[Source: myFOXla]

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It  will come as no surprise to our regular readers that there has been a great deal of misinformation being lauded over the past week. It’s time to start setting the record straight on a few things. Let’s start with the most highly publicized article on the topic.  In the Wall Street Journal’s “Gore-Backed Car Firm Gets Large U.S. Loan.” The bad information begins from the very first sentence.

A tiny car company backed by former Vice President Al Gore has just gotten a $529 million U.S. government loan to help build a hybrid sports car in Finland that will sell for about $89,000.

Here the fact that former Vice President Al Gore is a partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, a primary investor in Fisker Automotive,  makes it sounds as if he wrote the DoE check himself. Historically each of these government funded programs have had enough red tape built into them to prevent any sort of direct access to funds.  It’s easy to say that’s all it took, but this funding has been in to works for a very long time.

The award this week to California startup Fisker Automotive Inc. follows a $465 million government loan to Tesla Motors Inc., purveyors of a $109,000 British-built electric Roadster.

Yes, both companies have halo cars that are much more expensive and are assembled in other countries. It’s called product development. You take new technology that is very expensive and package it up very nicely so that those who choose to value exclusivity over price can purchase a little piece of the future. Then you take all the lessons learned from that venture and role it up into a much more cost effective, much higher volume consumer vehicle.

In this case we now have project Nina, a $40,000 plug-in hybrid vehicle for a mass market. At 100,000 units per year it will have over 6 times the production volume of the Karma. Is it cheap? Not by a long shot. Can it be purchase by many more who value the environmental advantages, most certainly.

From there the article does manage to twist back to a form of reality and get to some of the facts. You can be the judge of how it all works out in the end.

[Source: WSJ Picture: 9to5Mac]

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At its global headquarters in Irvine, California, Fisker Automotive is abuzz with activity. Designers, engineers, clay modelers dedicate their talents and tools to bring the world’s first luxury plug-in hybrid, the Fisker Karma, to life.

[Source: MotorWeek]

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For the dozens of folks in attendance who saw the car live for the first time, there was a collective gasp of excitement for the car’s sleek lines and luxurious, leather-clad interior.

And this wasn’t just a static display. As the photo-hungry crowd still busily snapped away, Fisker quietly — no, silently — slipped away down the road, in a 400-horsepower luxury beast that he hopes will change the way we see green. Stay tuned for how this electrifying race plays out.

Attendees at the Orange County Forum Luncheon get their First Taste of Karma

Of course not one to give up an opportunity Henrik also made time to talk about future production plans and that oh so meaningful DOE loan. As important as a successful launch of the Karma is to Fisker, having the cash to quickly ramp up development of a low cost model is even more.

While speaking at an Orange County Forum luncheon Wednesday in Irvine, Fisker not only showed off a running version of the Karma in person, but also spoke about the ideology of his company and even shed a little — but only a little — more info about another car that the company has in the works.

He said his private company has already received “well over $100 million” in venture capital, and hopes it can obtain a Department of Energy loan to spur production of its next car, which Fisker aims to sell in the $40,000 range.

Fisker declined to reveal what kind of car this lower-cost, higher-volume one would be, but the goal is to eventually make 100,000 units a year, and — unlike the Finnish-built Karma — for them to be made in the United States.

{Read Full Story}

[Source: OC Register]

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The stylish Karma, a plug-in gasoline hybrid, doesn't quite look like the quintessential eco car.

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.

{Read Full Article}

[Source: USA Today]

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