It's not often automakers get noticed for doing something good, so we though we'd bring this tidbit about car designer-turned builder Henrik Fisker to your attention as a break from our usual Firday fare.
Fisker showed off his upcoming Karma plug-in hybrid Thursday evening to a crowd of about 200 close friends, and future customers, at an event in Santa Monica highlighted by presentation of the Danish-American Chamber of Commerce's 2009 innovation award to Fisker.
The native of Denmark, now CEO of California-based Fisker Automotive, was honored for "providing outstanding contributions and innovation addressing critical issues" with is work to bring a new line of highly fuel-efficient luxury automobiles to market.
The $88,000 Karma, which initially will be built in Finland while Fisker readies a former GM plant in Delaware for production in 2012 of line of less-expensive, "family-oriented" plug-in hybrid sedans, is slated to begin arriving for customer delivery in mid-2010.
Pictured from left at Thursday evening's award fete are Friis Arne Petersen, Danish Ambassador to the US; Torben Aaskov, President of Danish American Chamber; Fisker; and Johs Worsoe, Executive Vice President of Union Bank, which sponsored the award.
Fisker Automotive hasn't started building cars yet, but is well on the way to ensuring a healthy launch platform when its first - the $88,000 Karma extended-range plug-in hybrid - starts rolling out of the assembly plant next summer.
The company, which so far has announced 45 U.S. dealership agreements and two smaller European distributorships, said this morning that it has now signed the 100-plus dealership Emil Frey Group to handle much of its European sales and service.
The Swiss company has outlets in six countries - Switzerland, Germany, France, Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic - and handles premium brands.
Fisker previously signed GP Supercars in Italy and the Nellerman Group in Denmark as distributors and is working on a deal in China.
While the Karma initially is to be built in Finland by Valmet Automotive, Fisker last week agreed to acquire and outfit an idled GM plant in Delaware to build a second line of less-expensive plug-in hybrids and said that Karma production eventually would be moved to the U.S.
The company is financing its U.S. production and R&D in large part with proceeds of a $528 million federal loan.
Veep Discloses that New Plug-In Hybrid Will Come in More Than One Flavor
It wasn't much of a secret to leak - Henrik Fisker has always talked about offering multiple models of the "project Nina" plug-in hybrids his company plans to build.
But Vice President Joe Biden, somewhat notorious for his talkativeness, let slip during remarks at a recent Fisker event that those models would include an SUV-styled crossover and a coupe, in addition to the sedan that's always been talked abut.
Fisker later conformed that the Veep was correct, and went on to tell reporters that after he'd shown Biden sketches of the sedan the Vice President told him it "looked like a four-door Ferrari.'
We're not sure if Fisker, who made his name designing BMWs and Aston Martins, thought that was a compliment.
Biden's tongue slipped in Delaware earlier this week at ceremonies announcing the acquisition of the idled General Motors' Wilmington Assembly factory by Fisker's eponymous Fisker Automotive for $18 million - plus an anticipated $175 million in refurbishing and equipment costs. The money is coming form a $528 million federal Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing loan the company recently was awarded.
It wasn't clear from earlier statements but it is unequivocal now: Fisker Automotive plans to welcome the United Auto Workers Union with open arms if its deal to acquire a former GM plant in Delaware goes through as planned.
Avoiding unions is de rigeur for most new manufacturing enterprises in the U.S., but a company spokesman told Green Car Advisor this morning that Fisker is "looking to establish a mutually beneficial partnership with the UAW" as it opens its first U.S. assembly plant.
Fisker announced a few minutes ago that it has signed a letter of intent to buy the former Wilmington Assembly facility for $18 million and will refurbish and equip it to produce a new plug-in hybrid family sedan that will go into production in late 2012.
The area around the factory - which GM shuttered earlier this year as part of its bankruptcy reorganization - is home to thousands of skilled auto workers who belong to UAW Local 435.
Fisker has said that it expects to employ as many as 2,000 at the plant when it hits full capacity, and spokesman Russell Datz told us this morning that hiring a highly skilled UAW workforce "is essential" to the factory's success.
Deal Could Open Employment Door For UAW Workers Laid Off When Plant Closed
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
As just about the whole world was predicting all weekend, Fisker Automotive and the GM assets liquidator, Motors Liquidation Co., have done a deal in which start-up Fisker will buy the idled Boxwood Road assembly plant near Newport and Wilmington, Del., for production of a new plug-in hybrid.
Fisker, based in Southern California, received a $528.7million federal loan last month to help pay for a production plant and plant refurbishing costs, among other things.
Fisker said the letter of intent calls for it to pay $18 million for the plant if its evaluation of the 52-year-old facility doesn't uncover insurmountable problems. The deal is scheduled to close in four months and Fisker then would spend an additional $175 million refurbishing and outfitting the plant to produce the new plug-in starting in late 2012.
Other details of the deal weren't immediately available, although it sounds as though Fisker apparently will use at least some of the UAW workers laid off by General Motors when the Boxwood Road factory - also called the Wilmington Assembly plant - was idled earlier this year as part of GM's short-lived bankruptcy reorganization, in which underutilized facilities were closed and turned over to the newly created liquidation company for disposal.
It's unclear whether the plant would be unionized - a costly move for a nascent car maker - but in a statement released just before the formal announcement this morning, UAW director Gary Casteel said that the deal gives "UAW local 435 workers the opportunity to partner with Fisker Automotive to create a greener America by building a plug-in hybrid car that will compete globally."
Fisker Automotive appears ready to announce a deal this week to lease or buy a shuttered GM factory in Delaware to use for production of the plug-in hybrid family sedan the company has said will follow its Fisker Karma extended-range PHEV.
Vice President Joe Biden and state and local officials in Delaware are slated to attend an announcement at 10 a.m.Tuesday at the former GM Boxwood Road plant, near Newport, Del., and a spokesman for Fisker said Friday that a plant-location announcement was being scheduled for that day.
The new car, expected to be smaller and less costly that than exotic Karma, has been code-named "Project NINA" by the company, homage to the ship in Christopher Columbus' tiny fleet and signifying, company founder and chief executive Henrik Fisker has said, a "new world" for the auto industry.
The car, as previously described by Fisker, is to be a $48,000 (estimated) extended-range hybrid marketed to upscale families in 2012. The Karma, an $88,000 performance car, is just beginning production by a contractor in Finland, with deliveries to U.S. customers to begin in the summer. Both prices are before any applicable federal and local tax credits or other incentives.
Southern California-based Fisker Automotive received a $528 milllion federal loan last month from the Department of Energy to finance Project NINA and to fund additional U.S.-based engineering and development work on the Karma.
Its first car hasn't gone into production yet, but already Fisker Automotive is well on the way to introducing a second plug-in hybrid, thanks to a $528-million federal loan.
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Fisker Automotive specializes in plug-in hybrid cars.
Fisker, based in Irvine, Calif., said today that the bulk of the money will be used to develop its next-generation plug-in hybrid with some being used to complete development of the company's first car, the Fisker Karma PHEV (left) slated to go into production later this year.
While the Karma is an $87,900, 408-horsepower exotic built under contract in Finland, Fisker's next cars will be more modestly priced and powered, will be built in the U.S., and will start at around $47,400 before the $7,500 federal tax credit.
The new plug-in is being developed under the code-name Project NINA - named, the company says, for one of the three ships in explorer Christopher Columbus' tiny fleet, and symbolizing the auto industry's "transition from old world to new."
Silicon Valley's venture capitalists believe the Detroit 3 automakers cannot become competitive again unless they scrap their traditional business model and embrace new, innovative ways of doing business.
Speaking of the Detroit 3, Ray Lane, a managing partner at Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Buyers, said that "for years they have been led by accountants and lawyers, not engineers and entrepreneurs. That's OK if the industry isn't changing."
So what do Ford Motor Co., General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group need to do to regain marketplace dominance?
"Start over," said Marc van den Berg, managing director of VantagePoint Venture Partners, which backs upstart electric carmaker Tesla Motors and electric-vehicle infrastructure firm Better Place.
The only way the Detroit 3 can succeed is by completely overhauling the business model, moving beyond just designing attractive cars, Silicon Valley venture capitalists say.
"There is room for business model innovation and technology innovation," said Vinod Khosla, managing general partner of Khosla Ventures.
Khosla said U.S. automakers need to embrace innovation at all levels. He pointed to Better Place, which is building charging infrastructure and battery-swapping stations for electric vehicles.
"Better Place is saying,'Don't let the consumer buy the batteries,' " Khosla said. "That's a business model innovation."
Kleiner Perkins investor, and former president of Oracle, Ray Lane, said that electric vehicle maker startup Fisker is gearing up to make a major announcement about a $39,000 plug-in hybrid vehicle later this week or next week.
That tidbit from earth2tech.com, which reported today that the venture capitalist, whose firm funded Fisker, let the news slip at the AlwaysOn Going Green conference in Sausalito, California, earlier in the day.
Fisker has already developed its inaugural plug-in car the Karma (pictured), which will be sold for $87,900, but as Lane put it on the panel "who would not want to buy a Fisker Karma if you could afford it."
Does that mean that Fisker has received a Department of Energy loan?
In March, Henrik Fisker, founder and CEO of the Irvine, California-based company, said that Fisker plans to refurbish a factory in the U.S. and develop a lower-cost plug-in hybrid car than its $87,900 Fisker Karma if DOE loans come through.
Back then Fisker did not specify how much money the company requested, but said, "If we get the DOE loan we will start the project this year... It could be in the market in as little as 26 months from when we start."
The Fisker Karma will get 67.2 miles per gallon and emit just 83 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometer using a respected methodology for measuring the emissions of plug-in extended-range electric vehicles, the automaker announced today.
Calculations developed by the Society of Automotive Engineers estimate the carbon-dioxide output of the four-door hybrid will be less than that of today's cleanest production cars and 75 percent less than that of competing vehicles, on average.
The society is an internationally recognized organization of experts that help drive government automotive policy.
That said, the fuel economy label the U.S Environmental Protection Agency ultimately slaps on the Karma might bear a different estimate than 67.2 MPG, because the EPA is still determining how it will label plug-in hybrids.
Fisker Automotive said the sale of 15,000 Karmas could save some 248 million gallons of gasoline and 2.5 million tons of CO2 per year compared to a convention car of comparable size and horsepower.
And, as Fisker wants everyone to know, the Karma can save all that gas and air pollution while achieving supercar-like torque and six-second 0-60 mile-per-hour acceleration.
Fisker Automotive said today that its Karma plug-in gasoline-electric hybrid vehicle, or PHEV, reached 100 miles an hour without consuming a single drop of gas during the car's public driving debut at Laguna Seca Raceway on Saturday.
The low-emissions, fuel-efficient four-door sedan made only one lap on the famous track Saturday, but CEO Henrik Fisker said today that the lap showed a lot of promise.
"This demonstration represents a significant milestone for Fisker Automotive and PHEV technology. The future of clean cars is bright," he said.
According to him, the Karma will be able to travel up to 50 emission-free miles on electricity from a single battery charge (or 10 miles more than the Chevrolet Volt) and extend its overall range to more than 300 miles with aid from an on-board gasoline-powered internal combustion engine-generator (same as the Volt).
The Karma is scheduled to go on sale in May 2010, with a base price of $87,900.
Only 19 months after being unveiled as a concept car, a prototype of the Fisker Karma plug-in hybrid electric vehicle made its public driving debut today (pictured above and below), silently rolling out of a staging tent and onto the track at the legendary Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, California.
Under partly cloudy skies, the swoopy luxury-sports sedan accelerated quickly up hill and into Laguna Seca's famous Corkscrew - a plunging left-right corner - en route to making one lap on the 11-turn course before a large crowd that had gathered primarily to watch the annual Historic Automobile Races, held this weekend.
Like the forthcoming Chevrolet Volt, the Karma will be able to travel up to 50 emission-free miles on electricity from a single battery charge (or 10 miles more than the Volt) and extend its overall range to more than 300 miles with aid from an on-board gasoline-powered internal combustion engine-generator (same as the Volt).
Two 201.5-horsepower electric motors send enough traction through a single-speed differential to reach 60 miles per hour in about six seconds and a top speed of 125 mph. Together, these components make up a powertrain exclusive to both Fisker automobiles (the other being the Karma Sunset hardtop convertible).
In press releases, Fisker Automotive has said the powertrain can deliver fuel economy of 100 miles per gallon. Company founder Henrik Fisker told journalists covering today's event that he believed the powertrain would be capable of achieving 140 mpg.
EPA fuel-economy figures for the Karma are likely to be weeks if not months away.
Henrik Fisker said the Karma is still on track for a May 2010 showroom launch. Initial production is anticipated to be 15,000 vehicles annually, with pricing to start at $87,900.
The former head of Maserati North America has signed on with plug-in hybrid developer Fisker Automotive
.
Marti Eulberg, a former Volvo, Jaguar and BMW executive who took over as CEO of Maserati NA last year and resigned in April after less than a year on the job, will be Fisker's vice president for global sales and marketing.
Her hiring underscores Fisker's marketing message for its Karma extended-range hybrid sedan and convertible models: The Fisker Karma is a car for the well-to-do, and the European., Asian and Middle Eastern markets will be as important - possibly more so - than the U.S.
Eulberg's "experience as an international leader is why she will add tremendous value to our operation," said Henrik Fisker, co-founder and chief executive of the eponymous Fisker Automotive.
Fisker plans to begin building the $87,900 (base) plug-in Karma this winter, with deliveries to customers scheduled for the spring of 2010.
Fisker Automotive says its Karma extended-range, plug-in hybrid will get its first public outing during the Monterey Historic Automobile Races
in California next month when a prototype of the exotic PHEV takes two laps of the Laguna Seca race track.
It will be the first time a Karma has been driven in public since the car was introduced as a concept at the Detroit Auto Show in January 20008.
Fisker Automotive, which was formed by auto designer Henrik Fisker's private coachbuilding company and fuel systems and electric drive manufacturer Quantum Technologies, plans to being producing a retail model of the Karma towards the end of the year, with deliveries to customers scheduled to begin in the early spring of 2010.
Base price is $87,900 with two higher-end trim levels running at up to $104,000.
The Laguna Seca run, which takes plans during the Monterey Weekend highlighted by the annual Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, is being staged to pump up keep interest levels in the Karma and to show prospective buyers that the car does perform as claimed.
The global economic crisis may force Jaguar to postpone production of its XE two-seat roadster beyond its hoped-for 2011 Geneva show debut, but the sports car will be fitted with a Chevy Volt-like powerplant when it does make an appearance.
That according to a report by Motor Trend, which says an electric motor with an extended-range three-cylinder gas engine is being engineered for the new-age E-Type.
Whether that powerplant would be in addition to Jaguar's conventional 5.0-liter and supercharged 5.0-liter V8s is unknown, as is whether the extended-range XE will make it beyond the concept stage.
Also unclear is whether the electric XE would be in addition to an extended-range electric XJ said to be scheduled for introduction in late 2011 (a year after the conventional XJ's release).
Ratan Tata, whose company bought Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford Motor Company, is said to support the XE's development. His father once owned a Jaguar XK120, and Tata told Autocar earlier this year, "We need to emerge with something shiny and new, which is why we are reprioritizing the roadster right now."
In addition to the Volt, an extended-range electric XJ would likely give the Fisker Karma some competition.
Fisker Karma designer Henrik Fisker, whose nascent car-building company already is planning a volume plug-in hybrid to follow the nearly $90,000 Fisker Karma (right)
, has asked the feds for funding to get it started.
It would be used to finance a U.S. assembly plant and other costs of getting a successor to the Karma off the ground.
The new Fisker plug-in hybrid would be a four-door, probably priced in the $45,000-$60,000 range (Datz describers it as a "higher volume" car, not a mass market car), and would use a modification of the 408-horsepower, twin motor plug-in system developed for the Karma.
Fisker has raised more than $150 million in venture funding for the Karma, but figures his signature plug-in will eat all of that and more.
In today's moribund economy, the federal loan is a necessity if the less-expensive rechargeable hybrid is to be built.
As the once-favored hydrogen highway becomes a mere side road on the route to oil independence with the Obama administration's push for rechargeable hybrid powertrains as the new favored alternative to the conventional gasoline engine, hydrogen pioneer Honda Motor Co. says it, too, will begin to pursue the way of the plug.
In an interview with Bloomberg news last week, Honda Motor Co. President Takeo Fukui said his company still sees hydrogen as the best long-term replacement for gasoline in the effort to slash automotive emissions of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases tied to global arming.
Fukui, who is stepping down in June as part of Honda's regular executive shuffle, has in the past has been outspoken in his disdain for plug-in technology, calling it an unnecessary intermediate step form gasoline to pure electric power.
Honda has developed a hydrogen fuel-cell sedan, the FCX Clarity, that it leases to select customers in a Los Angeles-area test program, and isn't planning to abandon the effort.
But, Fukui said in a Bloomberg news wire article published this morning, the automaker also will accommodate the perceived preference of the U.S. government for plug-in hybrid-electric cars and trucks.
Unlike a conventional gas-electric hybrid that charges its batteries from on-board power sources such as regenerative braking, a plug-in hybrid gets its initial charge from the commercial grid, by "plugging in" to a wall socket or a special rapid-charging station
Plug-ins use larger battery pack than a conventional hybrids. They store enough power to permit the vehicle to be driven for an extended amount of time on all-electric drive before the grid charge is depleted and the gas engine kicks in.
Although others, including General Motors, Mercedes-Benz, Hyundai and Volkswagen are developing fuel-cell vehicles, Honda has been the only major automaker championing hydrogen above other technologies and so far has stayed out of the rapidly developing race to bring plug-ins to market.
While federal support of hydrogen development has all-but evaporated in the U.S., the government is providing billions of dollars for battery development programs and for federal tax credits of up to $7,500 for purchasers of plug-ins.
A pair of green ideas are included in AAA's Top Ten automotive technology picks for 2009 and 2010 models. The nation's largest automobile club highlighted solar roof panels and eco-driving systems, two developments that we've written about in recent months.
Solar roof panels generate power that can be sent to the electric motors that drive the car, be used to power climate controls or simply be stored for future use. Fisker Automotive's Karma luxury hybrid sedan and the 2010 Toyota Prius both incorporate solar roof panels.
The Karma has 20 solar cells in series that convert sunlight into electrical energy. The Prius uses a solar roof to power a fan that draws cooler air into a parked car's interior. That reduces the load on the electrically-powered air conditioning system when the car starts up again.
AAA also listed "Green Driving Assistance," or the technology that helps drivers to obtain maximum fuel efficiency. (When Green Car Advisor wrote about these technologies, we used this headline: "Eco-Driving Systems: Now Your Car Can Gently Nag You Into Being More Fuel-Wise.")
The Ford Fusion hybrid, for example, uses a display screen (above) to show a plant that grows branches and leaves as a car is driven in a fuel-efficient manner. The plant withers as fuel-economy decreases.
It takes a significant amount of green (as in cash) to go green (as in developing a high-end plug-in hybrid vehicle). But raising capital has proven ever more difficult during a global recession that has been coupled with a credit markets meltdown.
That's why Fisker Automotive has issued a news release to crow about receiving $85 million in venture capital funding for the development of its proposed line of high-end, plug-in hybrid automobiles.
"If it weren't for the fact that the [economic] environment is what it is we probably wouldn't have said anything," Datz said. "But we think it speaks volumes for our product and business model that our investors are confident enough with what we've got to make this investment."
Fisker faces a tight schedule. It has said that its first production models of the Karma will roll out late this year. The plug-in hybrid sedan carries an $87,900 base price. Two higher-end models will top out at $104,000 and a convertible also is in the works.
The financing from New York-based Eco-Drive (Capital) Partners LLC and Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers will boost the Irvine-based company's capital "to well over $100 million," company spokesman Russell Datz said Monday afternoon.
Datz said that some might be directed toward marketing, but that most will go toward developing the company's proposed line of plug-in hybrids: "We believe that the most important thing is getting the vehicle done."
Though Kleiner Perkins has become synonymous with venture capital funding, we were unable to find out much about New York-based Eco-Drive. Fisker said only that the company is a European-American investment firm with an interest in green ideas.
Fisker recently announced that it is making a large cash investment in Advanced Lithium Power Inc., a Canadian company that will supply it with battery packs. It also announced plans for a nationwide dealership chain.
The high-end Karma is a so-called extended range plug-in that is always propelled by its electric motor, with the gas engine serving only as a generator. Combined travel on a fully charged battery and a tank of gas is 250 miles, the company said.
What good is a green car without a showroom in which to showcase it? And what good is a showroom if it doesn't have attractive vehicles to lure customers?
In what amounts to a marriage of convenience, Fisker Automotive on Tuesday announced the names of 32 existing dealerships nationwide that will display and service the company's planned line of high-end, plug-in hybrids.
The alliances with existing dealerships that sell other models are designed to give Fisker an immediate presence nationwide without the expense of building a dedicated dealer system. That's tough enough to pull off even in a good economy.
In return, dealers who've signed with Fisker hope to get their hands on some attractive vehicles that will drive showroom traffic and spark sales, either of Fisker's cars or the other vehicles on display.
Fisker Automotive
moved its Karma plug-in hybrid (right)
a step closer to production this week, signing a deal for Advanced Lithium Power Inc.
to provide battery packs for the exotic sedan.
The deal,first reported in the Los Angeles Times, involves Fisker making a large cash investment in ALP and taking two seats on the Canadian battery company's board of directors.
Batteries for the Karma will be rated at 22.6 kilowatt-hours, sufficient to propel the car for up to 50 miles before its internal combustion engine would kick on to continue generating electricity.
As a so-called extended range plug-in, the Karma is always propelled by its electric motor, with the gas engine serving only as a generator.
Combined travel on a fully charged battery and a tank of gas is 250 miles, the company said.
The Times also reports that while Fisker still plans to begin production in the fourth quarter, the first customers won't receive their cars until the spring of 2010.
The company, headed by noted auto designer Henrik Fisker, says it has received cash deposits for 1,300 cars and expects to sell 7,500 next year with peak production and sales at 15,000 a year.
Pricing will start at $87,900 with two upgraded versions that will top out at $104,000. Fisker also has said it will build a convertible model but hasn't announced production or price plans.
How much of the price is tied up in the car's batteries isn't being disclosed, but as the newspaper article points out (and we first reported) the 56 kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack in the all-electric Tesla costs $36,000.
Celebrity Exposure Can't Hurt; Tesla Motors Almost Got Former President Clinton Into One of Its Roadsters
Fisker Automotive says it will bring Karma plug-in to market by end of the year.
By Greg Johnson, Contributor
It takes an awful lot of time and money to build and polish a brand. Detroit's Big Three, for example, spent a combined $7.2 billion on advertising during 2008, according to Advertising Age.
So what does tiny Fisker Automotive expect from the short-lived, 60-second spot that began running on KTLA-TV during that station's pre-Oscar broadcast from the red carpet in front of the Kodak Theatre?
"It was primarily to build awareness," Fisker spokesman Russell Datz said of the suitably glitzy commercial that showed the car's sleek lines, emphasized its 0-to-60 in 6 seconds speed and its "eco chic" status.
Hello, Hollywood
"We think that the Karma will be popular with the Hollywood set, so what better way to be associated with those people than by advertising when a relatively large audience will be watching?"
The Karma is Fisker's upcoming $87,900 plug-in hybrid sport sedan. KTLA approached the Irvine-based company about advertising and then co-produced the TV ad that ran twice on Oscar night. The commercial will continue to run on KTLA through today during the station's morning show and late-night news broadcasts.
Two views of Fisker S show car with retractable top down and up. Top slides under rear deck.
When car designer and now auto-maker Henrik Fisker sent word his eponymous Fisker Automotive was preparing a new version of the upcoming Karma plug-in hybrid sport sedan for the North American iInternational Auto Show, the first thought was "Aha! A convertible."
We were right, sort of.
We'd envisioned a ragtop, and what Fisker has unveiled in Detroit this morning is a retractable hardtop version of the Karma, to be called the Karma S -- for "Sunset," not "sedan.".
In addition, Fisker used his press conference at the show to pull the covers off the production version of the Karma sedan, a car he'd introduced as a concept just one year ago at the 2008 Detroit show.
It's really a pre-production model, however, as Fisker Automotive won't start building the cars until late November (actually, Valmet Automotive. a Finnish carbuilder that also assembles cars for Porsche, will be doing the building under contract).
As you can see from the photos at right, the production version (top)
doesn't differ a whole lot from the concept.
Those sweeping curves are expensive to produce in mass assembly, which is why many production models bear little relation to the fabulous concepts from which they sprung.
But it's pretty easy to keep the faith when the only bean counters you have to answer to get your designs into production unmolested are you and our longtime business partner.
The Fisker Karmas are what have come to be called extended-range EVs but more accursately are series hybrids with rechargeable batteries.
They use a medium-size lithium-ion battery pack that can be charged up from a household outlet to provide the day's initial power - the cars can run up to 50 miles on juice form the batteries alone, Fisker says.
If the trip is longer than that, a small internal combustion engine kicks on, not to power the wheels directly but to generate electricity that keeps the electric drive motors turning the wheels.
There are two of those motors, and Fisker claims that together they pump out 403 horsepower.
The original Karma has been priced at $87,900. We imagine the "S," with all of its fancy top-retracting hardware and electronics, will be a few thousand more.
(Note: Article updated after initial posting to include Lexus hybrid)
The upcoming North American International Auto Show in snowy Detroit - media preview days begin Sunday and the show opens to the public on Jan. 17 - is likely to be a pretty glum affair, what with the auto industry imploding and the prospect of many people really being interested in buying a new car right now ranking right up there with being interested in having wisdom teeth pulled sans anesthesia.
But carmakers are trying, and what most are trying hardest with is fuel efficiency and alternatives to the thirsty, greenhouse-gas spewing cars and trucks of the past.
Oh, there will be speedsters and factory-built hot rods on display at the show - Ford Motor Co., for example, will unveil the 540-horsepower 2010 Shelby GT500 Mustang and Audi will be showing a 525-horsepower, V10-version of its exotic R8 sports car.
But most attention will be focused on advanced technology cars such as the 2010 Prius hybrid (right)
and the battery-electric city car concept that Toyota will show, Honda's Prius-fighting 2009 Insight hybrid and concepts such as the all-electric, plug-in hybrid and fuel -cell electric trio, collectively called Concept Zero, that Mercedes-Benz will unveil.
Beyond the cars, the show's media preview will spotlight industry executives who will be delivering news about their companies' green futures.
Most notably, Toyota is expected to outline its hybrid and electric-vehicle strategies for the next few years and Ford is expected to discuss its plans for a stable of future EVs, starting with a commercial truck it plans to launch in 2010.
Green Car Advsior, along with Edmunds Auto Observer, Edmunds Inside Line and Edmunds.com, will be covering the show 's media days and bringing you timely reports, but we thought we'd also offer a preview today of the major green vehicles that will be displayed and discussed.
Green Preview
So, by manufacturer, here they are:
Audi
Volkswagen's upscale stablemate is expected to announce plans for its upcoming U.S. diesel lineup. So far, the company has said it will launch a 3-liter diesel version of its Q7 SUV (right)
later this year and has broached the possibility of a diesel A4. We'll know more after Audi's Sunday afternoon press conference.
BMW The pride of Bavaria will discuss the X5 and 3-Series diesels it plans to bring to the U.S., perhaps supplying us with some performance and fuel economy numbers as well as a marketing time-line.
Chevrolet
Nothing big here, unless the General decides to announce the upcoming Volt plug-in hybrid's pricing and/or the battery suppliers.
The Chevy vehicle that gets officially introduced at the show is the redesigned 2010 Equinox crossover (right), which will come with a new six-speed automatic and a fuel-efficient, direct-injection four-banger expected to deliver 182 horsepower (almost as much as the '08 model's base V6) and highway fuel economy of 30 miles per gallon.
Chrysler The company has three brands that it has tied together for car show purposes with a trio of concept electric vehicles.
Those to be displayed in Detroit are further refined versions of the Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep EVs originally unveiled last September and first shown publicly at the Los Angeles International Auto Show in November.
By brand, they are the Chrysler EV, an extended-range electric version of the town and Country minivan; the Jeep EV, a gas-electric Wrangler; and the Dodge EV, a Lotus-based, bumblebee-striped battery-electric sports car that would look great in the garage next to an electric Tesla Roadster.
Chrysler has said that it will bring one of the cars to market in 2010, but hasn't said which or in what kind of numbers. Maybe that's what we'll hear at the show.
Fisker
The nascent plug-in-hybrid company headed by, and named for, noted auto designer Henrik Fisker (BMW, Aston Martin, Fisker Coachbuild), will show the production version of it first proposed vehicle, the Fisker Karma sports sedan (right)
that it unveiled to great interest at last year's Detroit show. Fisker also will unveil a new version - a convertible, we suspect - caled the Karma S.
Like the Chevy Volt, the Karma uses an on-board internal combustion engine to generate power to keep its electric motors turning the wheels.
Ford We expect a discussion of the company's electric vehicle strategy, perhaps with a teaser glimpse or two of potential future offerings and a look at the commercial truck the company has said it will launch in 2010.
Honda
The news here will be the unveiling of the production version 2009 Insight hybrid (right)
, a sub $20,000, five-seater Honda hopes will finally, finally, pump its hybrid sales up into Prius territory.
We're expected to hear a lot of technical detail and, perhaps, even a firmer price for the car, which looks in pictures a bit like the Prius it's designed to battle.
Lexus Toyota's luxury unit will reveal its first stand-alone hybrid model, a small car that is based off the upcoming 2010 Prius.
Although it is not unusual - its pretty common, even - for photos of new models to leak out before their official unveiling, the best we've been able to come up with for the new Lexus hybrid is this rendering (left) published in a Japanese auto magazine a few months ago.
Mercedes-Benz The covers will come off a trio of EV concepts from Daimler's luxe brand. All use the same swoopy, sport wagon-ish body (below right) - a design that also shows where Mercedes is heading with the compact B-Class replacement due in 2010 and, perhaps, headed for the U.S.
The so-called Concept Zero family consists of the E-Cell, a battery-electric with a range of about 60 miles; the E-Cell Plus, a plug-in hybrid that uses a 3-cylinder gas engine-generator to extend the range of its batteries when the initial charge is depleted (think Chevy Volt), and the F-Cell, which uses a hydrogen fuel-cell to produce electricity on-board by combining hydrogen and oxygen in the fuel-cell stack. Range is about 125 miles. Mercedes says the E-Cell Plus can go almost 400 miles on an overnight battery charge and a tank of gas.
Toyota The company whose name has become synonymous with 'hybrid" is introducing the redesigned 2010 Prius at the show, but photos of the car leaked out weeks ago and you've got to believe that anyone who's interested has already seen it. What will be news, of course, are the specifications and performance numbers.
The other biggie on the product front from Toyota will be the unveiling of a concept electric vehicle, probably called the FT-EV if the company's previous auto show naming practices prevail (that would stand for "future technology-electric vehicle").
The car, believed to be built on a current Toyota subcompact chassis, is the company's effort to give us a look at what a Toyota-built battery-electric EV for short-range urban driving might look like if the company does, as it has said it would, put an EV into its retail fleet in 2012.
Not The End
And, of course - Detroit being Detroit - there likely will be a surprise or two. So consider this list a starter, not a definitive catalog.
China's BYD, for instance, will be there with the plug-in-hybrid (left)
it launched in its home market a few weeks ago, beating the big boys like GM and Toyota to the punch by a matter of, oh, a year or two. Who knows what the company - whose name is an acronym for Build Your Dreams and whose future is being backed by investment whiz Warren Buffett - will do next? We might find out as the Detroit show rolls along.
We'll be back when media days begin on Sunday to keep you up-to-date.
The fledgling Southern California plug-in-hybrid manufacturer says it will be introducing a new concept car at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit next week, along with the production version of the Fisker Karma.
Fisker Automotive isn't providing much more info - just the design detail shot shown here (left) and word that the new "Karma S," (it stands for "Sunset"), will use the same plug-in series hybrid powertrain as the original Karma, which debuted a year ago at the 2008 Detroit show.
Hmmmm. Wonder if the Sunset might be the Karma convertible that company CEO and designer Henrik Fisker (right) was talking up way back in February?
But we digress.
Back to the powertrain: that would be the system designed for Fisker by Quantum Technologies.
The automaker claims it can deliver up to 50 miles of range on a single charge of its lithium-ion battery pack before an internal combustion engine-generator takes over to continue producing juice that drives a pair of electric motors delivering up to 408 horsepower.
Fisker Automotive, which has designed and plans to manufacture an exotic plug-in hybrid sport sedan, has been awarded $1.14 million in legal fees and costs from electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla Motors.
Fisker, its principals and an associated company had been sued by Tesla
for allegedly stealing Tesla trade secrets and using them to design its plug-in, the Fisker Karma.
Fisker chief executive Henrik Fisker (right)
, a noted auto designer, had been retained by Tesla in 2006 and 2007 to design a $45,000 battery-electric sedan the company wants to build as a follow-up to its electric sports car, the Tesla Roadster.
The case went to binding arbitration after Tesla filed suit, and Fisker announced last month that the case had been decided in his company's favor, the arbitrator ruling in fairly harsh language that Tesla's allegations were "baseless and neither brought nor pursued in good faith."
Today he released details of the final award: Fisker and the others are to be reimbursed $1.027 million they paid in legal fees defending themselves, and $119,000 in other costs connected with the case.
In his ruling, the arbitrator found that Fisker had been aboveboard in disclosing his plans for a plug-in hybrid to Tesla and that Tesla renewed its contract with him when it knew he was hoping to find financing for such a car.
The suit was filed not because Tesla thought Fisker stole secrets, the arbitrator wrote, but out of anger that the company found financing for its Karma (right)
project despite Tesla's in-house analysis that the project would fail.
That analysis, by the way, was delivered to Tesla's executive board in September, 2007, according to the arbitration report, by Tesla's then-marketing vice president, Darryl Siry.
Siry resigned his position earlier this week over what he called a difference of opinion with company chairman Elon Musk regarding Tesla' strategic plans.
Fisker had no comment today on the final award, and Tesla did not respond to a request for comment but last month, when the verdict was initially announced, said that it disagreed with the decision
but was focused now on the business of producing and delivering Roadsters (left)
.
All we can say is that we wish both of them the best and that we've really seen the end of Tesla vs. Fisker. The world needs more clean car manufacturers, not fewer,and we need them working, not fighting.
Now, with the mainstream U.S. auto industry in disarray and a number of import automakers withdrawing from the 2009 show, which opens its doors in Detroit early next month, Fisker is hoping to generate new buzz with the official production version of the exotic sports sedan.
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Fisker Karma production model (top) is fairly faithful to the concept (bottom) introduced 11 months ago. Major changes appear to include taller roof line and elimination of rear end's "cycle fender" look.
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It may be one of the few upbeat things at the show, where business writers charting the industry's travails may well outnumber auto enthusiast writers during the four-day press preview that begins Jan. 11.
As far as the Karma goes, not much has changed, except for the price, now set at $87,900 instead of the $80,000 "range" the company's been using, and the production date, now set for November 2009 instead of the softer "fourth quarter" that had been tossed around.
Designer and company president Henrik Fisker says the principal difference between concept and production version is a slate of "minor design enhancements made to the exterior."
In addition to an apparent flattening of the rear fender lines and a slight raising of the roof line, those enhancements include an enlarged grill and lower air intake, Fisker said.
He also said the price hike hasn't dimmed enthusiasm for the car (in those circles the $87,900 is likely to be plunked down in cash). More than 1,000 orders have been taken, Fisker said in an interview last month, and production - admittedly low-volume in year one as things ramp-up - is sold out through mid-2010.
EV charger manufacturer Coulomb Technologies, which recently announced that it has orders for 40 of its networked charging stations to be installed along major traffic corridors in California, says it now has established distributorships that cover 28 states with plans to expand into all 50.
Coulomb, headquartered in Northern California, is displaying its wirelessly linked charging stations at the Electric Drive Transportation Assn.'s annual conference in Washington, D.C. this week.
The company's "Smartlet" stations supply current at a variety of voltages for battery-electric and pug-in hybrid vehicles. Station users' would use prepaid accounts that would be debited via a wireless transaction when they access one of the charging stations - unless the station owner has opted, as several have, to deliver the power at no charge.
Coulomb said it will market the stations exclusively through its regional distributors, who now cover the major states in all regions except Texas and the Midwest.
Richard Lowenthal, Coulomb's chief executive, has said that he wants to position the company to have a commercial recharging infrastructure in place when vehicles with rechargeable batteries beginning appearing in the marketplace.
In addition to independents such as Tesla Motors, Miles Electric Vehicles, GEM and Zap that already market electric vehicles, several major and independent automakers, including General Motors, Toyota, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Ford, Mercedes-Benz, Chrysler, BMW, Fisker Automotive and Aptera Motors have announced plans for plug-in hybrids or battery-electric cars that will begin to hit the market -- some for testing, others for retail sales or leasing -- by late next year.
It isn't going to solve GM's financial problems, but it's a start: independent carbuilder Fisker Automotive said it has selected General Motors Corp. to supply the gasoline engine that will be used in the upcoming Fisker Karma plug-in hybrid sports sedan.
The car, unveiled at the Detroit Auto Show 11 monmths ago, is scheduled to go into production late next year, said Fisker CEO Henrik Fisker (right, with Karma concept).
To keep its electric drive system going after the initial battery charge is depleted, the Karma will use a small gas engine as an on-board generator.
The Chevrolet Volt (2010 production) uses a simlar system, which automakers have begun calling a range-extender for electric vehicles.
Henrik Fisker said his company's $80,000 range-extended electric vehicle will use a 2-liter, direct-injection, turbocharged 4-cylinder Ecotec engine from GM's powertrain group as its generator.
He said the company also is considering purchasing "several other additional GM vehicle components to enhance the Karma."
How come?
Well, it was "the fact that it [GM] is already engineering parts for extended-range electric vehicles, and its commitment to helping the environment," Fisker said.
Hmmm...
Perhaps there's a future for the General in the green car parts business, although it would need a lot more customers: Fisker says he's got "more than" 1,000 orders for the Karma so far and expects at peak rto be building 15,000 a year.
Much of the rest of the automotive world may be crumbling, but an independent Southern California firm backed by heavy hitters in the green transportation investment arena looks to be going strong.
Production of the car, expected to list at abut $80,000, is scheduled to begin in the fourth quarter next year.
Valmet is an automotive engineering and manufacturing contractor - it also builds Boxter and Cayman models for Porsche.
The contract wth Fisker calls for for the company to install a new body welding line at its plant in Uusikaupunki, about 150 miles northwest of Helsinki. Valmet also will adapt its existing paint and assembly processes to handle the four-door Karma sports sedan.
The company said in a statement Wednesday that the Fisker contract will provide 500 manufacturing jobs.
Fisker Automotive, developer of an $80,000 plug-in hybrid sports sedan promised for the fourth quarter of 2009, said it has opened an engineering and development center in Pontiac, Mich.
The Southern California-based company, a venture-capital funded company founded by Fisker Coachbuild and Quantum Technologies Worldwide, said the 34,000-square-foot facility will be home to "up to" 200 engineering and designers working on development and production of the company's first vehicle, the Fisker Karma (right).
Fisker's headquarters will remain in Irvine, Calif. and production of the car, as previously announced, will be done in Finland, the company said.
Privately-owned Fisker is stepping in to fill a void being created as the traditional U.S. auto industry undergoes massive shrinkage, a seemingly bottomless slide in sales and subsequently catastrophic financial losses
Layoffs of tens of thousands of auto industry workers in and around Detroit, and the impact carmakers' retrenching has had on components and service suppliers, have created a buyers' market for independents such as Fisker looking to supply vehicles that mainstream automakers can't, or won't.
"The available talent, supplier base and infrastructure in Michigan will help us reach our production goal," said Bernhard Koehler, Fisker Automotive's chief operating officer.
Tesla Motors' chief spokesman said the company disagrees with the findings of a private arbitrator
who ruled late last week that the electric vehicle manufacturer's theft of trade secrets suit against auto designer and potential Tesla competitor Henrik Fisker were "baseless."
"The only comment is [that] we disagree with the decision and are focused on producing and delivering cars to our customers," Tesla marketing vice president Darryl Siry said in an e-mail exchange this morning with Green Car Advisor.
Siry's comment appears to signal an end to Tesla's suit, which was handed over to a private arbitration service under terms of Tesla's contract with Fisker. The EV maker retained the designer last year to help design an electric sedan for Tesla
Tesla later filed a suit claiming that Fisker, his business partner and two Fisker companies had stolen technical secrets and used them to help design the Fisker Karma, a luxury sport sedan with a plug-in hybrid electric drive-train that Fisker Automotive plans to introduce in the fourth quarter of 2009.
Terms of the arbitration decision have not been disclosed.
Tesla -- which recently slowed production of its battery-electric Roadster and laid off almost 25 percent of its workforce because of a cash crunch -- was seeking return of $800,000 paid to Fisker for his design services and now, at the least, is likely to be ordered to pay all of the legal costs incurred by Fisker in defending against the suit.
Acclaimed car designer Henrik Fisker (right)
said Sunday that a private arbiter has dismissed electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla Motors Co.'s claim that Fisker, his partner and his companies stole its technology and tried to sabotage its development program.
Tesla earlier this year sued the designer and his business partner, Bernhard Koehler, and the companies Fisker Coachbuild and Fisker Automotive over alleged theft of trade secrets.
The arbitrator's ruling, according to a statement issued by Fisker, called Tesla's suit "baseless" and said it was not filed in good faith.
The case was not being heard in a regular court but had been sent to arbitration under a contractual agreement that called for any disputes to be resolved via the private hearing process.
Tesla, based in Northern California near Stanford University, is the manufacturer of the battery-electric Tesla Roadster and had hired Henrik Fisker, former head designer in the U.S. for BMW and Aston Martin, to help it with a second vehicle, an electric sedan code-named the Model S.
After parting company with Tesla late last year, Fisker -- whose Fisker Coachbuild specializes in redesigning and fabricating reskinned versions of mass-market luxury performance cars for well-to-do clients -- announced that he was preparing to introduce an all-new plug-in electric hybrid sedan.
Plug-in hybrid developer Fisker Automotive Inc.
said this morning that it has raised $65 million in capital in a new financing round led by an affiliate of the Qatar Investment Authority
, an arm of the oil-rich emirate of Qatar.
The year-old company said the funding, completed on Sept. 4, will be used to help develop its first car, the Fisker Karma (left)
.
The $80,000, four-door, plug-in hybrid sports coupe was designed by company chief executive and co-founder Henrik Fisker (left)
, chairman of Fisker Coachbuild
and a leading Aston Martin and BMW designer before striking out on his own.
It initially was shown as a production concept
at the Detroit Auto Show in January.
Fisker, who declined to reveal the totals of two previous financing rounds, said previous Fisker Automotive's investors Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers
and Palo Alto Investors
also participated in the just-completed round.
Both are known as backers of "green" technologies.
The Karma's rechargeable hybrid-electric drive system was designed by company co-founder Quantum Fuel System Technologies Worldwide
, which claims it has been field tested for more than three years in development trials for the U.S. military.
Fisker Automotive maintains that the Karma will be a series hybrid, the same type of system employed in Chevrolet's upcoming Volt.
It will be capable of a top speed of 125 miles an hour and of up to 50 miles of all-electric travel at legal highway speeds on an initial battery charge from the commercial grid, the company has said.
After that, a gasoline engine/generator would kick in to continue powering the electric drive motor while recharging the lithium-ion batteries for another 50-mile round of all-electric drive. Repeating the cycle could keep the car traveling for several hundred miles on a single tank of fuel.
Henrik Fisker has said that initial deliveries of the Karma are expected to commence in the fourth quarter of 2009 and today said he expected annual production to grow to 15,000 vehicles a year.
The company recently announced
that the car is to be built by Finland's Valmet Automotive, which also produces Porsche's Boxer and Cayman models.
With established rent-a-car companies reporting that they are having trouble meeting customer demand for fuel-efficient vehicles, a Southern California company has begun renting nothing but hybrid vehicles.
Business has been brisk at Eqocar in Burbank since it opened its doors three months ago, General Manager Nick Hamed told Green Car Advisor today. Hamed said Eqocar, which rents only hybrid vehicles, is in talks to open four more rental-car centers, all in California.
Eventually, the company would like to expand nationwide, Hamed said.
Eqocar has a fleet of 45 hybrids, which include the Toyota Prius, Camry and Highlander hybrids, Ford Escape Hybrid, Lexus LS600h L, GMC Yukon and Chevrolet Tahoe hybrids, and the Nissan Altima hybrid. Daily rates range from $59 for the Prius to $650 for the LS600h L.
There are plans to add the extended-range plug-in electric Chevrolet Volt, hybrid versions of the Smart Fortwo, Chrysler Aspen, Cadillac Escalade, and Porsche Cayenne and Panamera, as well as the Tesla and Fisker plug-in sports cars and the bubbled-faced three-wheel Aptera to the rental fleet, Hamed said.
The Aptera is reminiscent of vehicles appearing in The Jetsons, a futuristic cartoon series produced during 1962 and '63.
Lithium Ion battery packs being tested in U.S. at Argonne National Laboratory.
We don't think this is one of those signs and portents that mark the impending end of the world, but it does seem a near miracle: Several Japanese automakers, battery developers and power companies reportedly have agreed to work together to establish a global standard for lithium-ion batteries.
If you can remember back to the late 1990s and early 2000s and the days of the EV1, Nissan Altra, Toyota RAV4 EV and other first-generation electric vehicles built in extremely limited numbers to meet California's then-new Zero Emissions Vehicles mandate, you'll also remember that there were several types of batteries in use and two competing charging systems required.
That added more complexity and cost to an already complex and costly new-vehicle development program and helped hasten the demise of hopes for a vast fleet of readily available, affordable and easy-to-charge EVs.
A global standard, which means - among other things - that all battery systems would be designed to use the use the same recharging system, is one of the things needed if there is to be any chance of bringing back the battery-electric vehicle in a meaningful way.
The first-ever international conference dedicated exclusively to plug-in electric hybrid technology will be held in California's Silicon Valley next week.
"Plug-In 2008: A Short Drive to Tomorrow" takes place July 21-24 in San Jose. The event is open to anyone and on-site registration is available.
Admission isn't cheap, with full access to the conference starting at $250 for students with ID, but everyone who's anyone in the PHEV world will be there. Among the attendees:
Senior representatives from the automakers, high-tech component manufacturers, electric utilities, state and federal government.
Exhibitors who will showcase the latest innovations associated with PHEVs and supporting electricity infrastructure.
Scientists who will share current technical research on PHEVs in areas including batteries, powertrains and vehicle to home technology.
Analysts who will discuss the business case for PHEVs, including potential adoption scenarios, customer segments and profit potential.
Policymakers who will explain how regulations impact PHEVs and the electricity grid, and how future rules may accelerate PHEV adoption.
Clean-tech entrepreneurs who will outline their ideas to expand the PHEV market with new technologies for vehicles and communication systems.
California-based Fisker Automotive has signed a letter of intent with Valmet Automotive to assemble the Karma plug-in gas-electric hybrid sports car in Finland beginning next year, Valmet announced today.
Under the agreement, Valmet will start production of the Fisker Karma -- the first production car of the Irvine, Calif., company -- in the fourth quarter of 2009, with delivery to North America the same year and to Europe in 2010.
The value of the deal was not disclosed. Valmet currently produces Porsche Boxster and Cayman models and has produced vehicles for Saab, Renault, Lada, Talbot and Opel.
Privately held Fisker said it plans to produce up to 15,000 cars a year at the Uusikaupunki plant, which employs about 800 staff and is located 150 miles northwest of Helsinki.
That's the message a judge sent Tesla Motors Co.
this week when he agreed with Fisker Automotive
that the dispute between the electric-car companies should be decided in arbitration. Tesla sued
Fisker Automotive, CEO Henrik Fisker, a related design business and another executive April 14 in San Mateo Superior Court, alleging theft of trade secrets and poor design work – allegations Fisker denied two weeks later
...
When General Motors unveiled its Volt plug-in hybrid (or extended range electric) vehicle concept last year, GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz said the carmaker hoped to bring it to market as a $30,000 car.
Then the inevitable price escalation began as GM came to grips with battery development costs and rising commodity prices for little things like the steel needed to build a car. At one point, the potential price being tossed about was upward of $50,000.
Now word comes that GM is talking $40,000 without federal tax credits.
But with alternative vehicle tax credits, which the General is lobbying for right now, the cost could wind up closer to $30,000.
It's turning into a banner year for hybrid and other green car news.
After all the Honda hoopla this morning, word leaks out that Toyota will debut the next-generation Prius, expected to be longer, lower and more powerful, but not radically different-looking, at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show with a sales launch slated for later in the year.
If that's not enough, Toyota's luxury marque, Lexus, is believed to be considering two new hybrids of its own, one of them a premium-priced version of that new Prius, the other a midsize crossover utility vehicle.
We don't intend to make a habit of writing about every twist and turn in the Tesla vs. Fisker trade secrets lawsuit, but because of the high level of interest in both of the electric car companies thought we ought to let you know that Fisker is seeking to toss the whole thing into arbitration.
That would take the case out of the courtroom, limit public access and likely result in a sealed settlement. It also could save both sides considerable time and, possibly, money.
Tesla would not comment when contacted today.
Southern California-based Fisker Automotive filed its arbitration request Tuesday in a Northern California court, near Tesla Motors Co. headquarters.
A lightly "disguised" Karma on the test track, in photo provided by the company.
Prototype models of the Fisker Karma plug-in hybrid have exceeded performance expectations in early testing, the companies behind the car said Tuesday.
Fisker Automotive
and Quantum Technologies
, both located in Irvine, Calif., said that three Karma prototypes have been built and are undergoing electric-powertrain testing at an undisclosed Southern California track that appears to be a leased test site at the former El Toro Marine Corps Air Station.
"The vehicle dynamics and fuel economy have performed better than expected and we remain on target for our fourth quarter 2009 initial delivery," Henrik Fisker, CEO of Fisker Automotive, said in a prepared statement.
Plug-in hybrids are seen by many, including Magna, as the next great frontier.
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
Another entry in the plug-in hybrid race, this time from a competitor with really powerful potential.
Magna International
, the top-tier Canadian auto parts maker, says it will roll out a plug-in car late next year or in 2010.
So as not to foul relationships with the major automakers that it already supplies with scores of parts, Magna says it won't sell a competing plug-in but will sell them the bits and pieces needed to make their own.
In markets where its customers don't sell cars, though, Magna intends to field a complete plug-in under its own brand.
The company, which reported $26.1 billion in sales and a $663 million net profit last year, is serious about becoming a car maker.
Ford is among the companies working on plug-in gas-electric hybrids.
In a bid to promote plug-in hybrid development, the University of California's Davis campus is cosponsoring what it calls the world's first international conference on plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.
The confab, to be held July 22-24 in San Jose, California, appears to be in response to California's recent endorsement of plug-in technology in the revision of its controversial Zero Emission Vehicles (ZEV) Mandate.
He waited almost two weeks, but Fisker Automotive's Henrik Fisker finally has responded to a lawsuit by electric roadster maker Tesla Motors that accuses him of stealing company secrets.
Didn't do it, he says in a press release issued this morning. Specifically, he called the Tesla suit "nonsense."
We said when Tesla filed its suits last week that it looked like the opening of a new era as formerly cooperative EV developers finally see a market opportunity and begin battling one another for a piece of the pie.
That's born out in Fisker's response to the suit, which doesn't open with the denial but instead with the statement that his company "is on track for delivery of the Fisker Karma" in the fourth quarter of next year.
Only after getting in that little bit of marketing news did Fisker acknowledge and respond to Tesla's suit.
Henrik Fisker, showing concept car to prospective investors earlier this year.
By Scott Doggett, Contributor
The once-collegial world of alternative-fuel automobiles seems to be entering a new and highly competitive phase as interest in hybrids and electric vehicles grows.
The latest sign that the era of cooperation is ending came Monday as Tesla Motors, maker of the only highway-capable production electric car for sale in the United States, filed a lawsuit against competitor Fisker Automotive, its chief executive, Henrik Fisker, its chief operating officer, Bernhard Koehler, and their design company, Fisker Coachbuild, for allegedly stealing some of Tesla's design ideas and trade secrets.
A spokesman for Fisker Automotive said today that the company had "no comment at this time."
Fisker Karma plug-in hybrid created stir at its Detroit Auto Show debut.
Fledgling hybrid carmaker Fisker Automotive said it has signed its first European distributor and reiterated plans to begin delivering production models of its exotic, $80,000 Fisker Karma plug-in hybrid sport coupe by the end of next year.
Southern California-based Fisker intends to build about 15,000 cars annually and anticipated that more than half its sales will be in overseas markets where company chief executive Henrik Fisker, a longtime top designer with BMW and Aston Martin, is a well-known automotive industry figure.
Fisker retail development director Vic Doolan, former president of the North American operations of both BMW and Volvo Cars, said the company is talking to potential North American dealers in more than 40 market regions...
In a deal aimed at bringing Fisker Automotive's exotic plug-in hybrid concept to reality, the fledgling automaker has granted joint venture partner Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide a $14.5 million program to further develop Quantum’s proprietary Q-Drive hybrid system.
The contract, announced today by Quantum, is intended to ready the Q-Drive plug-in system for the Fisker Karma four-door sport sedan production model. The concept was unveiled last month at the Detroit auto show.
Designer Henrik Fisker and his no longer secret plug-in hybrid convertible.
Just a month after unveiling the curvaceous Fisker Karma plug-in hybrid concept that rocked the Detroit Auto Show, auto designer-car maker Henrik Fisker is showing around a convertible based on the same platform and hybrid-electric powertrain.
Fisker, chief executive of the eponymous Fisker Automotive in Irvine, Calif., showed a rendering of the unnamed convertible at a recent J.D.Power industry roundtable in San Francisco.
He tells Green Car Advisor that the photo (above) now making the rounds of automotive websites wasn't supposed to have been taken and doesn't represent what the convertible will actually look like.
"This was a meeting for some new car dealers and nobody was supposed to take any pictures," Fisker said. "but someone did…It's not anything like the way the car will finally look. It was just a preliminary concept drawing."
Still, it does show, and Fisker confirms, that he intends to have a convertible that future dealers can show next to the Karma sedan. There's also likely to be a coupe, if the business really does get off the ground.
Fisker Karma plug-In hybrid concept drew crowds at Detroit Auto Show.
By Scott Doggett, Contributor
Wannabe green-car makers can compete with the big boys like never before, but success – for start ups and established automakers alike -- depends on alternative vehicles that not only are more eco-friendly than gas rides, but are more appealing in other ways, says Henrik Fisker, chairman of Fisker Automotive.
It's not enough that the vehicles of tomorrow be easier on the environment than today's vehicles, but they must be "so desirable and so exciting that people simply go out and buy them," Fisker told a full house Wednesday during a sustainability summit at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, Calif.
The former top BMW and Aston Martin designer said his own experience with a plan for a new plug-in hybrid called the Karma has proved to him that there's a market for upscale eco-friendly cars and a lot of investors willing to back their production.
Fisker Karma sports slinky body and powerful plug-in hybrid system.
Ferrari's ethanol 430 Spider made a splash, as did Audi's concept of stuffing its race-winning V12 diesel engine into the R8 supercar. But for our money the eco-friendly exotic that wins the green trophy at this year's North American International Auto show is the "eco-chic" Karma from Fisker Automotive.
The sexy four-seat, four-door coupe unveiled at the show this afternoon is a plug-in gas-electric hybrid that company president Henrik Fisker, a former top BMW and Aston Martin designer, says will top out at 125 miles per hour, hit 60 in under 6 seconds, and deliver up to 50 miles of all-electric travel at highway speeds on an overnight charging of its hefty lithium-ion battery pack.
That makes the Karma a heck of a lot greener than the cars from Ingolstadt and Maranello, and its starting price of $80,000 makes it a heck of a lot cheaper.
Fisker Automotive's exotic plug-in hybrid is one of the show's green offerings.
It's Sunday, kickoff day for the press preview of the North American International Auto Show and we're here in Detroit, struggling to get an overcoat on before heading out to chip the ice off the windshield and cursing the wife for her cheerful telephone reminder that it's supposed to be 80-degrees at home today.
Used to be that heading for this show supercharged the brain's anticipatory centers, but this year it seems a bit ho-hum.
There' still good stuff, especially on the green car front, but several industry insiders have suggested in recent weeks as we pondered the show schedule together that the newly rejuvenated Los Angeles Auto Show, which now takes place in November instead of just days before Detroit, has stolen some of the thunder.
Or maybe it's the economy – the U.S. auto industry hasn't been all that healthy of late.
Whatever the reason, while there's enough here this year to make it worthwhile attending, there's not enough to get the salivary glands working overtime.
On the green front, much of what we'll be seeing is concept, not stuff that will hit the road this year.
We are expecting some announcements from Toyota about its hybrid and fuel economy strategies, and from the American Le Mans Racing series about further adoption of green technologies and fuels for racing. General Motors is expected to have something to say about its drive to make ethanol a bigger part of the U.S. fuel supply base.
Egads! First there were only the econobox models: Honda's two-seat Insight and the first-generation Toyota Prius. Now there are more than half-a-dozen hybrid sedans and SUVs and more coming.
Even the luxury market is becoming crowded, giving dual meaning to the term "green car."
Toyota's Lexus brand kicked off the luxe hybrid segment with its Lexus RX 400h crossover SUV...
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It's not often automakers get noticed for doing something good, so we though we'd bring this tidbit about car designer-turned builder Henrik Fisker to your attention as a break from our usual Firday fare. 
The $88,000 Karma, which initially will be built in Finland while Fisker readies a former GM plant in Delaware for production in 2012 of line of less-expensive, "family-oriented" plug-in hybrid sedans, is slated to begin arriving for customer delivery in mid-2010.
