Fisker Karma | Spotted
Hybrid luxury cars will eventually become two-a-penny on UK roads. But not the Karma
These days, part-electric super-saloons are a well established segment. Porsche has been selling more hybrid Panameras than it does pure-ICE ones for a couple of years now, and even AMG is about to launch a 4-Door GT73 to rival it. But these are plug-in hybrids, which still rely on petrol motors of up to eight cylinders to do the heavywork, with their electrical hardware there to provide a performance boost or, at lower speeds, limited zero-emission running. The car you see here, the Fisker Karma, isn't just a hybrid that beat them to market by several years, it's one that did so with a technical layout that’s different from the norm.
Led by esteemed Danish designer, Henrik Fisker – the former Aston Martin design director whose backcatalogue includes the BMW Z8 - this California-based firm equipped its svelte four-door with a 2.0-litre GM petrol engine and two electric motors. But the important difference was in the sharing of the workload. The 260hp four-cylinder was there to power the generator, not the wheels, because that job was handled by the electric hardware, made up of those two 161hp units – one mounted fore and one mounted aft of a limited slip differential. A 20kWh lithium-ion battery pack was sandwiched in the structure’s longitudinal spine.
Naturally, such an extensive mix of petrol and electric equipment ensured a predictably hefty kerbweight for this aluminium spaceframe machine. It tipped the scales at 2.4 tonnes, although at least some of that is to do with the fact that the Karma is a big car. Its wheelbase is 3,160mm, which is 210mm longer than even the very latest Panamera. And at least most of the mass is low in the body, ensuring decent handling and a surprisingly keen front end. In fact, the Karma has always been a genuinely good handling machine, albeit one without anything close to the potency offered by today’s choice.
The Fisker’s performance is decent enough, with a 5.9-second 0-60 dash when all systems are go and a sub-eight-sec sprint in electric-only mode. The engine note has never exactly excited and the car’s weight obviously puts the brakes and tyres under an immense amount of stress when driven quickly, but as a combined package, there’s always been a lot to like about the Karma. The seating position is great and in 2010 it was considered to be laden with tech, including solar panels that powered the climate control. It even projected a futuristic ‘Tron’ noise in electric mode for pedestrian safety, long before such systems were a legal requirement.
Yet the Karma’s life was short-lived, with only 2,450 produced for the American market and none making it across to Britain via official channels. The lack of success was probably partly due to Fisker’s innovative machine arriving before the market was ready for such a car. And, of course, a handful of fires and recalls would have done nothing to help improve the Karma’s reputation anywhere, let alone amongst enthusiasts. Still, the car did earn itself a core following which still exists to this day, and people have even gone through the effort of importing cars to the UK, despite the costs and decent range of locally available alternatives.
Take this car here, which is actually one of two Karmas currently advertised on PH. We’re not quite sure how many Karmas exist in Britain (HowManyLeft hilariously provides results for the Fiat Croma when you search for the Fisker model), but we’d assume that the PH stock accounts for a decent percentage of the total. Either way, you’re unlikely to come across another on the road, so the car’s handsome, unfamiliar looks are liable to be of great interest to passersby. That means there’s a relatively exotic ownership experience to go with this eco-conscious machine, without anything like the in-yer-face aggression set to be exuded by AMG’s upcoming GT73. For £50k in 2021, the Karma still looks like a lot of car.
SPECIFICATION | FISKER KARMA
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cyl, two electric motors
Transmission: 1-speed
Power (hp): 264hp (petrol engine) 2x161hp (electric motors)
Torque (lb ft): 960 (total)
MPG: 112
CO2: 51g/km
First registered: 2012
Recorded mileage: 14,000
Price new: £87,000
Yours for: £49,950
Maybe there is 10k wiggle-room on that new price?
G
Already getting Chrysler Crossfire sort of vibes...
its almost like nobody reads the articles and just looks at the pictures...
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