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Valmet Automotive, based in Finland, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Fisker Automotive to build the Fisker Karma . With this announcement, we also get further details surrounding the hybrid luxury sports car: According to Valmet CEO, Ilpo Korhonen, the Karma, which we have seen testing before , will be capable of traveling 50 MPH before the engine kicks in to charge the batteries. It has a maximum all-electric range of 62 miles, and the starting price tag for the US may be bumped up an extra five grand to $85,000. galleryPost('FiskerKarmaDetroitExt', 3, 'Fisker Karma At The Detroit Auto Show'); 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)]
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When we heard that Th!nk was coming to America our cynicism censors immediately lit up. Is this the same Th!nk that failed here before , went bankrupt , had their electric bike recalled and has annoying punctuation in their name? Yes. But they got that sweet sweet Kleiner Perkins VC money, right? True, that money has yet to produce a commercially successful car. The interesting history of all that below. 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...
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This week we heard about a couple of lawsuits mythical electric sports car almost-manufacturer Tesla has managed to get tied up in. The first one saw Magna suing Tesla for breach of contract over its transmission design, the other was Tesla going medieval on Fisker for allegedly stealing designs associated with the Tesla Whitestar Hybrid for its Fisker Karma Hybrid . Well Popular Mechanics has gone out and consulted a lawyer-type about the guts of these lawsuits and what the likely outcomes of the twin tussles might be. We just want the slap fights to be over. [ Poular Mechanics ]
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Despite a convincing introduction of the Fisker Karma luxury hybrid this week, some of the most unbridled optimists on our Rolodex are whispering the techie's ultimate damnation: it's vaporware . Maybe they're jaded by the reported troubles at Tesla , especially on the heels of such a massive inflow of gushing page-inches and personal salivation (remember, of course, their story isn't over until some fat Chapter 11 attorney sings). Nonetheless, we talked for a bit with Alan Niedzwiecki, CEO of Quantum Technologies, maker of the Q DRIVE series-hybrid system powering Henrik Fisker's luxury sedan. 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...
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What happens when you pair up a design and coachbuilding firm with an alternative-energy startup? We're not sure yet, but a joint venture is on between Quantum Technologies and Fisker Coachbuild, a company founded by former Aston Martin and BMW designer...
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