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WHAT IT IS
Most people have never heard of Fisker Automotive, or their first car the Karma. Fisker Automotive is a new car company in California headed by Henrik Fisker, the same designer who designed my Aston Martin V8 Vantage, and the Karma is the first plug-in hybrid car that anyone would actually want to own. There has been the Tesla Roadster, the Chevy Volt, and the Nissan Leaf, but frankly, all of those cars suck for various reasons. The Tesla is somewhat cool, but entirely impractical. The other two electric cars are just boring, but the Karma is the first luxury electric car that looks great, is fairly practical, and cool!
WHY I WANTED ONE
For years I wanted a Tesla Roadster, but in 2010 I had a chance to actually test drive one and I was pretty disappointed. The car was way, way overpriced for what you got, and it was totally impractical and not a luxury vehicle even tho the price was that of an ultra-luxury supercar. I still wanted an electric car for my daily driving, not because it would save any money on the cost of gas, but because I wanted to be part of the solution instead of part of the problem. I drive A LOT, and my SUV and Aston are both gas guzzlers, so I feel bad about sending my money to Saudi Arabia while polluting the environment.
So, after the Tesla didn't work out I found out about the Fisker Karma and gradually fell in love with the idea of this car. The electric range is pretty poor at just 50 miles (realistically more like 40), but I realized that that was really about all I did in a day, so it would probably work out. Unlike the Tesla, the Karma has a "range extender" which is a 4-cylinder gas engine connected to a generator, so if when the battery runs out I can still keep going indefinitely. But in addition to being a short-range electric car, the thing that really appeals to be about the Karma is the "cool factor". It's got a friggin' solar panel on the roof! How cool is that? The interior is very retro-funky with some cool electronic gizmos. All in all, the car is just very unique and very cool, so I had to have one.
At first it looked like the Karma would cost about $90,000 after the $7,500 federal tax credit, but Fisker kept increasing the price, so it it ended up costing me about $110,000. Pretty pricey for a daily driver electric car from an unproven company who might not be in business much longer. Nevertheless, I did it.
HOW I FEEL ABOUT THE FISKER KARMA
When the Karma is working, it's actually a very nice car to drive. It is peppy at low speeds, it's very smooth and quiet, and just feels nice. Plus, this car gets more stares (and I mean *intense* stares) than anything else on the road, so it's a fun experience. It's not fun like driving a performance car like my Aston, but it's fun because it's so different.
The car confuses people because it looks like a supercar, but it's not. The Karma is a 4-door sedan, and it's not even a sports sedan - too slow for that. It's just a sedan, like a Buick, but just a whole lot sexier and more interesting.
The problem, however, is the the car is extremely unreliable, and has incredibly buggy software. Fisker has released numerous software updates in an attempt to stop the bleeding, but as of v6.15 there are still plenty of critical problems. Problems with the car not turning on, not going into drive, not charging properly, etc. The infotainment system known as the Command Center is just plain awful. I hope that Fisker will eventually get these issues resolved, but I'm starting to lose my patience.
MY KARMA REVIEWS
I've done two very in-depth and long reviews of the Karma. One that covers the basics of the car, and one that is just about the Command Center. Both videos can be found on YouTube:
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©2001-2011 Brian Greenstone