The price has been revised from the original $80,000 upwards to around $87,900 but along with the price we get specs. The Karma will get not one, but two electric motors as part of its "Q-drive" powertain system, and they augment a 265 HP GM Ecotec turbocharged four cylinder for a grand total of 408 HP and 959 lb-ft of torque. In full sport mode that car will scoot from zero to 60 MPH in only 5.8 seconds, top speed is pegged at 125 MPH. Switch it down to miser mode and you can go 50 miles in all electric mode, drawing power from the lithium-ion battery pack. Production is planned for 15,000 cars a year when the line gets rolling, but don't get too excited, it's already sold out until mid-2010. We'll bring you more details as they emerge, but keep it tuned here for the latest. [Road And Track]

Considering this preview image looks pretty much exactly like the original concept right down to the solar panel roof, it's going to be tough for the decidedly less sexy Prius and Insight to keep up. The car will be debuting at the Detroit Auto Show just one year after it rocked the boat with its debut and ambitious production timeline. We can already see where this is going.

Looking deeper into that crystal ball, we can already hear the sensationalist articles spouting off about how the Karma is proof of the ineptitude of the Not-So-Big Three — look what they were able to do in only one year after all! That'll be fun, but those headlines will probably also ignore the GM sourced Ecotec inline 4-cylinder under the hood, the outsourced assembly happening at Valmet Automotive, the asking price many times higher than other hybrids and the low volume production plan. It'll all be there, and the mainstream media will eat it up with a spoon. Click here for a full resolution image and bask in the glory of the hybrid sports cruiser that'll be displacing the Porsche Panamera, the Aston Martin Rapide, and the Maserati Quattroporte on all of Hollywood's most self-satisfied red carpets. [Fisker via Autoblog]

Fisker Statement On Arbitration
Fisker Automotive Inc, and Fisker Coachbuild, LLC today announced that a JAMS Arbitrator has issued an interim award finding in favor of Fisker Coachbuild, LLC, Fisker Automotive, Inc., Henrik Fisker and Bernhard Koehler and against Tesla Motors Inc. on all claims.

The Arbitrator selected by the parties to decide Tesla's allegations ruled in favor of Fisker Coachbuild, LLC, Fisker Automotive Inc., Henrik Fisker and Bernhard Koehler. In so doing, the Arbitrator expressly found that "the evidence is overwhelming that Fisker did nothing wrong" and that "Tesla's assertion of violations of the Uniform Trade Secrets Act by Fisker were baseless and neither brought nor pursued in good faith."

"The finding by the Arbitrator says it all," said Thomas Newmeyer of Newmeyer & Dillion, Fisker's lawyers in the case. "My clients have been completely vindicated of any wrongdoing."

"We are very pleased with the ruling in favor of Fisker Coachbuild, LLC, Fisker Automotive, Inc., Bernhard Koehler and myself," said Henrik Fisker, CEO of Fisker Automotive Inc. "Despite the burden and expense of Tesla's lawsuit, Fisker Automotive, Inc. has been able to continue with its business plan and production schedule. We are still on schedule to deliver our first production vehicle, the Fisker Karma plug-in hybrid, 4 door luxury sports sedan by 4th Quarter 2009. Today's world needs new alternative energy vehicles and the focus should be to build and deliver these vehicles as soon as possible."

[Source: Fisker]

Production is to start next year with exports bound for the USA, and sales in Europe will begin the year after. Maximum volume is targeted at 15,000 cars a year, which means demand from smug, wealthy motorists will be happily met. Yep, 2010 is shaping up to be one hell of a fuel-mileage battle royale. (Thanks for the tip manic-cynic) [Taloussanomat (translated)]

According to Fisker, a condition of his work with Tesla involved an arbitration clause in the case of a suit filed by the company. Wasn't that prescient? Both car companies continue to to propel themselves towards limited production, so we have a fun race between significant deliveries and the settlement of ongoing litigation. It's like Le Mans except much, much longer.

We can't promise this is anything other than a body and chassis mule, there could be no hybrid power train under that sleek sheetmetal, but we can't help but drool over the idea this thing might actually become reality. Check out Wired for the whole photo set.

Our first introduction to Kleiner Perkins and the world of electric vehicles came with their investment in EEstor, a company based in Texas working on an electric battery for ZENN Motors. Unfortunately, the Canadian governor is making it hard for ZENN to sell cars in Canada. So as of now, things aren't looking great, though battery development continues.

Most recently, Kleiner Perkins came up with relation to the Fisker Karma Luxury Hybrid, which is a vehicle that piqued our interest due to its attractive proportions and relatively low price tag of $80K. Though the company has yet to experience the usual electric car delays, it is dealing with an incredible amount of litigation in the Fisker-Tesla girl fight. Will this delay production of the car? Maybe, maybe not.

Speaking of production delays, what about the Tesla roadster? Everyone was so excited about it but it has been delayed thanks to transmission problems, lawsuits, et cetera. Yes, they claim they're shipping production units now, but not only is it in low volumes, it's not even enough to fulfill the backlog of orders. Did we mention Tesla is backed by Kleiner Perkin's VC rivals at Draper Fisher Jurvetson.

And don't get us started on the 2011/2012/201X Chevy Volt. An ongoing development that is being backed by an OEM — thus it relies not-so-much on VC dollars so much as R&D dollars. When will we see a production version of that particular vehicle? Your guess is as good as GM's word.

But hey, a 65 mph-capable electric car with potentially a 110-mile range for $25K, which Th!nk is offering, doesn't sound bad. Excuse our skepticism, but we'll believe it when we see it clear all the hurdles and successfully market itself to the tens of thousands of consumer they're planning to reach. Do we want cars like this to succeed? Yes. Electric cars, hybrid cars, biodiesel cars... whatever. Is it good, then, that firms are putting up the bank for these projects? Yes. We're just glad it isn't our money.

If you want an electric car for the city, full hybrids like the 2008 Mercury Mariner Hybrid can be driven in a way that they provide mostly electric power. While we're not huge fans of these hybrids in spirited driving, you can stretch a gallon of gas pretty far in slow city commuting. That's something.

[Photo: Th!nk]

Back in the development days of the Tesla, Henrik Fisker was hired to do the body design on a four-seater code-named the White Star. Tesla forked over $875,000 for Fisker's work. The lawsuit continues to divulge that Fisker had no experience with hybrids prior to working for Tesla and essentially sabotaged the project, took his earnings and developed the Fisker Karma, a similar sporty hybrid.

The story gets a little peculiar on Tesla's end after Fisker left the company to make his own hybrid. Tesla said that they didn't want to use Fisker's design because he was going to make his own car and become the competition. This set the company back three to six months in production. If Tesla had a head start on the design-work why didn't they just progress with Fisker's current design and beat him to the show floor? Tesla continues to say that Fisker's work was substandard, so it's understandable, but they didn't have to scrap the design completely, right? Also, why would Tesla shell out nearly a million on a substandard designer with no hybrid experience?

This is the point where we would initially speculate on how the lawsuit will affect production of the Tesla Whitestar and the Fisker Karma, but who are we kidding. These two are perpetually in that yes, but no, but maybe someday phase of production development. [NY Times]

Fisker goes on to claim that his company has been receiving "between 50 and 100 orders a week" for the Karma, meaning it now has a one-year waiting list. Most of those orders have come from Europe.

The $80,000 Karma was first unveiled at the Detroit Auto Show in January. It has a top speed of 125mph and reaches 60mph in six seconds. [Via Forbes Autos]

So, readers, who do you think leaves Motown with the buzz bump? Was it GM with their stunningly un-embargoed Cadillac CTS Coupe concept reveal? Fisker with it's futuristic unveiling? Or was it the cluster of Chinese carmakers, who everyone likes to poke fun at, but who nonetheless leave Detroit with plenty of American major media ink to add to their PR portfolios (that is, once they hire some PR firms to put those together)? Please consult our cheat sheet and grading of the show if you need to refresh your memory.

While he couldn't give us exact specs, he did reveal it's based on a setup developed for certain stealth reconnaissance vehicle used by the US Army's secretive Delta Force. Thus, the Karma could be the first passenger hybrid vehicle whose powertrain trickled down from the big G, rather than bubbled up from the marketplace, just like jet aircraft, Silly Putty and the Internet. And lest we think that, like Fisker's last project, the Karma's based on an existing automotive platform, we're assured it's entirely proprietary. More to come as we know it.

According to the handout passed around by Fisker, the company is ready to start taking pre orders at only $1,000 (they take Visa). If you want the "premium version," which was shown on the floor of the DAS in the exclusive color with signed plaques you're going to have to put down $5,000. But whether this is a resounding success or a huge failure, that $100,000 plaque could help you earn back the value.

Press release:

DRIVE THE FUTURE WITH FISKER AUTOMOTIVE, A NEW GREEN AMERICAN PREMIUM CAR COMPANY

IRVINE, Calif. Sept.5, 2007: Quantum Technologies and Fisker Coachbuild, LLC announce the launch of a joint venture in Fisker Automotive, Inc. - a green American premium car company. Fisker Automotive will offer a range of environmentally friendly premium cars - with the first production car to make its Worldwide North American debut at the 2008 Detroit Auto Show in January. Initial production is anticipated to be 15,000 vehicles annually with pricing to start under $100,000.

Design and technology development are already underway for the first production car. All models will feature cutting-edge plug-in hybrid technology penned as Quantum Drive, developed by Quantum Technologies exclusively for Fisker Automotive. This all-new plug-in Quantum Drive chassis layout will allow Fisker to design innovative luxury cars with uncompromised proportions.

The Fisker name has attracted and attained worldwide brand recognition, thanks to years of first-class automotive designs. Over his 18 years in the car design business, Henrik Fisker has left his thumbprint on some of the most highly regarded automobiles.

His creations range from the BMW Z8, Aston Martin DB9 & V8 Vantage to his most recent creations - the Tramonto and Latigo CS, designed under the Fisker Coachbuild nameplate. Fisker Automotive will retain the orange and blue logo originated at Fisker
Coachbuild.

"The troubled environment is captivating the attention of the world. Developing a premium luxury green car which also delivers attractive design can make a difference. We are extremely excited to join our automotive design expertise with the plug-in hybrid technology of Quantum in Quantum Drive. This breakthrough chassis development will allow us to deliver a design with dramatic proportions - one which will carry the Fisker badge," expressed Henrik Fisker, CEO of Fisker Automotive, Inc.
"We want people to drive beautiful fast cars that make environmental sense - cars that are eco-chic and will have less of an impact on global warming."

Quantum Technologies has a long history of advancing technology. Benefits in developing an entirely new, from-the-ground-up design for a plug-in hybrid vehicle include optimized fuel efficiency and performance, unchanged gas station infrastructure, home based battery recharging with any 110-volt outlet at a fraction of the cost. A cleaner and a quieter car for local travel...all with the most advanced comforts that are anticipated with a luxury car.

"Our goal here is to deliver the advancement that Quantum Technologies has made in the area of plug-in hybrid technology. By combining our efforts with the renowned design talent of Henrik Fisker, we can produce a car that makes a difference to the environment - without sacrificing the luxury that accompanies the finest automobiles," stated Alan Niedzwiecki, CEO Quantum Technologies.

Fisker Automotive is a privately owned car company, operated by executive management teams of Fisker Coachbuild, LLC and Quantum Technologies with Henrik Fisker as the CEO of Fisker Automotive. Fisker Coachbuild, LLC will be the exclusive design house for Fisker Automotive through the entire range of product development.

Fisker Couchbuild, er Coachbuild, wants to build a 400-car-a-year $100k premium-segment unit, but to do that, they need money. We're somewhat underwhelmed by the company's Tramonto, which costs a whole lot more than the Merc SL — a car that won't have people asking, "What's that?" To which your reply is, "Well, it's a rebodied Mercedes built by a guy who used to work for Aston Martin." And if they've got half a brain, they'll respond, "So why didn't you just buy a Mercedes and an Aston then?" Regardless, Henrik's looking for investors, so if we're proven wrong and Fisker's strategy is correct, well then, you'll make some dosh.

Why not consider investing in a premium car company? [Auto123]

Related:
Henrik's Fiskars Now Avalabile to Snip UK-Spec BMWs, Mercs [Internal]

The Fisker Tramanto and Latigo, the Mercedes SL and BMW 6-based bespoke coupes designed by the former Aston Martin guy are now available in the UK. Fisker claims that they'll only build 150 of each model for the world market, leaving the well-heeled Brits in a hurry to have the latest and dubiously greatest in some sort of busy tizzy for Henrik's rebodied renditions of German semi-supercars. Meanwhile, if we ate lobster bisque, we'd go have some and then take a nap.

Fisker Sports Cars to Debut in Britain [Askaprice]

Related:
New Fisker Models Emerge [Internal]

With all the talk about Crunk-style Donks and Bubbles and Bezerkers (ok, scratch that last one), those neon-painted bargain hoopties with the 40" rims and skyward lifts, it's good to know the music business still appreciates high-margin luxury goods. Take, for example, the bespoke Latigo CS, a rebodied BMW 6-Series with an interior created from the skins of calves who've been fed nothing but shaved white truffles, and whose personal assistants already have Sidekick IVs. But really, the Latigo, a product of Fisker Coachbuild, was recently featured in a video by LeToya Luckett, late of Destiny's Child. You go, Henrik!

Fisker Latigo Makes Music Video Appearance [Leftlane News]

Related:
Frankfurt Premiere: Fisker Coachbuild's Bespoke Players [internal]

Supposedly, spring has sprung, but the weather here in Southern California is suspiciously similar to what we were dealing with back in February. Somebody's lying. And Dan Lienert's gotta be lying through his teeth when he calls the Cadillac Escalade EXT "ultra-cool." Dan, you know what we do whenever we see some poor schnook in an EXT? We laugh. We giggle. Sometimes we point. There is nothing cool about the EXT. But at least the 'Slade-Up inspires some reaction. The rest of the cars on the list, with the exception of the M6 and the V8 Vantage, basically inspire a case of seasonally affected dysthemia. Click through to get bored.

Aston Martin V-8 Vantage

Audi Q7

BMW M6 coupe

Cadillac Escalade EXT

Cadillac XLR-V

Fisker Coachbuild Tramonto

Jaguar XK

Lexus GS Hybrid

Mercedes-Benz GL-Class

Mercedes-Benz S600

Spring New Car Forecast 2006

Related:
Forbes Runs Down the World's Most Expensive Cars [Internal]

Henrik Fisker's choice of his Danish compatriots at Kleeman to provide the tuner powerplant for his $200,000 Tramonto roadster may have been driven by pride of country, but the outcome is the automotive equivalent of Scandinavian death metal. Fast, nasty, and somehow locked to the beat despite all the menace. The company took the donor Mercedes SL55 AMG's 493hp supercharged 5.5-liter V8 and tweaked out 610hp at 5800 rpm and 616 ft/lbs. of torque at a near-idle 2000 rpm. The result, along with Fisker's total body makeover, is a supercar worthy of Danish egomaniacs and satanists alike. Mwahahah.

Kleeman starts by slotting in a redesigned pulley wheel and replacing the stock cams with Kleemann Super Sport joints, then its band of genius elves reprogram the ECU to within an inch of its life. A proprietary limited-slip differential along with stainless-steel headers and a performance exhaust system complete the package, which gives the Fisker Tramonto an electronically limited top speed of 202mph, and zero to 60 times of under four seconds. Performance at such speeds is enhanced by Kleemann's Electronic Body Lowering module (EBL) is fitted to the car that enhances the Merce's stock ABC suspension, reducing ride height and lowering the center of gravity.

Related:
Former Aston Martin Designer to Launch First Supercar in Frankfurt; Fisker Coachworks Revives Bespoke Body Building; New Fisker Models Emerge; Frankfurt Premiere: Fisker Coachbuild's Bespoke Players [internal]

A-list car designer Henrik Fisker took the covers off his two new low-volume luxury cars, the Tramonto roadster and Latigo coupe today in Frankfurt. Fisker's plan is to restore bespoke coach-building (undone by the Great Depression and WWII) to the marketplace, but instead of one-offs, the company plans to build 150 copies of each model per year. Customers will pay around $135,000 above the cost of the donor car (a Mercedes SL55 in the case of the Tramonto and BMW 6-Series for the Latigo) for a new, Fisker-designed skin with carbon fiber and stamped metal, a custom interior, and in the case of the Tramonto, a Kleeman tuning kit. Trivia note: Fisker says the cars' shared fascia design was inspired by the F/A-22 Raptor fighter jet.

Easy boys, there's enough luxury for everyone

Related:
New Fisker Models Emerge [internal]

More details on how exactly Fisker Coachbuild, the new car company founded by auto designer Henrik Fisker (BMW, Aston Martin) will make existing luxury cars prettier while adding around $100,000 to their price tags emerged in the German press this past week. Autoblog.nl reports (translated from German into Dutch, of course) on the company's first two models — the Tramonto roadster (pictured above), based on the Mercedes SL55 AMG, and the Latigo CS coupe (below), created over BMW M6 mechanicals — ahead of the company's press conference at the Frankfurt motor show on Tuesday.

In addition to the extensive cosmetic changes, the Tramonto will get a tuning job from Kleemann that will give the custom coach a drivetrain infusion totaling around 610hp/650 ft-lbs. As for the Latigo — which could be a pure version of what a Fisker-designed 6-series would have would have looked like without ex-boss Chris Bangle's DNA — customers will be able to choose from between BMW's 4.8-liter V8 from the base 6-Series, or the same rocket-booster V10 found in the new M6. More to come on Tuesday. [Update: The New York Times ran a profile (in English) on the Fisker operations yesterday. (reg. req). Thanks, David.]

Fisker Tramonto en Fisker Latigo CS [Autoblog.nl]

Related:
Fisker Coachworks Revives Bespoke Body Building [internal]

Crazy! We were just preparing a post on an article in The Car Connection profiling Henrik Fisker's new, bespoke carbuilding project, Fisker Coachworks. (The ex—Aston Martin designer announced the company will introduce its new Tramonto roadster in Frankfurt this year.) TCC's piece examined how Fisker takes Mercedes SL55 and BMW 6-series cars off the line, blows out the interior, strips down the exterior and creates all-new coachwork, much like bespoke artistes like HJ Mulliner and Henri Chapron did in the 1920s, and plans to charge around a quarter-mil for the privilege. But when we went back to TCC, the article had been taken down. Break an embargo, did we?

Fisker Revives Fine Art of Coachbuilding [The Car Connection]

Related:
Former Aston Martin Designer to Launch First Supercar in Frankfurt

Former Aston Martin designer Henrik Fisker, who left the company to start his own bespoke automaker, will launch his first Fisker Coachbuild models in Frankfurt later this year. The company released a sketch and details on one model, a roadster, which will reportedly have 610hp and do the zero-to-60 shuffle in 3.6 seconds. No word on the second model, but our predictive-analysis supercomputer says it's a coupe.

Henrik Fisker recreates the deleted "bespoke roadster" scene from the 1985 video for "Take on Me" by A-ha

Related:
Former Aston Martin Designer Launches New Car Company [internal]