The 2012 Fisker Karma. Image: Fisker Automotive

The Fisker Karma, like the Chevrolet Volt, is best described as an “extended range electric vehicle.” During the car’s development and launch, Fisker had claimed a battery-only range of 50 miles and an “mpg equivalent” rating of 67.2 mpge. The mpge rating factors in both a car’s battery range and its fuel consumption in series hybrid mode to come up with a value that can be equated to a conventional, internal combustion engine automobile.

The EPA has finally gotten around to rating the Fisker Karma, and the news isn’t good. Instead of a battery range of 50 miles, the EPA says you can expect just 32 miles. Instead of an mpge of 67.2, the EPA says you’ll get an mpge of 52, and a truly disappointing 20 mpg when running in gasoline-powered generator mode.

The Volt, which critics panned because of its battery range and equivalent fuel economy, fares significantly better. It’s battery range is 36 miles, which is a 12.5 percent improvement over the Karma. An additional four miles of battery range won’t be enough to impress most people, but the difference in mpge will: the Volt gets 93 mpge, which is a 79 percent improvement over the Karma. Running in generator mode, the Volt delivers 37 miles per gallon, an 85 percent improvement over the 20 mpg delivered by the Karma.

I don’t expect this will win over many critics, but maybe it does illustrate that the engineering behind the Volt is solid. Factor in the cost difference between the Karma and the Volt, and justifying the purchase of a Karma becomes even more challenging. Unless, of course, you’re compelled to be a trend-humping fashion lemming who drives the latest Hollywood “image car,” in which case you probably don’t care what the Karma costs or how well it performs. As for me, I’d take the Volt and sink the $57,000 in savings into something really entertaining to drive.

Source: Autoblog

The Fisker Karma. Image: Fisker Automobile

The long awaited Fisker Karma plug-in hybrid is now in production, at least according to Britain’s Autocar webzine. The first car in America is set to be delivered at the end of this month, and the lucky owner is… Leonardo di Caprio. Next up on the delivery list are former presidential candidate and global warming town crier Al Gore and former Secretary of State Colin Powell. Sometime after the celebrity deliveries are through, Fisker dealers will likely start to get demonstrator vehicles, too.

For now, Fisker claims to be building five Karmas per week at the Valmet Automotive plant in Finland. Valmet is set to ramp up production to 300 units per week by December, but even that production leaves the Karma sold out until sometime next year. Fisker claims to have some 3,000 pre-orders in the pipeline, but it remains to be seen how many will translate into actual sales. Nissan only closed around 50 percent of pre-orders for the Leaf, which cost considerably less than the Karma’s $95,900.

Source: Autoblog

A few years ago SpeedTV used to air a show called Dream Car Garage. It was sponsored by Legendary Motorcars of Ontario, Canada and catered to everything from high end exotics, to big block muscle cars. One of the best segments they ever put together was a match up of the baddest muscle cars from the 1960′s and 1970′s. What you have to remember before you press play on these videos though, is that the American muscle car was and is, a mythical beast. Names like Cuda, Chevelle SS, The Judge and Boss made European sport sedans of that era quake in their boots. Not because of how fast, or how well they did (or did not) handle, but because of their in-your-face, take no prisoners, power house attitudes. I own two muscle cars and while I love them with all my heart and soul, I’m always amazed at how fast people think they are. Like I said, these old sleds are mythical beasts, and while other cars out there may out perform them, there will never, ever be anything as cool as an old school American Muscle Car. Click through for a whole bunch of awesome!

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When it comes to auto shows in the United States, the Detroit Auto Show (also known as the North American International Auto Show) is arguably the biggest event of the year. It’s held each January, and automakers from around the globe scramble to show the world what’s coming to dealer showrooms in the coming year. According to Autoevolution, Fisker Automotive, maker of the plug-in hybrid Fisker Karma sedan, will be suspiciously absent from the 2011 Detroit Auto Show. That doesn’t bode well for a boutique automaker set to launch a $90,000 car in April of 2011.

Fisker insists that they’re not skipping the show for cash flow reasons, but simply because the show proved to be the wrong venue in the past. Fisker unveiled the Karma prototype at the 2008 Detroit Auto Show, but claimed it would begin production in 2009 and sell for $80,000. Despite showing a “production ready” Karma at this year’s Paris Auto Show, there have been no other indications that Fisker will begin delivering cars in the second quarter of next year as planned.

Fisker plans on introducing the Karma at the Geneva Auto Show in March of 2011, with sales beginning in April. If it were me, I’d be hesitant to launch a car on the other side of the world just 30 days before you’re planning to begin deliveries, since new product launches are always filled with unforeseen problems. I suppose Fisker could begin delivering product in April, but if I was a betting man I wouldn’t be putting money down on those odds.

Not long ago I was asked as to whether or not I would actually pony up the cash and purchase an electric car. My knee jerk reaction was HELL NO! Then after thinking about it for awhile I started to rethink the question in terms of; what would an electric car have to become in order for me to purchase it? So much of what I love about the automobile is visceral. The looks, feel, sounds and smells are all part of what make an automobile attractive to me. For me to like a car you can better believe that it needs to have one hell of a presence to it. Today’s cookie cutter jelly bean rides are crap, and although they do serve a purpose, they have no place in my garage. Seriously, my version of hell would be having to drive a Toyota Camry everyday for the rest of my life… dear God that would suck.

Right now there are very few electric car offerings on the market. We’ve got the Nissan Leaf, Chevrolet Volt, Tesla Roadster, as well as the upcoming Fisker Karma. The Leaf and Volt are for the masses, with the Tesla and Fisker serving the higher end markets. Keep in mind that the end goal here is still the same as it was when the automobile was created over 100 years ago, meaning that it still has to get us from point A to point B. The real question though, aside from overcoming range anxiety, is will these cars be fun.

Cars for me act as many different things. They’re my therapist, my vacation, my money pits and my punching bags. They provide me with an outlet whether I’m tinkering or driving and they can do this because from a technology standpoint, they’re still simple machines. Electric cars though… well ladies and gents, that’s a whole different ball game. Say goodbye to the dirty, loud and obnoxious internal combustion engine and get ready to be greeted by the sound of silence.

Don’t get me wrong, there are those out there who are going to embrace the electric car with both arms. I’m curious though as to how many artificial sound effects manufacturers are going to have to build in over time to win over the enthusiast crowd. I can see it now… my exhaust note will come from the radio, my smokey burnout will be attributed to a smoke canister in the rear bumper and my feeling of g-forces will come courtesy of an electric seats with twitchy electronic bolsters. Like I said, the future has some very interesting things in store for the automobile.

The Fisker Karma. Photo: Fisker Automotive

Fisker Automotive has reached another milestone that doubters never thought they would: the first factory built (though not production) Karma will be on display at the upcoming Paris Auto Show. Fisker will also be announcing details on their global importer network, which bodes well for their ability to get vehicles to market once the Karma reaches production. Their stated goal is production of 100,000 cars per year.

Unlike other plug in hybrids, which are aimed primarily at commuters, the Fisker Karma is positioned as the world’s first luxury plug-in hybrid. Per CEO Henrik Fisker, the Karma represents the future of the automobile, and its projected capabilities are indeed impressive. Fisker claims the Karma will produce 403 combined horsepower, which will make it capable of zero to 100 kph (62 miles per hour) in under six seconds, on its way to a top speed of 124 miles per hour. In keeping with it’s environmentally focused mission, the Karma will return some 100 mpg and will produce emissions of just 83 g/km.

The sticker price of the Karma, just under $88,000, reflects its luxury focus. There’s no denying the car’s stunning design, and if it actually performs to spec in production form it will revolutionize how plug in hybrids are perceived. We’ll know when the car hits production in the first quarter of 2011.

The problem with taking that shiny new pick-up, Jeep or SUV off-road is that you’re almost assured that that shiny paint job is going to get screwed all to hell. It’s a double edged sword really. You see on one hand you’ve just gone out and spent some big coin on a vehicle that will cross just about any landscape. On the other hand, that big coin vehicles value will go right in the toilet if you scratch the crap out of it whilst trying to get down those hardcore trails. The owner of this hot Ford F150 seems to have found a way to get around this problem by doing a little thinking outside the box.

Enter Rhino liner, that spray on black sticky stuff that adheres to the bed of your pick-up truck so as to keep it from getting all banged up when you’re hauling stuff around. You see a good bed liner does everything to the inside of a truck that an off-road owner would love done to the outside. It provides, excellent impact resistance, corrosion resistance and more importantly abrasion resistance. It can also be had in just about any color you wish. I spotted this beauty over at DodgeCharger.com, a site that is known for preserving and discussing classic Dodge Chargers. Apparently the owner is a buddy of one of the Charger owners and he felt the need to post this puppy up for the world to see.

Originally created by some rich Texas oil guy, this puppy was completely covered in Rhino Liner and by the looks of it, the job was done pretty flawlessly. I am kind of curious as to how much additional weight the liner actually adds to the truck because if you’ve ever seen this stuff in person you’ll know it’s pretty heavy duty. The nice part of going this route is that now you still have a great looking truck that retains its go anywhere, do anything capabilities without destroying the value. Cudo’s to the new owner for owning this pretty trick ride.

There are two things in the latest Fisker Karma ad that I’d really like to take for a long, hard ride. Ironically, my chances of taking a test drive with either are exactly the same, which would be “zero”. At least the model in the Fisker ads is real, because to date the car has been little more than a rolling design study.

Unveiled at the 2008 North American International Auto Show, the Fisker Karma is a plug in hybrid that uses technology similar to the Chevy Volt. The Karma is said to be good for up to 50 miles on battery power alone, before a 2.0 liter turbocharged motor kicks in to act as a generator and recharge the batteries. Unlike the Chevy Volt, however, the Karma is said to have a 125 mile per hour top speed, and should be capable of a zero to sixty mile per hour run in less than six seconds. Also unlike the Volt, the sticker price of the Fisker Karma is just under $88,000.

The Karma is set to begin production in February of 2011, so test mules should be hitting the roads in the very near future. Perhaps the commercial is a good sign that progress is being made, but Fisker’s been awfully quiet over the past few months.

It’s often said that with today’s safety standards, it’s impossible to design a car with the stunning and savage grace of the Lamborghini Miura. Henrik Fisker would say otherwise. This is the Artega GT, the designer’s compact, mid-engined supercar. The thing exudes brutal beauty. Its muscular form terrifies asphalt, threatens twisty roads. Sure, it’s not as graceful and sleek as the Miura, but I think it’s as close as we’re gonna get in this era of hyper safety standards. Performance wise, the Artega GT would give the Miura a run for its money. The 2,400-pound sports car can hit 60 miles per hour in 4.8 seconds and reach a 170 mph terminal velocity—without achieving liftoff. It’s powered by a 300-horsepower, 3.6-liter VW V6, which isn’t the sexiest power plant around, but it gets the job done. Price? A steal at less than $90,000. The Artega GT is supposed to be available late this year. Hit the jump for more pics.

Okay, so it’s not breathtaking news, but it is an excuse to post a photo of the Fisker Karma, just in case you forgot how damn sexy it is. Fisker says it’ll reveal the Karma’s “advanced aluminum space frame” at the Geneva Auto Show. Essentially, Fisker wants you to know that there’s some bad-ass engineering to back up the Karma’s gorgeous looks. The aluminum space frame reportedly gives the Karma “new levels of strength and rigidity.” Indeed. Hit the jump for some more Fisker porn and a shot of the stunning Karma Sunset convertible.

Source: Autoblog