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M· a:ybeitwasthepower breakfast I shared with Fisker Automotive's three main men that changed my mind. Maybe it was the story of their three-year campaign to raise a billion dollars to build their Karma extended-range electric luxwy saloon, half of it a US govemmentsubsidy and halffrom venture capitalists impressed both by Fisker's ability to tame hard-nosed legislators and with their store of3000 back orders. Perhaps I simply sniffed the balmy Los Angeles air and remembered that the American Dream survives on the West Coast, and one ofits better effects

is to encouragewell heeled car lovers to

1Iy something new. Wha rever, my daylong meeting with the Kanna- and the men who built it - moved the project in my mental filing cabinetftom "brave but probably foolhardy" to "great idea whose time has arrived".

Cerminly FiskerAutomotive's change of status occurred well before I finally slid behind the wheel of the classy-looking four-door sports coupe, whose twinelectric drive motors put 403bhp through therearwheels, and drove it on the wide infield handling course of the mighty LA Raceway, north of the city.

It's thecar's unique shape that first makes the point And then the sight of its many beautiful mechanical components,

many cast in aluminium to underscore their creators' faith in the car's long life. The Karma, according to ex-Aston design chiefHenrik Fisker, whose name is on thenose, is the best reaction he and his 400-strong team can devise to suggestions thatthefuture will be full of economy cars - and economy cars are boring.

The Karma is efficient, but can also sprint from 0-60roph in under six seconds, with its rear-mounted electric motors drawing power from an engine-driven generator in the nose. Itcan crack eight seconds on battery power alone. What's more, an ultra-low centre of gravity and a sophisticated chassis give the car agility tha t belies its size and mass, which ?

Fisker Karma I Driven

~ (though Fisker is coy about revealing a figure) must be two tonnes.

Exactfigures for the Karma's fuel consumption and C02 output are also hard to pin down, mostly because America's clean-air authority is still ratifying them. But after extensive testing, Fisker engineers are confident the car can exceed 80mpg, achieve a petrol-electric range of300 miles and emit 83g/km of C02 on a 'real-world' basis. Compared with the big German petrol-powered saloons that abound in its home town, the efficiency improvement is staggering. Among the LA glitterati - who nowadays drive to and from their bizjets in Toyota Priuses - Fisker people expect it to be a powerful selling point.

The Karma's kerb appeal starts with its radical proportions. The body is just under five metres long, yet hardly higher than a Porsche. The extra-long wheelbase (a mighty 3160mm) means the body overhangs are extremely short, and mass is concentrated towards the centre. The mighty 22-inch wheels (Karma is the only production car to have them as standard) wear 'sensible' 35-series tyres because engineers were unwilling to sacrifice the ride quality that sells cars like these. They give the low-riding Karma an extraordinary presence and demand the extravagant front wing shapes that both dominate the car's

profile and give the driver an amazing view over the bonnet. For me, the Karma has a kind of modem-day E-type appeal, a long and sensuous shape whose smallish cabin looks almosttoo 'slammed' to accommodate actual people - although you put away such thoughts in the Karma when you're snug inside. Much attention has been given to keeping greenhouse surfaces and glass flush; the drag factor is an impressive 0.31.

The chassis is an extruded aluminium tubular spaceframe with a big central spine to house and protect the mid-mounted lithium ion battery pack The car's outer panels are also aluminium, apart from a composite bootlid. The suspension is a bespoke all-independent system of double wishbones and coil springs, with an antiroll bar at each end and Sachs Nivomat self-levelling dampers at the rear.

The power steering is electro-hydraulic, not pure electric (an important concession to 'feel' in a car that concentrates so hard on efficiency) and the brakes are Brembo's finest: vast rotors with six-pot Fiskerbadged calipers in front and with four-

pot calipers behind. The car has a clever brake-by-wire system that blends friction and regenerative retardation cleverly to outshine recent, somewhat unpredictable Japanese hybrids. Regeneration, engineers say, contributes six to eight miles to the 7

23 FEBRUARY 2011 WWW.AUTOCAR.CO.UK 49

U~~"~IJ~ ,~,,~r,e g,W Cr.llIity !iill ps ~Q g:i~'1: Karma agHillf t~ilt_bell~ il;;_~)L.1lall~ ~ I

to car's electric range of 40-50 miles.

The 2.0-litre turbo petrol engine, which never directly drives the car, starts life as GM's ubiquitous Ecotec 16-valvefour~ but its impressive 260bhp mting suggests special Fisker enhancements. It is mounted north-south, driving a 175kW generator mounted where a gearbox would normally be, and exhausting through a discreet side-pipe behind each front wheel to keep exhaust heat away from the battery. One

of the compact drive motors sits ahead of the single-ratio, clutch-style limited-slip diff and the other behind. Together, the engines put 403bhp under the driver's right foot - with a remarkable 9811b ft available from rest There's a panel on the roof to feed

Even thewoodon thefascia had spent 300 years underwater in Lake Michigan, left there by America's early loggers.

The Karma isn't a spacious car; its extreme lowness puts paid to that But

it's very comfortable. Cabin access is easy enough, but when you settle into the well shaped driver's seat and satisfyingly high centre console it feels distinctly 'tailored', and so does the rear seat. But Fisker wants this to be a daily driver for owners, and the comfort of the supportive seats and cleverly simplified interior controls make that likely.

Ahead of the driver are three separate LCD screens: a speedo on the left, a centre infoonation gauge and a power meter on the right that instantly shows how much

energy the driver is either consuming orreclaiming. Nearby gauges give both electric and combined range countdo~.Supporting functions like audio, phone and air-con are all handled through Fisker's own-design touch- I screen mounted above the centre console, afar simpler and better solution than an

array of plastic buttons.

A couple of switches behind the steering wheel thatlooklike classic gearshift paddles are 1abelled Stealth (for eleetric-onlypower) and Sport (for engineassisted performance), Press the Start button behind the wheel, selectamode and a somewhat unearthly synthesised noise (Fisker people call it 'Tron') is emitted from separatespeakersatthefrontandrear

of the car. It sounds like a cross between

'Together the engines put 403bhp under the driver's righrfoat, 'with a remarkable 981lb it availablefrom rest'

solar power to the battery; Fisker reckons its contribution is around 200 miles ayear.

Thefusttbingyou notice when you slide into the Karma is that this is no catch-all Gennan limo meant for taking people to the airport, It's snug and luxurious all right, but the materials chosen for all three trimleve1s (ours was the mid-range EcoSport) are chosen for their environmental friendliness.

SO WWW.AUTOCAR.CO.UK 23 FEBRUARY zen

a vacuum cleaner and a gas turbine and warns bystanders that the caris active. SelectD from alitdePRNDL pyramid on the console, free the electrichandbrake and thecarmovesjustlikeanonnalauto.

As you roll, the car's wide track and low centre of gravity are instantly obvious, as isitslongwheelbase. There isn't much noise (if you start in Stealth, as we did) and if the surface is smooth there's very little bump noise. The Karma's rolling comfort is acceptable without being exactly plush ~ that's the 22-inch wheels ~ but the car feels really taut; and you can easily tune into its sharp but relatively light steering (variable ratio, 2.7turns lock to lock). The accelerator response is urgent off the mark but always intuitive andeasytomodulate.Justlike any good car, really.

Go quicker and the car produces truly electric performance. No engine-off Karma will ever have trouble with the cut and thrust of city traffic. It'll do 95mph, too. As with. other electric cars, there's a dependable

linearity to its acceleration that becomes addictive. Select Sport and the engine starts without drama or vibration, although you hear it distantly most of the time. The fourcylindernote doesn't have the quality of a V12. and itvaries with demand rather than speed, which is something owners will needto get used. to. The car gets faster still, whereupon the built-in stability (including an extreme reluctance to nosedive) takes over. The car turns easily but seems to be extremely hard to provoke. The stability provided by the low centre of gravity, the mass centralisation, the impressive grip

of the big Goodyears and the 53 per cent froot/47 per cent rear weight bias (find that in a Ferrari 599) all combine to make a car that responds sweetly and sensitive1yto inputs, butrefuses to amplifY them.

Too soon, driving was over. This was a shakedown. not a test Butit's very clear that the Karmahas class,road ability and eye appeal in spades. The company aims to find 15,000 owners a yearwben production starts in earnest, and suddenly this seems

an attainable target,

given that the price (less than $100,000 in the US,so probably under £100,000 in the UK) seems competitive. It's a big ask for buyers who'd otherwise buy a BMW, but gradually we're becoming used to new-tech cars. 'The Thyota Prius was

new once, and look what happened to that. D

:Fisker Karmali -Driven

I Price D-6zmph Top speed Economy

(Oz emissions Kerb weight

FISKER KARMA £95,000 (est) S.9Sec 125mph 80rnpg(estJ 83g/km (est) 2000kg (est)

PitlRStl'lE

MN.!IMEMi 5 m'1ln:~D £86,146

6.OSec

168mph

41.Smpll'

168g/km

1975kg (est)

Dual electric motoj:S, 260bhp turbo 2.O-litre petrol engine

Electric motors: rear Petrol engine: front Drive:RWD

403bhp combined

Torque 9811b ft

Power to wellllt 202bhp per tonne (est)

Gearbox Single ratio

V6. 2995c(. superdlarged petrol, plus eledric motor

Front. longitudinal. all·wheel drive

374bhp at SOOOrpm 4271b ft at lOOOrpm 190bhp per tonne 8·spd automatic

Length 4996mm

WIdth 1984mm

HeIght momm

Wheelbase 1160mm

Fuel tank l61itres

ReaI-wortd ranae 300 miles (est)

Boot na

4970mm 193Jmm 141Bmm 2920mm 80 Jitres 730 miles

445 litres (est)

Front suspension Double wishbones,

coil springs, anti·roll bar Rear suspension Double wishbones.

coli springs, antl·roll bar 370mm ventilated discs (fl, 365mm discs (r)

8.5JX22in (fl, 9.5JX22in (r) 255/35 R22 (fl, 285/35 R22 (r)

Double wishbones,

coil springs, anti· roll bar Double wishbones,

COli springs, anti·roll bar 360mm venlilated discs (fl,

330mm ventilated discs (r) I'l

8JXI8in {O, 9JX18 (r) ! 245/50 RI8 (0, 275/45 R18 (r) ~

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