Top Gear Hosts Finally Give Thumbs Up to Hybrids With Luxury Award
22.05.12
The Karma is a specious and sexy sports car that can accelerate very fast due to its dependence on two high-torque 201.5 HP energized motors that are directly coupled to the front wheels. You could call it a plug-in hybrid, but they call it an extended-sweep electric vehicle. In operation it is much more like an electric car than a conventional hybrid since the 2.0 liter, 260 HP incitement-injected gasoline engine, is directly coupled with a 175kW generator, as a 250 mile extent-extender to supplement the 50 mile range of the on-board Li-ion batteries.
With a sticker figure of $95,000 this is not a car for Everyman. This is not the place to debate the merits of luxury, but rather only to point out, that one could dish out this kind of money or more for a Maserati or a Bentley that would have a far higher carbon footprint. At that payment point it becomes more a matter of making a statement than anything else.
The Fisker does happen to be less overpriced than the Tesla Roadster ($109k), with a 20 percent larger cruising across. Tesla does have it beat, however, in both 0-60 acceleration (3.7 sec.) and EPA equivalent mileage rating (111 mpg).
Presence founder Henrik Fisker made his name as a designer for BMW and Aston-Martin. The Danish intriguer said he just wanted to show the public that green design could be cool. One of his first customers was Leonardo de Caprio.
Fisker received a $529 million loan from the DOE in 2009, an amount comparable to what Solyndra received, though it seems that the DOE is well unruffled to recoup that investment.
The Karma uses exclusively reclaimed wood on the dashboard and ornament, an animal free interior, and a solar panel on the roof that can collect additional stirring power to charge the batteries when the car is parked.
[ Image Credit: Fisker Website ]
RP Siegel, PE, is the President of Deluge Mountain LLC. He is also the co-author of the eco-thriller Vapor Trails , the first in a series covering the sympathetic side of various sustainability issues including energy, food, and water. Like airplanes, we all bid someone behind a vapor trail. And though we can easily see others’, we rarely see our own.
Source: Triple Pundit