Wednesday, January 06, 2016
FISKER KARMA
As a 5,300-pound, full-size, four-door sedan, Fisker Karma is an unusual supercar: it is fuel efficient and “the first true electric luxury vehicle with extended range” capable of 112 miles per gallon of gas. Karma made its debut at the 2008 North American International Auto Show. Fisker uses cheap, lightweight sheet molding compound body panels to decrease weight and increase fuel efficiency.
Karma is a hybrid powered by a four-cylinder, 2,000-cc, 260-horsepower turbocharged engine and by two 120-kilowatt electric motors charged by lithium ion batteries. The front-mounted four-cylinder gas engine generates electricity for the drive motors and the batteries. The electric motors are the sole forces directly driving the wheels. Karma has the top speed of 125-mph and reaches 60 mph in 6.3 seconds – those are ambitious claims for a car weighing more than two and a half tons.
The cars are manufactured in Finland. The first deliveries occurred in the USA in July 2011, and about 1,800 units went to North America and Europe by December 2012. Production suspended in November 2012 with about 2,450 Karmas built. Fisker Automotive filed for bankruptcy in November 2013. Successor owners say they plan to resume Karma production by the end of 2014 or early 2015.