Fisker To Unveil New Plug-In Concept at Detroit Auto Show
By John O'Dell December 31, 2008
An early Happy New Year from Fisker Automotive.
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.
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These high powered flagships are fine, but let's move onto something practical? So far GM is the only one going down that route.
I wonder what the "internal combustion engine-generator " is?
In order to generate enough electricity for 408 hp worth of electric motors it would have to be more then 408 hp.
The price of these new technology cars is very high. It takes economies of scale, which GM has, to reduce the costs of basic production. Hopefully, the new GM car will be good enough and inexpensive enough to generate good sales and make this technology more mainstream. This series-hybrid electric car design is the best I have seen so far, since there is no need to wait for a battery recharge in order to continue on a longer journey. Hopefully, it will work as advertised.
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