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***Wimbledon*** · (This post was last modified: 10-02-2010 03:02 PM by Wimbledon.)

Fisker Automotive Wrote:Anticipation and excitement has grown at Fisker Automotive and with the general public wanting to see the production Karma. Today, Fisker Automotive unveiled the first factory built luxury plug-in Karma at the Paris Motor Show.

READ THE FULL PRESS RELEASE HERE

Photo gallery from AutoEvolution.com

[Update: higher-quality photos now available from Autoblog, several posts below.]

***Wimbledon*** · 10-01-2010, 10:44 AM

Photos from the Fisker Automotive Facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=29...902&ref=mf

[Image: 62811_480902564902_338910184902_6842402_8318626_n.jpg]

[Image: 62811_480902564902_338910184902_6842402_8318626_n.jpg]

[Image: 39439_480902579902_338910184902_6842403_1616886_n.jpg]

Dutch · 10-01-2010, 07:26 PM

It looks as good as ever. But I would have liked to have seen a new colour, as we have to start making choices soon at our dealer's. :-) This grey scheme ('shadow') is the same one as used on the car that went on tour through the US and Canada. It is still my favourite, but I would like to see the 'earth', 'deep ocean' and 'white sand' colour schemes on a real car before making up my mind.

xradman · 10-02-2010, 12:50 AM

Gear shift lever is gone on the regular production model. The design looks otherwise intact. Anyone see anything else different?

That motor takes up a lot of space under the hood. Does anyone know what the fuel tank capacity and gas mileage in non-electric only mode is?

Don A · 10-02-2010, 03:38 AM

(10-02-2010 12:50 AM)xradman Wrote: That motor takes up a lot of space under the hood. Does anyone know what the fuel tank capacity and gas mileage in non-electric only mode is?

Use of the operating cost calculator on the Fisker website will reveal that they are using 25 mpg in non-electric mode. This combined with the stated 300 mile range would indicate 10 gallons of gas for 250 miles + 50 miles electric.

***Wimbledon*** · 10-02-2010, 01:20 PM

(10-01-2010 07:26 PM)Good Karma Wrote: It looks as good as ever. But I would have liked to have seen a new colour, as we have to start making choices soon at our dealer's. :-) This grey scheme ('shadow') is the same one as used on the car that went on tour through the US and Canada. It is still my favourite, but I would like to see the 'earth', 'deep ocean' and 'white sand' colour schemes on a real car before making up my mind.

I agree with you that it would be nice to see more real colors. Have you seen the following Karma ad (more here)? I believe this is the Earth color, although please correct me if I'm wrong:

[Image: backseat_high_res.jpg]

(10-02-2010 12:50 AM)xradman Wrote: Gear shift lever is gone on the regular production model. The design looks otherwise intact. Anyone see anything else different?

The gauges have also been improved; here's a close up:

[Image: fisker_karma_instrumentpanel_sport2.png]

More discussion on the much-improved shift lever is here:

http://fiskerbuzz.com/forums/Thread-Fisk...as-changed

(10-02-2010 03:38 AM)Don A Wrote: Use of the operating cost calculator on the Fisker website will reveal that they are using 25 mpg in non-electric mode. This combined with the stated 300 mile range would indicate 10 gallons of gas for 250 miles + 50 miles electric.

Thank you for posting that Don. Welcome to the forums!

***Wimbledon*** · 10-02-2010, 01:28 PM

More information on the Karma in Paris from acclaimed automotive critic Dan Neil of the WSJ:

http://blogs.wsj.com/drivers-seat/2010/1...to-fisker/

Quote: “That paint is called Diamond Dust,” explained founder and chief executive Henrik Fisker. “It’ll be toned down a bit in production.”

[Image: OB-KG969_fisker_E_20101001132051.jpg]

Video as well:

http://online.wsj.com/video/news-hub-why...30017.html

***Wimbledon*** · 10-02-2010, 03:01 PM

Higher-quality images from Paris:

http://www.autoblog.com/2010/10/01/paris...the-stage/

[Image: 08fiskerkarmaparis2010.jpg]

Dutch · (This post was last modified: 10-03-2010 01:51 AM by Dutch.)

The foot of the side mirrors seems to have changed a bit. It's a bit bigger now and the shape has also changed somewhat. I guess the original design caused too much turbulence (noise), which ofcourse you want to avoid in a quiet, electric car.

@ Wimbledon: I hadn't noticed the earth-colour in that picture yet. Maybe I got distracted :-)

@ Xradman: I read somewhere - don't remember where - that the fuel tank holds just 12 liters (which is about 3 gallons). That would be way too little if it does 25 mpg in non-electric mode. I think the 25 mpg you calculated is not correct. An Audi A6 3.2 does 25 mpg, so a 2.0 liter turbocharged engine doing low and steady rpm's - it is just charging a battery - has to do much better than that. It is more likely 50-75 mpg.

Don A · 10-03-2010, 01:51 PM

(10-03-2010 01:51 AM)Good Karma Wrote: I think the 25 mpg you calculated is not correct. An Audi A6 3.2 does 25 mpg, so a 2.0 liter turbocharged engine doing low and steady rpm's - it is just charging a battery - has to do much better than that. It is more likely 50-75 mpg.

I actually calculated this using Fiskers own operating cost calculator and no it is not a mistake. Their calculator shows 50 miles of electric and then 25 mpg. You can try it here for yourself.

They are using costs of $0.11/kWh for electricity and $2.81 per gallon for gas. If you enter 50 miles per day into the calculator it show an electric cost of $1.76 and a gasoline cost of $0.00 per day. Add 25 miles to the 50 for 75 miles a day and the electric cost stays the same and the gas cost goes to $2.81 per day or exactly 1 gallon for the extra 25 miles. Add another 25 miles for 100 miles and the gas cost goes to $5.62 which equal 2 gallons for the extra 50 miles.