Plug-in Fisker Karma car is stylishly environmental
MONTEREY, Calif. -- Even as Ferraris, Lamborghinis and Rolls-Royces prowled the avenue, the obscure silver sedan parked at the curb gathered its share of stares and curiosity.
The Fisker Karma, as it is called, has looks that rival a Mercedes-Benz roadster. Yet the key to what makes it different is emblazoned on the sides in chrome letters: Plug-in Hybrid.
The maker, Fisker Automotive, is trying to carve out a niche in what is fast becoming a crowded field of next-generation electric vehicles: a high-performance eco-car loaded with style.
The company has taken more than 1,400 refundable deposits so far for the Karma, which has a starting price of $87,900 and can top $100,000. The car can be driven for 50 miles on electric power alone before its auxiliary gasoline engine fires up to generate more juice and extend the range to up to 300 miles. The engine never directly drives the wheels.
Depending on the individual owner's daily driving mix, the company boasts, Karma could easily top 100 miles per gallon.
But the journey from concept to commercial production is not proving any easier for the Fisker than it is for others attempting plug-ins:
•Delays. The Karma's schedule has already been pushed back six months, with deliveries expected to start in June.
•Integration. The company views its area of expertise as design; many of the high-tech components are being outsourced. The approach could complicate integrating pieces from various sources to make sure the whole thing works.
•Affordability. Henrik Fisker, the luxury-car designer who founded the company, says production of a lower-priced, mass-market Karma sibling could be pushed back three years if the company's application for Energy Department loans fails.
Fisker has kept his company largely out of the limelight. Much of the attention involving plug-in electric cars has gone to Tesla, a start-up based 100 miles north of Monterey and maker of a $109,000 all-electric roadster, and to General Motors, which plans to sell the Chevrolet Volt next year.
