The Fisker Karma looks as sleek and and sexy as any four-door car on the market, but it’s got a secret: Spanx. Fisker’s powertrain sand battery suppliers tells the New York Times that prototypes of the series-hybrid Karma are weighing in at “over 5,000 lbs.” Says battery supplier A123 System’s Jason Forcier
It’s a pretty heavy car, but you have to look at all the technology, which includes a large gas engine, large electric motors and large batteries.
Fisker reps insist that the final product could come out weighing slightly less, but don’t hold your breath. Meanwhile the 50-mile EV range, 5.9 second 0-60 time and 125 mile top speed goals remain unchanged…. it will probably just feel lead-footed in the twisty stuff. On the other hand, by packaging its batteries in a low, central mass, Chevy’s Volt (the only other EREV on the market) actually handles fairly well for a nearly 4,000-lb compact. Still, “over 5,000 lbs” is full-sized SUV territory, and the Karma is being positioned as a green performance luxury car, not a chauffeured limo. Could this possibly end well?
I always wondered what a 4-door Vette would look like.
Can’t say I’m surprised.
I do wonder if they’ll have to increase the prices they’ve been providing. There’s no way this car can be profitable at the planned MSRP.
The market will be very small. As I reported a couple years ago from NAIAS, the front seat is about as cramped as an old C3 Corvette, and the rear seat is even tighter. There’s very little shoulder and hip room.
Time and again the market for impractical four-doors has proven to be very small after the first year or so. Just check out recent sales of the Mercedes CLS that launched an entire segment.
Define: Irony
Americans buying bigger cars that get worse mileage than they otherwise would to protect themselves from all the 2.5 ton “green cars” in accidents.
There is a better way. Prius and Leaf are already doing it, providing two cars for the two car family (once the Prius minivan comes out).
Holy cow. Now, I’m going to go run an errand on my 260 lb single cylinder motorcycle …
I’ve been pondering this topic since I spoke with a guy who plans to convert Range Rovers to electric power.
“Guilt-free power” he called it, claiming that if you’re electric-first, it’s no problem to be fat.
Which negative externalities remain? SUVs clutter up the sightlines but the Karma won’t. I don’t agree that a large car causes more traffic, although Gorden Murray does. Parking should be by length and if it is, I really don’t see a problem with large, heavy cars when they’re electric.
Gorgeous car, one of the most beautiful 4 door sedans I’ve seen in a long time. But count me in the camp of “I’ll believe it when I see it” regarding the price and performance.
I just don’t believe that car companies that have been doing this a long time (and doing it well) with BILLIONS to spend on R&D could not create something like this but a little start-up with zero experience is successful.
We’ll see, but I bet these go to a few Hollywood celebrities and other agenda-driven customers that won’t dare say a bad thing about the actual product.
Didn’t Lexus see high initial sales volume when they launched the LS600h? IIRC, real world mileage wasn’t actually better than the LS460, but ecoweenies bought it because they’re self-righteous idiots. Why wouldn’t entertainment types and the leftist ruling class do the same when this barge dents the streets?
Well, that’s one way to reduce the dollars-per-pound ratio.
dont they need a trailer to carry a gen set or more batteries in case something untowards happened?
5000 lbs.? Sounds like some bad Karma…
What was the target weight?
Like the Tesla, I’m curious to see where the numbers end up if/when it finally goes production.
It reminds me of a squished M37.
that is one sexy car, they were able to successfully pull off the grinning face better than others (Mazda) in the past.
Well if the company goes bust, hopefully Fisker will go back to doing what he does best: penning gorgeous automobiles. Other than the Karma’s mustache, he has gotten as close to automotive design perfection as any designer in the last 30 years.
Yessir, I agree about the man’s styling ability. He should spend an afternoon and restyle the entire Nissan and Acura lineups, then hawk the results at a silly high price to those mental styling midgets.