atlaw4u
05-11-2008, 12:26 PM
Fisker's $80K Hybrid Hits the Road. (http://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/05/fisker-karma-pl.html)
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/fisker.jpgChuck Squatriglia - Wired - May 9, 2008
Fisker Automotive isn't wasting any time getting its Karma plug-in hybrid on the road. Five months after pulling the wraps off the car at the Detroit auto show, it's flogging a test mule in Southern California.
The pictures offer the best evidence yet that Henrik Fisker is serious about getting the $80,000 sedan into showrooms by the end of next year, and they're a shot across the bow of Tesla Motors as the two companies race to bring the first high-performance four-door hybrid to market.
Fisker isn't saying anything about what's under the hood of the prototype, but we know the company is working with Quantum Technologies on a series parallel drivetrain that will use an electric motor to drive the wheels and an internal combustion engine to charge the lithium-ion batteries. Autocar says it could be a 1.4 liter Volkswagen engine, but all Henrik Fisker would tell us, through a spokesman, is "the car MAY have a German engine that turns the generator."
Clearly the company isn't allowing itself to be distracted by its legal fight with Tesla, which has filed a lawsuit claiming Fisker agreed to design Tesla's WhiteStar sedan, then cribbed from its confidential files to design the Karma. Fisker calls the suit nonsense.
We've got more pics from Fisker…http://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/05/fisker-karma-pl.html
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/fisker.jpgChuck Squatriglia - Wired - May 9, 2008
Fisker Automotive isn't wasting any time getting its Karma plug-in hybrid on the road. Five months after pulling the wraps off the car at the Detroit auto show, it's flogging a test mule in Southern California.
The pictures offer the best evidence yet that Henrik Fisker is serious about getting the $80,000 sedan into showrooms by the end of next year, and they're a shot across the bow of Tesla Motors as the two companies race to bring the first high-performance four-door hybrid to market.
Fisker isn't saying anything about what's under the hood of the prototype, but we know the company is working with Quantum Technologies on a series parallel drivetrain that will use an electric motor to drive the wheels and an internal combustion engine to charge the lithium-ion batteries. Autocar says it could be a 1.4 liter Volkswagen engine, but all Henrik Fisker would tell us, through a spokesman, is "the car MAY have a German engine that turns the generator."
Clearly the company isn't allowing itself to be distracted by its legal fight with Tesla, which has filed a lawsuit claiming Fisker agreed to design Tesla's WhiteStar sedan, then cribbed from its confidential files to design the Karma. Fisker calls the suit nonsense.
We've got more pics from Fisker…http://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/05/fisker-karma-pl.html