Fisker Karma plug-in hybrids are rolling off an assembly line in Finland, a major milestone for Fisker Automotive and cars with cords.
Construction of the first production models started today at Valmet Automotive’s factory in Uusikaupunki, Finland. Fisker has a contract with Valmet to build the cars, and the first of the super-luxe plug-ins are slated for delivery within a month or so. But don’t expect to see a lot of them on the road anytime soon.
“We’re going to be ramping up very slowly, very carefully to ensure quality,” Fisker Automotive spokesman Roger Ormisher told Automotive News Europe. “This year we want to get over 7,000 deliveries.”
That’s a small number in the auto industry, but a big step forward for the Southern California startup. Founder Henrik Fisker, who has designed cars for the likes of BMW and Aston Martin, unveiled the Karma just three years ago. He has since then lined up a $528.7 million federal loan and boatloads of capital to get it built.
He’s also succeeded in bringing the car to market just as the nascent EV segment is taking off. The car follows the Tesla Roadster, Nissan Leaf and Chevrolet Volt and arrives before cars like the Ford Focus Electric and Mitsubishi i-MiEV. With a starting price of $88,000, the Karma is a niche within a niche, but Fisker already is looking ahead to its next car, a mid-sized sedan it hopes to sell for $39,900 after the $7,500 federal EV tax credit.
The Karma is as advanced as it is gorgeous and it works much like the Volt. The 20 kilowatt-hour lithium-nanophosphate battery has a claimed range of 50 miles. When the battery winds down, a 2.4-liter turbocharged engine — sourced from General Motors — drives a 175 kilowatt generator that keeps the juice flowing to the wheels. Fisker claims the car gets “an annual average” of 100 mpg and emits just 83 grams of CO2 per kilometer. That’s less than a Toyota Prius. The battery recharges in six to eight hours at 220 volts.
Propulsion comes from a pair of motors good for 403 horsepower and 901 foot-pounds of torque. Impressive numbers, but the Karma weighs more than 4,000 pounds, so zero to 60 comes in 5.9 seconds when driving in “sport mode.” Still, the car has received some favorable reviews. Car & Driver called it “a beautiful, luxurious machine that goes easy on the guilt.” Road & Track called it “genuinely lithe, taut, tossable and fun” and noted, “it’s also plenty quick.”
