Today was a big day for me. I saw a Volt on the highway, averaged over 47 mpg (in a several hundred mile round trip tour around GA) in my clean diesel Jetta TDI and I saw my first Fisker Karma parked outside the sushi restaurant my wife and I ate at. The car looks much nicer than what the crappy image I took below shows (it was dark and I took it from my phone ok):
I was very excited when I saw the car, but my excitement was curbed when I got back to the computer and started reading some reviews. On the Karma's website, the MPG rating in non-battery mode isn't listed, but from a NY times review of the Karma:
Another disappointment was the rather dismal fuel-economy rating of 20 m.p.g., on premium fuel, when the internal-combustion engine is engaged.
However Fisker does claim you can get up to 50 miles on battery charge alone. From Automobile magazine:
Despite those massive numbers, the Karma's potential to be a tire-smoking, stoplight-dragging four-door is dampened by its massive, 5400-pound weight. Fisker claims a 6.3-second sprint to 60 mph, but slurring away from a stop in the Karma doesn't feel quite that quick and that maximum performance is only available in sport mode, when both the battery and the gas engine are feeding power to the motors. In pure electric mode or when the battery charge is depleted, acceleration is even less lively. The Karma is by no means a slow car, but straight-line performance doesn't compare to that of eight- and twelve-cylinder rivals.
I was just excited about seeing such a good looking plug-in hybrid. So who cares if it costs over $100k, performs moderately, Consumer Reports review of the Karma said it had some major flaws and they couldn't recommend it , and Fisker's DOE loan was cut off for failure to meet production goals.....at least it looks good?
Other Links:
Comments
Post new comment