Fisker Karma: Range Extended Electric Car Ultimate Guide

Make a car desirable enough, and people will buy it whatever is powering the wheels.

That's the theory anyway, but in a world of unease over the suitability of electric cars, the Henrik Fisker has taken the more comfortable, usable route to creating an electric car: The range-extended Fisker Karma.

When the EPA-rated 32-mile electric range is depleted, a 2.0-liter, turbocharged gasoline engine kicks in to generate power, keeping the electric motors running. The $102,000 Karma gets 52 MPGe under electric power and 20 MPG in range-sustaining gasoline mode.

Full review: 2012 Fisker Karma

We've been covering the Karma for quite a while now, so to find out more, check out the links below. The list will be updated periodically. Look for the "New!" tag to read the latest articles, and the links to the top of each catagory are the most recent.

You might want to take a look at page 2, too--our coverage of fires, financial issues, furloughs and failures is filling up fast, as Fisker Automotive appears to be going through its death throes.

Driving the Karma

So what's the 2012 Fisker Karma like when you're behind the wheel? Pretty good actually, and we've driven it a few times now to bring you our impressions. Click on any of the links below to go to the relevant test drive.

Buying, owning and sales

The Karma hasn't had an easy time coming to market, but now drivers can experience the Karma for themselves. You can read about the Karma's pricing, or read about the company's battery glitch fixes by clicking here. For more information, there's a wealth of links below.

Karma economy

Range-extended electric vehicles should have great economy, right? Well, not necessarily, and Fisker wasn't best pleased at the official EPA ratings--you could say the EPA was giving them bad Karma. Also, the Karma is apparently a subcompact too--no, really. For more, click the links below.

2012 Fisker Karma EcoSport

Fisker financials, failures, fires and furloughs

There's no hiding that Fisker has had one or two problems. It started with problems acquiring DoE loans, continued when Fisker got sued, and has taken a nasty turn with inquries over a fire involving one of the cars. Those issues have sadly continued over the last year or so, with poor reviews from Consumer Reports, and the destruction of several Karmas in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.

Worse still, Fisker appears to be on its last legs. With production stalled following battery supplier A123's bankruptcy, Henrik Fisker's departure from the company bearing his name and the redundancies of most of the workforce, the Fisker Karma might not be long for this world.

You can see further detailed reports in The Car Connection's 'Fisker, An Influential Disaster' and Motor Authority's 'Fisker Automotive: The Final Flameout'.

Financials...

Fires...

Furloughs, failures, finality?

2013 Fisker Surf

Further Fiskers

How do you follow the Karma? Not with the Sutra, that's for sure. Instead, you preview the Surf, which then changes its name to Atlantic. More of the same, but in a smaller--and hopefully more economical--package.

Karmas in the media

Fate giveth with one hand, and taketh away with the other... that's why the Karma was able to win over notoriously fickle Top Gear to win their accolade for luxury car of the year, but then suffered the ignominy of Canadian pop puppet Justin Bieber becoming a customer. You win some, you lose some...