It was the perfect fall drizzly cold day for my Fisker Karma test drive. Let me revise that to test dri_ _ because the TD’s they are currently offering are so short one better be paying attention or you’ll miss it. Note: if you’ve signed up wait until your dealer actually has some.
There is no doubt the exterior is gorgeous which is what first caught our eye at Pebble Beach. But what is a Fisker Karma?
It is an adult version of an electric car. Sorry but in my opinion those other dinky things (Leaf) are only for big city living and under 35 mph forays. The Fisker Karma is a 4 door electric car with a gas generator. Translation: you will not get stuck in the middle of nowhere because your car ran out of juice.
Both the solar cell on the roof and the gas generator work to keep the car charged. I won’t drone on with the salesman’s explanation of shifting this or that to maximize usage because my eyes glazed over like I needed a calculus refresher.
Short version: Yes, you can plug it in with a normal plug or have a 220 charging station installed in your garage. Just drive it like a normal car, plug it in from time to time and put gas in it when it needs it. This is the perfect car for the type A thinkers who like to drive and adapt the car to capture would be lost energy (from braking, etc.) Thankfully this type of excessive control freak thinking is not required.
Basically the Karma is a smart version of the electric car. Like I said, adult version. But one has to revise normal automotive thought process to understand how at 260 hp 4 liter non-turbo non-fuel injected motor can go 0-60 in 6.3 seconds. It does, though it might take a salesman with a doctorate to explain it to you. It goes and not like a golf cart. One foot on the gas gives you the same feel of acceleration as a normal car. The little vibrating chug in idle needs to be worked out – not an actual delay in acceleration just an irritation.
It handles like a normal car though the 22 inch wheels have some big hard breaks – and you notice with your foot. The big front is beefy with a hefty girth like a Ferrari 599, but the comparison stops there. The front end is huge, but the stylistic height of the front fenders allow you a honest visual of where the car is.
The interior is comfortable. Can’t offer much more than that, it felt a little like a 1970′s version of a luxury car. Kinda dull and un-inspiring. Okay so there was a few little strips of the “reclaimed Lake Superior wood” but as a design person and one who cares about the details… it has a long way to go to compete at the luxury level.
The tunnel between the rear seats felt a bit more like a restraint – I fit but many won’t. Four doors, four people and limited luggage – not a family traveler unless you ship your luggage.
The all electronic dash was a little confusing and I’m not sure the heavy use of white in lighting or background of the Sat-Nav is going to be so great for night driving. Not impressed it was not working either. Note to Fisker: nowadays since we use these things we do like to compare them.
“Wow there is a lot of road noise,” I noted.
Canned salesman (BS) answer, “Oh, it’s because it’s an electric car. Without the noise of the engine you hear more.”
”Um no, you need more insulation.” The Mercedes has almost no discernible outside noise.
Feels a bit retro, but not in a hip stylistic way. I really don’t think it is too much to ask for the interior to at least equal the stylistic achievements of the exterior. Fisker – call me I can help with the car interior.
In the end, I’ll wait until the car has some production time under the belt to work out the issues. All the environmental sustainable green stuff is nice, but the car has to be equally fantastic to open my wallet. In the $100k category, there is a lot of competition and the Karma is not quite there. Great concept, great exterior but needs some tweaking.
