First Pics! Fisker's $80K Hybrid Hits the Road

[1SICKLEX]

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...

Source: http://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/05/fisker-karma-pl.html

And a bonus video!

[SixSquared]

lol imagine how quiet a Road Atlanta track day would be with electric cars racing.

Looks like a cool car though... I've heard of them only because I've been following Tesla. Nice to get some more info on them.

[BITCHING]

too much money for me 80k just think down the road repair bills

[Doppelgänger]

could have loked good.... the length of the cabin rewuired to have 4-doors killed it. I would like to see a coupe version. I know it's for aerodynamic reasons though.... but, eh.