karmas to dealers in the USA and is currently nearing approval to sell the cars in Europe. So much for American job creation.
More about the Fisker Karma at their website:
Car and Driver Road Test
The full report appears in the March 2012 issue of the magazine but a synopsis can be found at their website:
What follows is a brief description. For more details read the article.
The Karma's wheelbase is 124.4" - about the same as a 1958 Edsel - and 9.4" longer than a Porsche Panamera. The back seat is smaller than a Honda Fit's and the trunk less than half the size of a Kia Rio. Contained within its aluminum space frame is an engine, a generator, two electric motors, a 315-cell lithium-ion battery pack, a roof-mounted solar panel and three separate cooling systems totalling a vehicle weight of 5,297 lbs.
Up front is a 2.0 L GM Ecotech turbo 4-cyl developing 260 BHP and 260 lbs/ft torque. This drives an AC permanent-magnet synchronous generator with a 175 kW output. The lithium ion 315-cell, liquid-cooled battery located in the center tunnel is charged either by the AC generator or a wall plug. Power is provided to the rear wheels by two AC permanent magnet synchronous motors with a combined output of 402 HP @ 6,000 rpm and 974 lbs/ft torque @ 2,000 rpm. Naturally, being electric motor driven (as in the case of steam power), no gearbox is needed and the 1-speed direct drive ratio is 4.10:1.
When the batteries run low or when the driver wants to go faster, the engine automatically starts to recharge the battery pack and supply the motors with additional wattage. Eventually, you will either have to charge the car from the wall or refill the 9.5 gallon fuel tank with 91 octane gasoline. On a standard 110V circuit with the supplied charger it takes 16 hours; less where 220V is available or when a high-speed charger is used. During C and D's 638 mile road test, the battery had to be recharged four times with gas-only mileage varying from 20 to 28 mpg with an average of 24. In C and D's own words: "Hardly a victory for the planet."
Not to rain on anyone's parade but the Mazda3 with SkyActiv-G engine gets nearly 40 mpg and requires no recharging as in the case of the Karma which also requires the burning of hydrocarbon fuels and the emission of pollutants at the generating station. And Mazda came up with the SkyActiv-G technology all on its own without the use of public (taxpayer) money. Gollee.
The battery pack is not particularly large - the Nissan Leaf has 20% more capacity - so the Fisker's motors run solely on battery power for only 30 to 45 miles according to the manufacturer. During C and D's testing, an electric range of only 24 to 28 miles was observed. As in a chevy Volt, both electric range and gas mileage can vary substantially. For example, the Karma won't go as far in EV mode if you turn on the electric air conditioning, the electric heater, or the electric seat heaters; climb hills or do less regenerative breaking, as on an Interstate.
The good news is that prospective buyers, who we can assume demand only the best, need not be forced to choose the economy model. While the EcoStandard version only costs $103,000, the "animal free" model "EcoChic" is available for $116,000. If that's not enough one can add $3,200 for the sole available option - sparkly silver paint in one of four diamond dust shades that includes bits of recycled glass (the one tested by C and D). Wow, heart be still. Apparently, taking a leaf (sorry) from the Ford model T production days, you can have any color Karma you want as long as it's silver.
How does C and D evaluate the fisker's performance? Three driving modes are available: "stealth" (electric only); "sport," which activates the engine when greater acceleration is called for, and "hill" which turns up the regenerative-braking function to take advantage of long downgrades. Even in sport mode the Karma is not particularly fast taking 6.1 seconds to reach 60 with acceleration tapering off after 80 mph and becoming barely noticeable as it approaches the 125 mph speed-limiter. In stealth it's 1.4 seconds slower to 60 mph. But in any mode the car has instant torque. Handling is decent but not overwhelming.
One discrepancy I noted is that the C and D article states that Fisker claims 1,250 production Karmas have been built in contrast to the figure provided by ABC.
Whatever the number I'm so happy to know that I'm contributing to the welfare of the very rich.
Happy Motoring!
Background
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/fisker...ry?id=15524021
Fisker is another auto company that received federal taxpayer money (US $529 million in federal loan guarantees) to help develop the electric car industry in the US and create more American jobs. However, after receiving $193 million, the company admitted that production of the car has been outsourced to Finland. Fisker claims that the bulk of its government funds will be used to launch a 2nd Gen vehicle (no details available) that would be assembled in a currently closed GM plant in Delaware which is supposedly being reconfigured to produce Fiskers here in the US. With 26 Fisker employees hired to prepare the plant having just been booted from the Delaware factory, the start up date of production there has been moved to 2013. Fisker states that Finland has so far delivered between 250 to 300 Karmas to dealers in the USA and is currently nearing approval to sell the cars in Europe. So much for American job creation.
More about the Fisker Karma at their website:
Car and Driver Road Test
The full report appears in the March 2012 issue of the magazine but a synopsis can be found at their website:
What follows is a brief description. For more details read the article.
The Karma's wheelbase is 124.4" - about the same as a 1958 Edsel - and 9.4" longer than a Porsche Panamera. The back seat is smaller than a Honda Fit's and the trunk less than half the size of a Kia Rio. Contained within its aluminum space frame is an engine, a generator, two electric motors, a 315-cell lithium-ion battery pack, a roof-mounted solar panel and three separate cooling systems totalling a vehicle weight of 5,297 lbs.
Up front is a 2.0 L GM Ecotech turbo 4-cyl developing 260 BHP and 260 lbs/ft torque. This drives an AC permanent-magnet synchronous generator with a 175 kW output. The lithium ion 315-cell, liquid-cooled battery located in the center tunnel is charged either by the AC generator or a wall plug. Power is provided to the rear wheels by two AC permanent magnet synchronous motors with a combined output of 402 HP @ 6,000 rpm and 974 lbs/ft torque @ 2,000 rpm. Naturally, being electric motor driven (as in the case of steam power), no gearbox is needed and the 1-speed direct drive ratio is 4.10:1.
When the batteries run low or when the driver wants to go faster, the engine automatically starts to recharge the battery pack and supply the motors with additional wattage. Eventually, you will either have to charge the car from the wall or refill the 9.5 gallon fuel tank with 91 octane gasoline. On a standard 110V circuit with the supplied charger it takes 16 hours; less where 220V is available or when a high-speed charger is used. During C and D's 638 mile road test, the battery had to be recharged four times with gas-only mileage varying from 20 to 28 mpg with an average of 24. In C and D's own words: "Hardly a victory for the planet."
Not to rain on anyone's parade but the Mazda3 with SkyActiv-G engine gets nearly 40 mpg and requires no recharging as in the case of the Karma which also requires the burning of hydrocarbon fuels and the emission of pollutants at the generating station. And Mazda came up with the SkyActiv-G technology all on its own without the use of public (taxpayer) money. Gollee.
The battery pack is not particularly large - the Nissan Leaf has 20% more capacity - so the Fisker's motors run solely on battery power for only 30 to 45 miles according to the manufacturer. During C and D's testing, an electric range of only 24 to 28 miles was observed. As in a chevy Volt, both electric range and gas mileage can vary substantially. For example, the Karma won't go as far in EV mode if you turn on the electric air conditioning, the electric heater, or the electric seat heaters; climb hills or do less regenerative breaking, as on an Interstate.
The good news is that prospective buyers, who we can assume demand only the best, need not be forced to choose the economy model. While the EcoStandard version only costs $103,000, the "animal free" model "EcoChic" is available for $116,000. If that's not enough one can add $3,200 for the sole available option - sparkly silver paint in one of four diamond dust shades that includes bits of recycled glass (the one tested by C and D). Wow, heart be still. Apparently, taking a leaf (sorry) from the Ford model T production days, you can have any color Karma you want as long as it's silver.
How does C and D evaluate the fisker's performance? Three driving modes are available: "stealth" (electric only); "sport," which activates the engine when greater acceleration is called for, and "hill" which turns up the regenerative-braking function to take advantage of long downgrades. Even in sport mode the Karma is not particularly fast taking 6.1 seconds to reach 60 with acceleration tapering off after 80 mph and becoming barely noticeable as it approaches the 125 mph speed-limiter. In stealth it's 1.4 seconds slower to 60 mph. But in any mode the car has instant torque. Handling is decent but not overwhelming.
One discrepancy I noted is that the C and D article states that Fisker claims 1,250 production Karmas have been built in contrast to the figure provided by ABC.
Whatever the number I'm so happy to know that I'm contributing to the welfare of the very rich.
Happy Motoring!
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