Fisker Karma plug-in hybrid EV

The Fisker Karma is beautiful, elegant, and timeless--with a surprisingly low sticker-price for such an eco-friendly chic electric vehicle. After seeing photos of the Fisker Karma, most will say, a plug-in hybrid environmental friendliness never looked so good. The car looks good in images, but even better in person.

The Fisker Karma was unveiled at the 2008 Detroit Auto show. The first and only product so far, for Fisker Automotive was designed by a team with credentials that include work on vehicles such as Aston Martin and BMW.

Fisker Coachbuild

Henrik Fisker has a unique background for a CEO of an automaker. His experience is not based in finance, or engineering, but in design. His 20 plus years of experience includes design work for the Aston Martin V-8 vantage, and the BMW Z8. Henrik Fisker teamed up with Bernhard Koehler, an experienced engineer to form Fisker Coachbuild, where their initial work involved rebodied Benz SLs and 6-Series BMWs. Fisker Coachbuild later partnered with Quantum Technologies to form Fisker Automotive in 2007.

Q-Drive Looks for a home, Fisker automotive is Formed

Quantum Technologies, a military contractor was shopping various auto manufacturers to sell their electric drive-train 'Q-Drive'. Unfortunately, although the technology was good, the Q-Drive could not fit into the architecture of any existing automobile. Fisker Coachbuild, a team of experienced auto designers and engineers, with CEO Henrik Fisker (also the Founder) decided to partner up to Quantum Technologies to create Fisker Automotive.

Every detail of the Fisker Karma is chic and suave, and the interior is no exception. Perhaps it's no surprise that the CEO of Fisker Automotive was formerly a designer for the likes of BMW and Aston Martin.

The Fisker Karma: Timeless Beauty

“I wanted to design something that is timeless,” said Mr. Fisker, whose designs include the BMW Z8 and Aston Martin DB9. And the Fisker Karma is radical indeed. This beautifully designed car offers what most manufacters are unable or unwilling to give the public. A truly beautiful vehicle from the ground up, unique from anything else that has been seen before. Mr. Fisker continues: “If I designed another 7-Series, no one would buy it. I had to do something radical.” The Fisker Karma was introduced at the 2008 Detroit Automotive show, and appears to have lived up to Mr. Fisker's high expecatations.

Fisker Automotive's 'Karma' looks good in photos, but even better in person. The vehicle was designed to have human-like 3/4 proportions, and although it is only as wide a BMW, its low height makes it appear bigger than it really is.

Building around Q-Drive

Henrik Fisker decided to build a vehicle from the ground up around the Q-Drive Technology-this would save money and effectively utilize the drivetrain with the most minimal costs possible. He also decided Fisker automotive would not have their own dedicated factory; they would outsource production to cut costs. In fact, one of the manufacturers chosen to build their new vehicle was Valmet Automotive. Valmet, based in Uusikaupunki, Finland, manufactures the Boxster and Cayman Porsche models. The decision to outsource manufacturing made it difficult to find venture capital investors; however, eventually they did find strong backers to source their first product: the Fisker Karma plug-in hybrid.

Funding for Fisker Automotive

Fisker Automotive raised 200 million in working capital from various venture capital sources including Palo-Alto investors (Silicon Valley), Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, the Qatar Investment Group (Oil Money), and Eco-Drive Capital Partners (European-American Group based in New York). Notably, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers backed some very successful start-ups, including Google (so being backed by them, shows some good faith in Fisker's potential).

The Fisker Karma is available in available in 'Eco-chic' which features a glass solar roof which can continuously recharge the battery and allow air to cycle while the vehicle is parked. Assuming sunny days, the solar roof can cut as much as 4-5mpg in costs.

Designing the Fisker Karma

The Fisker Automotive organization gives new meaning to the phrase 'lean organization', just 175 engineers, one single receptionist (I feel sorry for her--or him), and few finance and support staff form the whole organization. Only 100 or so of the engineers are actually Fisker Automotive employees. The rest of the engineers are from the various outsourced manufacturers who are located in-house to help with the decision making process. Each step of the design process attempts to involve the outsource manufacturers to assure things go smoothly.

Fisker Automotive: A Lean and Creative Organization

The most surprising difference between Fisker Automotive and large manufacturers is the complete lack of a product planning department. Henrik Fisker says "We are the only car company in the world that doesn't have a product planning department ... because all the top people here know what the product should be". Mr. Fisker estimates most automakers spend $100 million and 12 months to retroactively implement changes from focus groups. In fact, during the last 100 years of automotive history, typically each model costs billions of dollars.

Mr. Fisker believes expensive and slow focus groups may be a viable future business model. The automotive industry used to allow about 8 years for a car model development cycle, with a refresh at the halfway mark. Battery technology is changing so rapidly now though, that this cycle may be cut down to half, or even less time.

The Fisker Automotive company is unique because it has no planning department. In fact, Henrik Fisker (CEO) says "We are the only car company in the world that doesn't have a product planning department ... because all the top people here know what the product should be".

The Fisker Karma Specs

The Karma has a 50 mile range on electric only and 250 more miles are provided by a 2.0-liter, direct injection gasoline engine (260 hp) which powers an electric generator. Any excess energy from the engine or through regenerative breaking is sent back to the lithium-ion battery pack. Twin electric motors (402 horsepower) produce an impressive 960 pound-feet of torque to the rear wheel drive. The car reaches a top speed of 125 miles-per-hour, and goes from zero to 60 in 5.8 seconds. The brakes and stoppers are based on the high performance Cadillac CTS-V's (built by Brembo).

Expected Cost and Release Date

The Karma will be available in early 2010 at an expected $87,900 cost. That's cheaper than than the Tesla Roadster at $110,950. In fact, on April 14th, 2008, Tesla filed a lawsuit against Fisker Automotive, alleging that Henry Fisker stole Tesla's Model S hybrid technology, and is using it to develop the Karma. They also claimed that Fisker put their best work into the Karma, and did substandard design work on the Model S. According to CNET news on November 4, 2008, an interim judgment in favor of Fisker, the defendant in this case, awarded them $1,144,285 to recompense legal costs.

For $5,000 you can reserve your own Fisker Karma through their official website. For an added expense, the Karma comes in an Eco-Chic version with recovered wood, bamboo based cloth interior, and a solar roof which helps save up to 4-5 MPG by recharging the battery while the sun is out. The solar also runs an air ventillation system to keep the car from heating up too much while parked.

The Fisker Karma plug-in hybrid has two electric motors with a total of 402 HP and an impressive 960 pound-feet of torque. The Q-Drive system by Quantum Technologies (in Irvine, California) was originally built as a military application. Quantum Technologies teamed up with Fisker Coachbuild to make the Karma. This vehicle is the Automotive company's first product.

Looking Forward

The Karma Begins production in the first quarter of 2010, and Mr. Fisker has set an ambitious goal (considering the luxury price) to sell 15,000 vehicles per year. This early release date may mean that Fisker will beat the Chevy Volt to the market. Mr. Fisker expects to break even once 500 Karmas have been sold through upscale car dealerships (30 have already signed on).

Tags: Electric Car, Electric Vehicle, Electric Vehicles, Lithium-Ion Batteries, Zero Emissions, Environmentally Friendly, Future of Cars, EV, Hybrid, Chevy Volt Electric Vehicle, Toyota Prius, Dodge Circuit EV, Nissan Leaf EV, BMW Mini E, E-mini, GM Buick Plug-In SUV, EPA MPG

Hey, I had no idea how 'sexy' an electric car could be. I'm not suprised at all this guy used to work for astin martin

I agree, he clearly has an excellent artistic sense.