The company says it has already received 3,000 pre-orders with the waiting list reaching until early 2012. Other famous customers for the $100,000 hybrid sports sedan are former US Vice President Al Gore and former National Security Advisor and Secretary of State Colin Powell.
The Karma is the work of former Aston Martin designer Henrik Fisker, who founded his own company.
It is built around a spaceframe chassis made of aluminium and it features a battery pack placed in the middle and two electric motors at the back, as well as a gasoline 260HP 2.0-liter turbo four up front which acts as a generator for the battery when it needs charging.
Production of the Karma has started at Valmet’s plant in Finland, at an initial rate of just five cars per week. This rate will rise to 300 cars per week in November, and Henrik Fisker estimates that his company’s customers “are split 50:50 between early-adopting car enthusiasts and total non-car enthusiasts who just like that we are bringing something totally new to the market”.
Fisker plans to add to Karma’s range a convertible and a shooting brake model. The latter may be unveiled as early as this fall at the Frankfurt Motor Show. If everything goes according to plan, Fisker will also launch a smaller, more affordable hybrid BMW 3-series rival, currently code-named “Project Nina”.
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