Karma Revero – that’s the name of the new Fisker-based Karma Automotive product. It is based on the Fisker Karma and, as the manufacturer says, will feature solar panels that are able to actually power the car.
If you remember, a couple of years ago, Fisker Automotive has been acquired by Chinese company Wanxiang Group, and aims to be a somewhat direct competitor to Tesla. Well, maybe except for the fact that even the new Karma Revero, just like its descendant, will be a hybrid, and not a full electric vehicle.
Even more, the company now capitalizes on minor details such as the infotainment system and the hand-painted badges: “Consider it a small but symbolic statement about craftsmanship and individuality […] Our new infotainment system represents a departure from the norm. It is simple, intuitive, and beautiful. If you like a 200 page supplement to the owner’s manual to describe your infotainment system, look elsewhere.”
Wow, the infotainment system is a really important issue all the other carmakers, including Tesla, don’t know how to handle. And, oh, that 200-page book you have to read to get those things going… is unnerving.
What are these people thinking? Eveyone’s electrifying their fleet, and suddenly a ghost comes out of its coffin with, again, a gasoline-powered engine in its specs? That was fit for 2011, and is still fit for companies like BMW or Mercedes, but even they have all-electric versions of their cars, and they’re not a company that has one shot to give everything it’s got!
It is beautiful, indeed, but all in all, it’s still no match for the Tesla.
And, really, how they found a relatively small solar panel to power a car that heavy is something which still puzzles me.
The Karma Revero will be launched in Laguna Beach, CA, on September 8. They’ll start accepting pre-orders that very same day. I’m a skeptic right now but we’ll see. Wish it were true.
via autoblog
Oh great, so how do they call it when they file 2 failures in a row? A Chapter 22?
I agree we don’t need yet another gas-powered sports car, especially one that furiously looks like a Tesla… What I need is something useful, like a 100% electric van to deliver food from the countryside to the city, and some shop deliveries on the way back. Unfortunately, that does not exist yet, so I am stuck with diesel. ;(