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Fisker name dropped in favor of Elux, Karma relaunch pushed back

Fisker is dead, long live Fisker. The luxury plug-in hybrid brand's new owner, Wanxiang, says that it is going to get rid of the name when it relaunches the Karma next year. Oh yeah, and the relaunch is now happening in 2016, not early 2015, as previously planned. According to unnamed "sources familiar with the plan" who spoke to Reuters, Wanxiang is going to change the brand from Fisker to Elux. So, if you've been waiting for news on a revived Fisker Karma, you should change your news alerts setting to ping you when there's new information on the Elux karma. Other details about the new Karma remain undecided, like where it will be built – the Valmet factory in Finland where the Fisker Karma was made will not be used this time around. According to the new Reuters report, though, the new Karma will get a 20-percent price increase, to $135,000. We've also heard that the new car will look a lot like the first Karma, which was designed by Henrik Fisker, who gave the now-bankrupt company its name. Related Video:

Bob Lutz predicts Fisker-based VL Destino will world's fastest sedan [w/video]

Ever look at an EV or a dedicated hybrid and wonder what it'd be like with a conventional, high-output V8 under the hood instead of all those batteries and circuit boards? Bob Lutz and Gilbert Villareal did when it came to the Fisker Karma. The result is the Destino from VL Automotive – a vehicle that Lutz says could be the fastest sedan in the world. The Destino was born like a phoenix rising from the ashes of Fisker Automotive and its shapely Karma – an aborted and very costly attempt at making a dedicated hybrid luxury sedan, undertaken by noted automotive designer Henrik Fisker. The project ultimately faltered, but Lutz and Villareal formed VL Automotive to pick up the pieces and put it back together. Only when they did, they got rid of the hybrid propulsion system and replaced it with the 6.2-liter supercharged LS9 V8 from the previous Corvette ZR1, mated to a six-speed automatic transmission. With 630 horsepower, a svelte shape and 1,000 pounds trimmed off the curb weight, the VL Destino is expected to top out at or around 200 miles per hour. According to Lutz in his article for Fortune magazine, that would make it "among the fastest four-door cars in the world," but in the accompanying video below, he goes even further to say that the the Destino "most likely will be the world's fastest four-door sedan." To claim the top honor, though, it'll have to vanquish the 204-mile-per-hour Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat – another four-door sedan with a supercharged V8 made by an American automaker... one over which Lutz used to preside, no less. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Fisker to unveil its all-electric EMotion at CES in January

Back from the brink, electric carmaker Fisker says it will debut its EMotion sedan at the 2018 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January. The EMotion is notable for several reasons, including its promised 400-plus miles of range, the ability to charge to 125 miles of range in just 9 minutes and its lidar autonomous technology. The car will also feature four butterfly doors and will be built with carbon fiber rims and a mixture of carbon fiber and aluminum in the body to save on weight. It's also the second go at building an EV for Fisker, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2013 after the Fisker Karma luxury plug-in hybrid fell flat. Fisker was sold in 2014 to Chinese auto supplier Wanxiang Group for about $149 million. And the EMotion can be yours for a cool $129,000. In fact, the company started taking pre-orders in June with a $2,000 deposit, even though the car won't come out until 2019. The EMotion is seen as a rival to Tesla, but CEO Henrik Fisker tells The Street he sees room for competition in the EV segment. "I don't think anyone is out to kill anybody," Fisker said. "Tesla doesn't really have a competitor. It doesn't look like one is going to emerge. I think it's time to move to a next level of this technology and I believe that we have come up with some real breakthroughs." Fisker also told The Street the company is simultaneously developing an affordable version of the EMotion, aimed to be priced around $34,000, that's due out in 2020. That's just a hair under the $35,000 base price of the Tesla Model 3. The veteran car designer first revealed the EMotion via Twitter in June. He told Autoblog recently that he's looking to buy an existing factory to build the car but hadn't yet chosen one, saying "We don't have to make a decision until the end of the year." The EMotion will be powered by two electric motors giving it all-wheel drive, lithium-ion battery packs sourced from LG Chem with a cooling system designed by Fisker that increases energy density. Related Video: Featured Gallery Fisker EMotion View 14 Photos News Source: The Street Celebrities Green Plants/Manufacturing CES Fisker Tesla Green Automakers Technology Emerging Technologies Autonomous Vehicles Electric Sedan Henrik Fisker