2012 Fisker Karma on 2040-cars

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Karma Automotive's next vehicle won't be the Atlantic, a coupe or a convertible, but it will be muscular

It's been a few months since we've gotten an update on what's happening at Karma Automotive. Since the car is here at the Detroit Auto Show, we stopped by and talked to Karma's TIm Oleston about where the company is and what's coming soon. Last fall, Karma was saying that its 550,000-square-foot factory in Moreno Valley, California would be up and running about now. But the timeline has turned into a more vague "some time in 2017," so we'll just have to wait for new about the start of actual production. Karma has run a few pre-production prototypes through the machines, and took 8-10 of them on a tour for prospective buyers in all the cities where the car will be sold (see the list here). On that tour, interested buyers were able to take the cars on test drives. "We wrung these cars out, in all kinds of weather," Oleston said, and none of them had a problem. We expect a spokesperson to give us the positive side of the story, but we'll take him at his word when he says that Karma engineers were expecting lots of problems, and were instead pleasantly surprised. The car itself remains pretty much the same as we're seen before, with 981 foot-pounds of torque and a top speed of about 128 miles an hour. Twenty-two-inch wheels are standard. The whole thing weighs about 5,400 pounds, so it's not going to win awards at the drag strip, but the more rigid chassis makes the Revero an excellent long-distance tourer, Oleston said, saying that he's spent thousands of miles behind the wheel. Oleston said that while the upcoming factory will be able to make more, if Karma sells about 2,000 Reveros, maybe 1,000 of them in the first year, that'd meet the company's expectations. As for the Karma model that's coming after the Revero, it will not be the Atlantic. Oleston said that the designers are working on "quite a few project," including ideas that take the "feline muscularity" of the Revero and crank it up a notch. Other than that, he would only hint at Karma's next model: "It's not a coupe, it's not a convertible. That's all I should say right now." More information will be coming in a few years, he said. The Revero's infotainment is getting a major overhaul. We knew this, and that it will have Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. You can see more in the video below. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Fisker electric pickup truck previewed in rendering

Fisker CEO and car designer Henrik Fisker has posted an illustration of an electric pickup, promising class-leading efficiency and radical design. The rendered truck features muscular flared fenders, a rooftop spoiler that doubles as a center high-mount stop light (CHMSL), and neat taillights that extend onto the bedsides. It's billed as a lifestyle vehicle rather than a workhorse, and does not wear any obvious name on the tailgate. The image was posted to Fisker's personal LinkedIn profile, as discovered by CarBuzz, along with the following caption: "Ok, yes, next vehicle might be a lifestyle pick up truck! But not just any truck! We want to create the lightest, most efficient EV pick up in the world! Making it, the most sustainable! image is just a teaser! Not the final: final will be way more radical!" While Fisker's excitement is conspicuous, and the truck does look cool, we can't help but question whether a production version is actually coming. About a year ago, Fisker tweeted an image of a pickup truck named the Alaska and then quickly deleted it. It had been captioned, "After our Fisker electric SUV, we have already decided on our next 2 EV’s on the same platform!" referring to what turned out to be the Ocean crossover. Perhaps it wasn't meant to be revealed just yet, or perhaps the timing was poor, considering that it came just days after a huge round of layoffs. In fact, Fisker has been bleeding talent, with one whistleblower claiming that the company is putting on a smoke-and-mirrors show to grab more cash from its Chinese investors. Whether or not the truck is vaporware, the projected timeline puts production sometime around 2025. It will be entering a very crowded marketplace, with 10 possible competitors coming to the EV pickup market, some coming from far more established players. As we said when Fisker showed the Ocean last July, it's proven it can talk the talk. Now it has to walk the walk. Related Video:

Karma Automotive holding another hiring fair

Tesla Motors has already started putting out calls for the thousands of workers it will need at its massive Gigafactory outside of Reno, Nevada. Now, Fisker Karma Automotive is doing the same for its not-as-massive plant being built in the state next door. To a smaller extent, of course. Karma, which used to make the high-end Karma extended-range plug-in when it was still Fisker, is planning a job fair for prospective workers in Southern California's Inland Empire east of Los Angeles, according to local paper the Press-Enterprise. Specifically, Karma's job fair will take place October 10 in Moreno Valley. The company will pay as much as $26 an hour to fill its positions, and the automaker needs everything from welders to painters to fabricators, oh my. This isn't Karma's first job fair this year. This summer, the company did the same in an effort to hire about three-dozen people. The automaker didn't specify how many people it was looking hire this time out. Moreno Valley, which is about 60 miles east of Los Angeles, is where Karma is building a 556,000-square-foot factory in its return to action after about three years being out of business. The company, which is now based in Costa Mesa, CA, has said it was looking to bring in about 150 for its new factory. Fisker went bankrupt in 2013 after building about 2,600 of its Karma PHEVs. China-based Wanxiang bought Fisker out of bankruptcy early last year for $149.2 million. There were rumors that the company would rename the Karma vehicle the Elux, but there is no mention of that name on the new Karma Automotive website. Featured Gallery 2012 Fisker Karma: Second Drive View 30 Photos News Source: Press-Enterprise Green Plants/Manufacturing Fisker California plant extended-range plug-in karma automotive