Fisker Automotive CEO Henrik Fisker is a noted car designer. And now he’s trying his hand at running the whole show: his company plans to bring the plug-in blood pressure hybrid Karma to the market next June.
Additional information can be found in this companion article.
[Source:AutoWeek]
There are a couple new items that have come out of the speech. However, most of it is just confirmation of information and a continued commitment to the consistent messages we have all come to know. It does sound like there have been a couple of new dealers added to the network.
We have selected 45 premium retailers in the U.S. market to sell this vehicle. Our dealers all own multiple dealerships.
More about this soon.
As for the consistent message:
Our Karma, we hope will take about 3% of the plug-in hybrid market. Our car will be delivered starting next June. We have pre-sold 1,500 cars so far. Our customers come from premium brands mainly — 60%. Mainly BMW and Mercedes. 3% are former Prius owners.
No surprises here, but always good to hear the message valium reinforced.
He did talk a bit about Project Nina.
Goal will be to manufacture 100,000 vehicles per year. We plan to export more than 50% of these vehicles. This will leverage 62% of the design and engineering of the initial Karma K1 platform.
All the work that has gone into the Karma should really pay off with the development of Nina.
We are starting with a $80,000 car, going down to a $40,000 model, but hopefully we will go down more than that in the future eventually. We hope to become a large and significant player in the world as we build a brand that is a pure green brand.
What a great mantra for the New American Car Company.
[Source: PaulAllen.net Picture: CarandDriver.com]
Here is the first image of a high voltage home charging unit prototype. We first noticed the unit mentioned in a press release about a month ago. However, until now never got a chance to see an actual picture.
Russell Datz from Fisker Automotive says:
“The unit will be available to Karma buyers as an option – price to be determined, but nothing outrageous. It will enable US owners to charge their Karmas in about 6 hours. A full 50 mile other charge costs about $2 based on a US average electric rate of $0.10/kWh.”
Most of the time the car will not require a full charge so to top off it off will take much less time.
The unit is manufactured by Lear Corporation based in Southfield, MI. They are also working on parts and charging units for the Chevrolet Volt, as well as hybrid models from BMW, Land Rover and Renault.
[Source: Fisker Automotive; Lear Corporation]
Bo over at EVcast was able to get Russell Datz on the phone to talk a little about all the recent events.
Interview Highlights:
Karma is the technology leader that will enable the research needed to create the lower cost next car.
The “Project Nina” name is indicative of going from the old world to the new.
Some reports about the DoE loan were misleading at best. Perhaps intentionally deceptive to increase the ratings.
PHEV market projected to be $400 billion by 2030.
Karma preproduction on schedule for 4th quarter 2009. Series production begins May of 2010. Deliveries set for Summer of 2010.
Interview begins at 24:00 minute mark.
[Source: EVcast]
The Sound of Silence: The Fisker Karma, will warn pedestrians by emitting a noise “akin to a jet fighter.”
A great debate. To noise, or not to noise?
Is it really needed? After so many years of hearing about noise pollution, we now have a solution and are being asked to add sound to it. The Fisker Karma has been design to specifically address this issue. There are a set of speakers in the rear bumper where you would typically expect to see tail pipes. The HYBRID HZ label literally means: Hybrid Sound. Not many details have been given about this feature. Right now the sound is said to have been set to that of a jet fighter. Of course this could easily change in the future.
An interactive debate has started over at Newsrag. The comments start out with talking about “looking both ways before you cross the road.” That should be enough for anyone to know a car is coming. The response to that is a case where fog is an issue. Really, fog that’s the main issue? No one has address the issue of the blind. That one can get into a little more philosophical debate. Cars make sound so you can identify them with your sense of hearing. If cars had always been silent would sounds have been added already? Just because it can be done, that doesn’t mean it should. Of course, just because it has always been that way doesn’t mean it’s right either (Tramadol).
What would you like your Karma to sound like? Would you like to have the option for the sound to be customized? How about an option to turn the sound off?
[Source: Popular Science Image: Sport Cars]