2010 Fisker Karma

Press release

Luxury leads the way for the driver – and the environment – with the world’s first eco-chic cars created in equally eco-friendly facilities. The Karma’s dramatic proportions and sumptuous design offer smile-inducing performance. And the interior lets four adults and luggage travel in comfort. With zero emissions. Zero compromise. And a cleaner conscience than ever before.

The Karma uses Q-DRIVE plug-in hybrid technology, developed exclusively for Fisker Automotive by Quantum Technologies. A fully-charged Karma burns no fuel for the first 50 miles. Venture further and the gasoline engine turns a generator to charge the lithium ion battery. Once the 50-mile electric range has been exceeded, the car operates as a normal hybrid vehicle. This balance of electric and gas range makes it entirely possible that Karma drivers who charge their car overnight and commute less than 50 miles a day will achieve an average fuel economy of 100 mpg (2.4L/100km) per year.

Environmentalism has never been more beautifully infused with elegance and style. Designer Henrik Fisker has taken the automotive hybrid to a new level of performance and style. With zero compromise in either category.

Design

The Fisker name has attracted and attained worldwide brand recognition, thanks to years of first-class automotive designs. Over his 18 years in the car design business, Henrik Fisker has left his thumbprint on some of the most highly regarded automobiles. His creations range from the BMW Z8, Aston Martin DB9 & V8 Vantage to his most recent creations – the Tramonto and Latigo CS, designed under the Fisker Coachbuild nameplate.

With the launch of Fisker Automotive, Fisker was inspired to keep the excitement alive in car design. This time a new element was considered in the overall design – to deliver a beautiful car that makes environmental sense. Environmentally friendly, plug-in hybrid cars don’t have to be bland in design. The focus was to creating a design which delivers the ECO-CHIC factor – an environmentally friendly car with a futuristic design delivering sculpture, dramatic proportion and all without compromise.

The stance of the first design, the Fisker Karma, is wide and low. It delivers such dramatic proportions for a four-door sports sedan that one would not anticipate. The height of a Porsche 911, length of a Mercedes Benz CLS and the width of a BMW 7 Series. The sleek design accents the long hood and is a direct result of our breakthrough chassis. Fisker was able to incorporate many of the aspects a designer would dream of in designing a car – the design takes the technology and proves that the best technology can be wrapped up in a beautiful package.

In traditional Henrik Fisker fashion, the first designs showcased to the public are what the customer will own as an end result. Fisker doesn’t believe in wowing the audience and then changing the design when it comes time to produce the car. The development approach is to focus on creating sketches, which are then carried into the clay model phase. We couple this with the latest in digital tools for high efficiency and optimal development time turn around.

The interior design of the car is an equally important element of design. A modern, sophisticated and luxurious finish is delivered in all Fisker Automotive designs.

Technology

Fisker Automotive is taking a novel approach to merging beauty and style with an environmental conscience. The car features cutting-edge plug-in hybrid technology, penned as Q DRIVE, developed by Quantum Technologies exclusively for Fisker Automotive. The Karma’s Q DRIVE configuration consists of a small gasoline engine that turns the generator, which charges the lithium ion battery pack, powering the electric motor and turning the rear wheels.

This proprietary design allows consumers’ to drive the car emission free for up to 50 miles (80km) a day provided the car is charged every evening. It’s conceivable that if consumers follow this daily routine, they will only need to fuel the car but once a year. This means it will not only cut down on pollution and global warming, but on a consumer’s gasoline budget as well. This Q DRIVE technology will provide a base for all future derivatives from Fisker Automotive.

The Fisker Karma will offer partly self-contained climate control, as consumers will have the option to purchase a full-length solar roof that will help charge the car and provide cooling for the interior cabin while the car is parked. Additionally, Fisker Automotive will offer consumers an option to purchase a set of solar panels for their roofs or garages where they can generate electricity during the day to charge the car overnight…again cost and emission free.

Statistics show that the majority of pollution from automobiles occurs on consumers’ daily commute to and from work or dropping the kids off at school. Currently, more than 60% of Americans and Europeans are driving less than 50 miles (80km) on their daily commute. If this 60% of commuters would drive a plug-in hybrid like the Fisker Karma, we could see the fastest possible reduction both in oil consumption and emissions - all without sacrificing their daily driving habits. Additionally, plug-in hybrids have the potential to augment the planning of cleaner electrical power plants, ultimately producing a dramatic effect on our society and future generations.<