Edmunds.com-

“The double-wishbone suspension with its forged aluminum arms and self-leveling rear dampers puts the Karma near the top of the sporty premium four-door class in terms of handling characteristics.”

“Interior finish and materials quality are exceptional for this class and there is no cabin more ecologically conceived as this.”

Autoblog.com-

Motor Trend-

“Whew – Hollywood Can Finally Park its Priuses”

“Quite frankly, the electric car’s scotch-taped-glasses image has waited a century for a guy like Henrik Fisker to come along. His Karma is a jaw-slackening design manifesto from its fangy grill to its turbulent tail.”

Road and Track-

“The Karma’s digital instrumentation and 10.2-in. touch-screen are exemplary in clarity and function.”

“It’s extremely well balanced and, to me, more nimble than either a BMW 7 Series or Porsche Panamera—meant as high praise”

“ Indeed the Karma is genuinely lithe, taut, tossable and fun. It’s also plenty quick, whether in Stealth or Sport mode.”

Car and Driver-

“Three years and a billion investment dollars after the Fisker Karma rolled forth as a stunning plug-in-hybrid concept, it’s finally ready to rock as a stunning production car. All in less time (and for far less money) than GM needed to produce the Chevy Volt. “

“The Karma’s steering is endowed with real road feel and linear turn-in response. The ride is supple, and there’s minimal body roll when you fling the wheel”

“ Considering its low-slung and curvaceous flanks, the Karma provides surprisingly easy entry and cozy accommodations for four grown-ups.”

“Trim is a cut or two above the $100,000 norm, thanks to fine detailing and lovely custom touches.”

“Some of those who’ve plunked down the cash are doubtless atoning for past turbo-V-8 sins, but others may be less altruistic, simply drawn to the sexiest fenders ever draped over an American sedan. Whatever their motivation, they’ll get a beautiful, luxurious machine that goes easy on the guilt.”

Auto Car-

“The car is extremely swift. The Karma has excellent electro-hydraulic steering and an understeer-free chassis that seems to thrive on tight cornering. The car is a joy to drive on a tight handling course”

“Overall, the Karma is an exciting, rewarding but entirely predictable car.”

“The Karma has several vital factors in its favour, not least its stop-the-traffic looks, its thorough engineering, its great driving characteristics and a price that, while high, doesn’t look unrealistic against the competition”

“It could easily become the next must-have automobile among Hollywood’s glitterati.”

Automobile-

“the most important car of the year. And for multiple reasons.”

“It’s a $97,000 car with a $97,000 window sticker. The technology is merely a bonus.”

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Designed and engineered by Southern California automaker Fisker Automotive (www.fiskerautomotive.com) the four-door Karma is the embodiment of the design-driven company’s firm belief that environmentally conscious cars need not sacrifice passion, style or performance.

By combining world-class style and performance with industry leading efficiency and the lowest emissions of nearly any production car the Fisker Karma is the only responsible option for luxury car buyers.

Driven only by electric motors at all times the Karma delivers the zero-tailpipe-emissions of an all-electric vehicle and eliminates Range Anxiety with the 300 mile (480 km) range of a traditional gas-powered car.

“The Fisker Karma represents our goal of bringing an eco-friendly vehicle founded on the principals of ‘Pure Driving Passion’ to consumers around the world,” said Henrik Fisker, CEO.  “As a center for style and culture made up of people who are proud to express their personalities and their concern for the environment, Los Angeles is the perfect place for the Karma to make its North American debut.”

[Source: Fisker Automotive]

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Fortunately, the production incarnation has kept the features of the concept and added some exciting new ones. The vehicle measures 4.99 meters (196.7 inches) in length, 1.98 meters (78.1 inches) in width and is only 1.33 meters (52.4 inches) high. The car rides on the concept’s 22 inch aluminum-alloy Circuit Blade wheels. Another retained feature is the the world’s largest spherically curved, monolithic solar roof panel.

However, as we said, the vehicle also adds certain features. The most visible exterior change is the addition of B-pillars – this was necessary to meet crash test standards.

The interior comes with a industry-first 25 cm (10.2 inches) haptic feedback screen that includes the controls for the automatic dual-zone climate control system, audio/infotainment, phone, navigation and vehicle systems.

[Source: autoevolution]

Another big time article for Fisker, just after the spread in Popular Science now the New York Times has picked up the story.

Fisker was founded in the summer of 2007, and many people have been eagerly anticipating the Karma. And why not? The car is undeniably attractive, with a compelling environmental story and (at least on paper) rip-roaring high performance. Henrik Fisker, the chief executive, is also a charismatic figure. But just months from the car’s debut, very few people outside the company have driven it. (The crown prince of Denmark got a Karma ride to a climate conference.)

Popular Science wrote about the Karma in its May issue, calling Fisker’s secrecy “worrisome.” The magazine also posed questions and noted that the company “is on its third battery supplier in three years.” In the positive column, the article cited “a highly respected founder, attractive prototypes and a half-billion-dollar loan.”

[Source: The New York Times]

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Fisker Automotive’s COO Bernard Koehler spoke at a manufacturing conference hosted by the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce.  He spoke with great confidence of the pending sales and subsequent renovation of the Boxwood plant.

Fisker plans to produce two lines of luxury plug-in hybrid cars at the factory, where it expects to eventually employ 2,000 workers.

Koehler was the keynote speaker at the chamber’s manufacturing conference, held in the morning at the Sheraton Hotel on U.S. 13, and shared the stage at a legislative brunch with Delaware Gov. Jack Markell in the afternoon. In both addresses, Koehler committed to working with local suppliers at the plant, and said the company will hold an event as early as May for suppliers to meet Fisker executives and push their wares.

He also spoke Wednesday about choosing Delaware — among many states that were courting the company — as its manufacturing hub.

“It’s a great location,” Koehler said. “The equipment is still in place. We have the work force here. Why not Delaware?”

[Source: delawareonline]

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Fisker Automotive, developer of the world’s first premium plug-in hybrid, is expanding to accelerate development of its next generation plug-in hybrids, code named Project NINA.

Beginning March 1 Fisker Automotive’s global headquarters in Irvine, California will house all design, engineering, sales, marketing, and administrative operations. All positions from the company’s Pontiac, Michigan facility will be transferred, and the company expects the number of new hires to expand dramatically.

The consolidation will not affect Fisker Automotive’s partnerships with several dozen Michigan-based engineering firms and parts supply companies.

“Having our entire team in California ensures greater efficiency and speeds up development of our new plug-in hybrids,” said Henrik Fisker, CEO. “We are expanding quickly to work on both Karma and Project NINA programs at the same time.”

Fisker Automotive’s recent $115 million round of private equity funding has made the changes possible ahead of schedule.

Project NINA, already in progress, will result in a line of family-oriented plug-in hybrids expected to start at $39,900 after a $7,500 federal tax credit. State and local incentives could effectively lower the price further. Fisker Automotive plans to start production in 2012 at a factory in Wilmington, Delaware formerly owned by General Motors.

The program is expected to save or create up to 5,000 direct and indirect U.S. jobs and reach an anticipated volume of 100,000 plug-in hybrids per year in 2013.

Fisker Automotive created the premium green car segment when it unveiled its Karma plug-in hybrid in 2008. Since then several major manufacturers have announced their intent to compete.

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[Source: myFOXla]

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Denmark’s Crown Prince HRH Frederik is the first individual outside the Fisker development team driving the new eco-friendly Fisker Karma. The Crown Prince will tomorrow travel to the COP15 UN Climate Conference events in Copenhagen with the plug-in hybrid car. HRH Frederik will visit at 4 pm Hopenhagen event at Raadhuspladsen after which he will leave in the Fisker Karma at 5 pm to the Bella Center.

The prototype saloon, developed by American automaker Fisker Automotive, can travel 80km (50mi) emission-free on a single charge of its Lithium-ion battery, and an additional 400km (250mi) on a range extending generator turned by an efficient fourcylinder gas engine. Economy is 2.4L/100km and emissions of just 83g/km CO2 – better than today’s best hybrids. Still, the Karma can reach 100km/h (62mph) in about 6 seconds and exceed 200km/h (125mph).

[Source: Fisker Automotive]

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Much speculation has gone into theories on why Fisker Automotive picked the Wilmington Delaware plant. Was it because former Vice President Al Gore had cut an “under the table” deal with Vice President Biden? Did the UAW, as an owner of GM force them to buy the plant in order to maintain the rights to purchase the Ecotech 2.0 liter engine? Were there just not any other options out there?

Of course in truth it was none of these. The site team at Fisker had a very precise list of factors needed for a new plant. The Wilmington plant met each of the main criteria plus a bonus one or two. The top five requirements for a new plant were:

1) The facility needs to be in good condition.

Having just been recently close and the added fact that it had been retooled to produce the Pontiac Solstice in 2005 the Wilmington plant is in excellent working order.

2) The facility should have produced cars not trucks.

“The way a truck is put together is much different, ” Datz says.

Not only did the plant produce cars, it made sports cars using the same Ecotech 2.0 liter turbo engine that is currently in the Fisker Karma. The facility also used a lower powered 2.4 liter engine that could be considered for Project Nina.

3) Previous Production Quality Ratings are important.

This plant had some of the highest ratings for all GM plants.

4) There must be good port access from the plant.

Wilmington is right on the coast and the plant has great access to the port. This will make it easy for Fisker Automotive to export half of the cars produced throughout the world.

5) The plant must be an appropriate size for production start up and future expansion.

The plant was recently tooled to produce over 20,000 cars per year. Formerly, it had made over 300,000 cars per year. This will allow for a good starting point and great expansion opportunity. However, it’s not so big that the space would set idle for many years to come.

There were also a couple of bonus criteria that this plant made available that no other plant had to offer. First there is the state of the art paint facility.

GM’s recent upgrade of the plant’s paint shop was an important factor. “We’re looking to build cars that will compete with BMW and Mercedes-Benz,” Datz says, “and we need a good paint job.”

The second bonus was only possible due to the speed in which the deal was made between the state of Delaware, GM, and Fisker Automotive. Since the deal was expedited GM agreed to leave all the equipment currently in the facility. Most of the time this equipment would be sold off prior to the property going on the market. In this case the equipment had been properly shut down and was maintained during storage.

Once again the conspiracy theories are proven wrong. Are there any others ones that you have heard about the plant purchase? Is there still something else out there?

[Source: TheCarConnection]

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This first of it’s kind event gave 100 owners on the waiting list an opportunity to see the Fisker Karma inside and out. Mike “LACarGuy” Sullivan was a great host for the event. The evening started with an introduction from Marti Eulberg Vice President, Global Sales and Marketing for Fisker Automotive. In her talk she explained the meaning behind the logo design for Fisker Automotive. The two bars represent the two founders and the designer’s tools used in their craft. The orange color at the top represents a sunset and the blue is for the Pacific Ocean. All of this is combined to pay homage to the company’s heritage and it’s home in Irvine, CA.

From there she introduces all the representatives that were present from Fisker Automotive. There were interior designers, exterior designers, Human integration experts and several others as well. It was great to see the excitement in each of their eyes when given an opportunity to discuss their part in bringing this revolutionary new vehicle to market.

After the introductions were complete the Karma was unveiled to a round of applause and then a pause of awe that was finally broken with an invitation to get closer and take a look at the car. Attendees were given full access to the car. The lines started to form immediately to get a chance and sit inside each position of the car. Of course the best view was from the driver’s seat. The seat position feels more like the cockpit in a fight jet than the controls of a 4 door sedan. The dash is “all glass” meaning that all the gauges are digital readouts on an LCD screen. In the center of the dash is the digital control center, here all aspect of the human to vehicle interface are controlled. Everything is well within reach, it just takes a flick of a finger to move from stereo to the navigation and back again.

Overall the car is more beautiful in person than any of the pictures can do it justice. It will be interesting to see what areas get tweaks between this prototype and the pre-production models that are set to start slowly rolling off the assembly line sometime next month.

[SEE MORE PICTURES]

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