1SICKLEX
05-11-2008, 10:38 AM
http://blog.wired.com/cars/images/2008/05/09/fisker_prototype_08_2.jpg
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/images/2008/05/09/fisker_prototype_05.jpg
http://blog.wired.com/cars/images/2008/05/09/fisker_prototype_09.jpg
http://blog.wired.com/cars/images/2008/05/09/fisker_prototype_07.jpg
http://blog.wired.com/cars/images/2008/05/09/fisker_prototype_02.jpg
http://blog.wired.com/cars/images/2008/05/09/fisker_prototype_04.jpg
Source: http://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/05/fisker-karma-pl.html
And a bonus video! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPYUd9pLEKo)
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/images/2008/05/09/fisker_prototype_05.jpg
http://blog.wired.com/cars/images/2008/05/09/fisker_prototype_09.jpg
http://blog.wired.com/cars/images/2008/05/09/fisker_prototype_07.jpg
http://blog.wired.com/cars/images/2008/05/09/fisker_prototype_02.jpg
http://blog.wired.com/cars/images/2008/05/09/fisker_prototype_04.jpg
Source: http://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/05/fisker-karma-pl.html
And a bonus video! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPYUd9pLEKo)