Fisker Kharma--WTF?

[speeder]

Apologies if this has already been covered here. A guy in a new Fisker Kharma was parking at the same time next to me last night outside the diner. We got talking, he actually struck up the conversation because he used to own a Mercedes diesel similar to mine. I asked him how he liked the Fisker, said that it was brand new but so far, he liked it.

Then I asked him what the electric range was. 50 freaking miles! Fifty whole miles before you have to plug it back in. For $110k or something....I could not believe it. Not trying to sound like Island911 here, (shudder)...but GMAFB. Why would someone spend their hard-earned $$ on one of those? Or even their $1k an hour stupid Hollywood job $$ on one? This guy looked like he waxed Miley Cyrus' beaver for a living...what a tosser.

But I'm not trying to judge him. I just don't get it. Even in the land of buying a car to make a statement, this thing makes the DeLorean look like the most practical, well thought-out vehicle launch I've ever seen. Somebody help me here.

[Tobra]

You act like the purchase was a rational decision or something, perhaps that misconception has thrown you off track.

[onewhippedpuppy]

You know that you answered your own question, right?

[vash]

25 miles out, 25 back?

depending on the availability of a shower facility, i would ride a bike at that distance. Kharma money would get me a kickass bike!!

[kaisen]

Misinformation!!!

The Karma has it's own generator.

The effective range is the same as any car on the market. When the electric battery gets low on charge, the gas motor kicks in to charge it. It's a lot like a Chevrolet Volt.

Not defending Fisker, just pointing out that it's not a pure-electric vehicle like a Leaf or Tesla

[Ronbo]

I think it's the Model S that's electric only, and the range is supposed to be a couple hundred miles per charge IIRC.

[HardDrive]

[URY914]

I would drive 50 miles in one to wax her beaver and be glad to walk back.

[cairns]

It doesn't matter. Fisker's going bankrupt. A123 already is. The resale value of his car just went to zero and getting spare parts will be a be- i- t- c- h.

A shame as I thought it was a good looking car and I understand it was built fairly well.

[herr_oberst]

Who is Miley Cyrus?

[Tobra]

I think that is a character that Lindsey Lohan played on a TV show.

[pitargue]

The door handles are too low on the body. Looks goofy. Just like the diamond shaped brake ducts.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by pitargue

The door handles are too low on the body. Looks goofy. Just like the diamond shaped brake ducts.

I disagree, the car looks like sex. Basically a concept car that Fisker had the balls to produce, and I applaud him for that. But it's not as good as the price tag, there's a long list of better sedans available for far less money. Though none of them make quite as unique of a "statement". If such things are of interest to you....

[GWN7]

2012 Fisker Karma – Review – Car and Driver

The only thing I don't like about it is it weighs more than my Chev pickup.

[pwd72s]

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

I disagree, the car looks like sex. Basically a concept car that Fisker had the balls to produce, and I applaud him for that. But it's not as good as the price tag, there's a long list of better sedans available for far less money. Though none of them make quite as unique of a "statement". If such things are of interest to you....

NO car "looks like sex" as much as the E type Jaguar...everything else is a far distant second to this 50 year old design.

[Rick Lee]

I saw one at Cars & Coffee a while back and thought it was fugly. It looks so massive, it just seems to defeat the purpose of a battery-powered car. That size and girth would be better served by a diesel engine.

[fxeditor]

I like the overall design of the car but IMHO it's way too big! It's like they took their clay model and and somehow messed up on the calculations when it came time to upscale it.

One of my clients has one and I've ridden in it several times. Overall I found the experience underwhelming. If I had to buy something that big and "green", I'd look at the Panamera Hybrid or perhaps the Tesla S.

[RWebb]

A123 was just bought by a Chinese company - last week, IIRC.

I expect that will come back to haunt us.

[McLovin]

yeah, like eric says, the Fisker has a 4 banger GM gas engine aboard. So you don't get stuck when you (very quickly) deplete the battery.

They are cool looking on the outside. Most of them are not very nice looking on the inside, IMO. A lot of them have this really weird cloth all over the dash and interior. It's like cloth from your grandma's house in the '70s. Weird.

I do agree that Fisker will be bankrupt in the next few years.

Tesla, I don't know, they may make it, but no way Fisker will.

[red-beard]

Originally Posted by speeder

Apologies if this has already been covered here. A guy in a new Fisker Kharma was parking at the same time next to me last night outside the diner. We got talking, he actually struck up the conversation because he used to own a Mercedes diesel similar to mine. I asked him how he liked the Fisker, said that it was brand new but so far, he liked it.

Then I asked him what the electric range was. 50 freaking miles! Fifty whole miles before you have to plug it back in. For $110k or something....I could not believe it. Not trying to sound like Island911 here, (shudder)...but GMAFB. Why would someone spend their hard-earned $$ on one of those? Or even their $1k an hour stupid Hollywood job $$ on one? This guy looked like he waxed Miley Cyrus' beaver for a living...what a tosser.

But I'm not trying to judge him. I just don't get it. Even in the land of buying a car to make a statement, this thing makes the DeLorean look like the most practical, well thought-out vehicle launch I've ever seen. Somebody help me here.

Denis, there may be hope for you yet!