Fisker Karma Hybrid

[Gripenfelter]

Fisker Automotive is the new kid on the block, following Tesla and Venturi into the 'green' premium segment. The Tesla Roadster already went into production and yesterday news came that Europe will also see some of the in-high-demand green roadster. The Fisker Karma is a four seater plug-in hybrid premium sports sedan and stunned many Americans at the 2008 NAIAS as well as Europeans at Geneva. There are no official performance specifications green sports sedan available yet, but Fisker Automotive have claimed a sub 6 second 0-100 km/h time, 200 km/h top speed and max torque available from stand still. The Fisker Karma is expected to cost about USD 80,000, a European price has not been announced but if we follow Tesla's example we end up with a price tag of about Euro 80,000 excluding taxes. Karma Automotive hopes to build 15,000 Karma's annually with first deliveries starting in the United States in the fourth quarter of 2009. Fisker expects to export 50% of their cars to primarely Europe and has appointed their first European importer today, Fisker Italia in Italy. Fisker hopes to have retail representation in 44 states in the USA."We are thrilled at the interest Fisker Automotive is receiving in North America and particularly abroad," said Fisker Automotive Board Member and Director of Retail Development, Vic Doolan. "Fisker Italia is an elite international importer, and they demonstrate the resounding demand for 'style without sacrifice' we are receiving in both North American retail markets and abroad."

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[Gripenfelter]

Tesla Motors sues competitor alleging theft of trade secrets
By TERENCE CHEA Associated Press Writer
Article Launched: 04/15/2008 05:14:36 PM PDT


SAN FRANCISCO—Tesla Motors Inc., a Silicon Valley company that makes electric cars, has filed suit against a competing company and its founders alleging they stole trade secrets to design a competing vehicle.

San Carlos-based Tesla recently started shipping its first vehicle, a two-door electric sports car called the Tesla Roadster, which has generated excitement among environmentalists and auto enthusiasts.

Last year, the company hired Fisker Coachbuild LLC, a well-known automotive design firm founded by Henrik Fisker and Bernhard Koehler, to help design the body and interior of Tesla's next vehicle, known as project White Star, a four-door sports sedan with a hybrid-electric engine.

In the lawsuit filed Monday in San Mateo County Superior Court, Tesla claims that Fisker and Koehler fraudulently accepted the design contract to gain access to Tesla's trade secrets and proprietary engineering and design information so they could develop their own hybrid sports sedan.

In a statement Tuesday, Fisker said, "We believe that the allegations set forth in the complaint are without merit and intend to defend ourselves vigorously."

Tesla paid Fisker Coachbuild about $800,000 for its design services last year, but Tesla officials said the styling work was "substandard" and decided last fall not to use it, according to the lawsuit.

Then Fisker Automotive Inc., an Irvine-based company founded by Fisker and Koehler, announced in January that it was developing a luxury hybrid sports sedan called the Fisker Karma, which Tesla claims has similar specifications to White Star.

Tesla claims the defendants concealed the fact that they were working on a competing vehicle while working on the design contract, said Adam Belsky, an attorney for Tesla.

Fisker "was privvy to a lot of highly confidential information that obviously he would never have been exposed to if Tesla knew he was a competitor," Belsky said. "Tesla believes in competition as long as it's fair and ethical, but what Fisker did is not fair and not ethical."

The lawsuit against Fisker, Koehler, Fisker Coachbuild and Fisker Automotive seeks punitive damages and an injunction to bar the defendants from using Tesla trade secrets and proprietary information to develop a competing vehicle.

[rusich]

Hopefully I live long enough to see the majority of cars on the road powered be electric motors.

[treg50]

Nice exterior for a full sized 4-door. But woah that interior is... something. It looks inspired by a futuristic cell-phone and Tron... and K.I.T.T. ... from the 80's...

[jsn]

^^ yea the buttons remind me of a Motorola RAZR or something

[Euro_Trash]

The grill made me barf

[soupey]

looks similar to my phone's buttons, haha

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[403Gemini]

Originally posted by jsn
^^ yea the buttons remind me of a Motorola RAZR or something

i was thinking this exact same thing

[sputnik]

I will be more impressed when they have a car that actually has a drive train and is more than just a mock-up.

[pattyt]

Did anyone see stealth mode? Thats just pure pump lol

[Hakkola]

Originally posted by rusich
Hopefully I live long enough to see the majority of cars on the road powered be electric motors.

Yeah, then we can feel like we're helping the environment driving electric cars in a province with hardly any green electricity.

[01RedDX]

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[Eleanor]

Originally posted by 01RedDX


Current electric vehicle technology allows for the equivalent of 200 mpg fuel economy, so it doesn't matter where the electricity comes from.

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[A790]

Originally posted by Eleanor


:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:
What's funny about that? The Tesla Roadster gets the equivilant of 145 mpg. I'd rather drive one of those and "help the environment" than a pissy 50 mpg smart car.

Besides, it's not hard to load up alternative energy sources, we just don't want to.

[iceburns288]

If I owned a fully electric car, the energy charging it would come from coal power stations. Coal is pretty gross shit.

[Eleanor]

Originally posted by A790

What's funny about that? The Tesla Roadster gets the equivilant of 145 mpg. I'd rather drive one of those and "help the environment" than a pissy 50 mpg smart car.

Besides, it's not hard to load up alternative energy sources, we just don't want to.

He said it doesn't matter where the electricity comes from, when clearly it does. I'm going to make a "clean" vehicle and run in on virgin blood.

And yes, it is hard to load up on alternative fuels, because they're costly. Everybody bitches about gas prices, but it's still cheaper than solar, wind etc.

[01RedDX]

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[Xtrema]

Originally posted by Eleanor
And yes, it is hard to load up on alternative fuels, because they're costly. Everybody bitches about gas prices, but it's still cheaper than solar, wind etc.

If the new battery can be charged to 80% under 5mins at a gas station. I don't see why this can't be an alternative form.

Electric sucks right now because you need to charge it for 8hrs for a daily trip with severe distance limitation. But if 80% charge can go 400-500km, it may be possible to find the next charging station.

The question is, most city is already experiencing brown out on peak usage. And they are not going to invest in upgrading capacity if they can't charge shit load for it. The mean it will cost more to run our appliances and computers.

In end, until we run out of oil, the current state is the best.

[A790]

Originally posted by Eleanor


He said it doesn't matter where the electricity comes from, when clearly it does. I'm going to make a "clean" vehicle and run in on virgin blood.

And yes, it is hard to load up on alternative fuels, because they're costly. Everybody bitches about gas prices, but it's still cheaper than solar, wind etc.
LOL.

Until we can create gasoline/disel powered vehicles that achieve the same mileage, regardless of where the energy comes from, it's better for the environment.

[finboy]

hot car, and interior

[Eleanor]

Originally posted by 01RedDX
It takes 10X less fossil fuel to operate these vehicles. It's a simple concept.

It's not a simple concept. If it was so simple, auto manufacturers would all be making electric cars right now. You honestly think that vehicle manufacturers aren't making electric vehicles cause big bad oil companies are threatening them? No way, it's cause it isn't economical to produce green vehicles yet. Everyone wants to be earth-friendly as long as it doesn't affect their pocketbook. Everyone applauds the Prius but no one wants to fork over $30,000 for a damn Toyota.

It may take less fossil fuels to run the vehicle, however this is not including manufacturing and disposal costs. It's not very environmentally friendly to be creating thousands of lithium batteries. Ask any of the miners pulling the metal from the ground at the strip mines. As for what to do with them after they've been used up, what are we going to do with them? Throw them in a landfill and wreck our ground water with lithium particles?


Originally posted by A790
LOL.

Until we can create gasoline/disel powered vehicles that achieve the same mileage, regardless of where the energy comes from, it's better for the environment.

See above.

[01RedDX]

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[Eleanor]

Originally posted by 01RedDX


I am not talking about hybrids. I am talking about readily available electric vehicle technology. It takes less resources to produce them, and it takes less resources to run them. End of story.

What do you think these electric vehicles have in them for energy storage? Unicorn tears?

[01RedDX]

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[Eleanor]

Originally posted by 01RedDX
It's not like conventional vehicles have batteries or other hazardous materials in them. Not to mention the amount of CO2 and other pollutants and particulates they will produce during their lifetime. You certainly will have to do much better than regurgitating second-hand information when you deride the benefits of electric power.

But what do I know, I am an environmentalist who lives on Lollypop Lane and rides his unicorn to work.

I'm not saying that cars don't have any hazardous materials in them, however there is a lot more hazardous products in hybrids and electric cars. Of course I'm going to be giving out second hand information, it's not like I'm the one in the lab wasting my life trying to prove global warming exists. I'd like to see you rebut my arguments without second hand information.

BTW, I never said that electric or hybrid cars are worse for the environment then traditional cars, you just mentioned that it doesn't matter where the electricity comes from, I'm sick of hearing that "electric cars are zero-emissions with zero negative repercussions," or "electric cars will solve all of our problems." They won't.

[01RedDX]

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