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First Drive: 2012 Fisker Karma

Hollywood, Your Plug-In Hybrid Electric Has Arrived Business partners Henrik Fisker and Bernhard Koehler are visibly on edge. While they want to dedicate every ounce of their focus on this all-important launch of their first baby, the 2012 Fisker Karma, their attentions are being constantly pulled away from it by big conference calls regarding the money and logistics of launching the whole Fisker Automotive franchise. Are they really and truly answering a $95,900-$108,900 question with this bold effort that enough people are asking? It's clear they just want us to fall in love with ... Read More

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    Fisker Karma
    Followup: NHTSA launches inquiry into Fisker Karma garage fire
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    The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has launched a formal field inquiry into the garage fire that may or may not have been started by a Fisker Karma sedan, Bloomberg reports. The conflagration, which destroyed the Karma, the garage and a few nearby vehicles, took place on May 3 in Sugarland, Texas. Claude Harris, NHTSA's director of ...

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    Report: Engine packaging to blame for Fisker Karma garage fire? [UPDATE]
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    While the investigation of the Fisker Karma that toasted a Texas garage is not over, pundits have begun to weigh in. Automotive News has found a particularly credible one in Jon Bereisa, CEO of Auto Lectrification and the chief engineer of the General Motors EV1 and systems architect for the Chevrolet Volt. And according to Bereisa, the poor packaging of ...

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    Report: Fisker Karma to blame for garage fire in Texas?
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    All the Justin Bieber in the world doesn't seem like enough for Fisker to catch a break. First it was a 2012 Fisker Karma spectacularly crapping out on Consumer Reports. Now a Texas fire investigator has said that a house fire originated with the plug-in hybrid, according to AutoWeek. The fire consumed the car while doing "substantial damage" to the ...

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    Report: More layoffs at Fisker; Delaware plant is 'absolutely empty'
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    Last we heard, Fisker Automotive was still "committed" to building the recently revealed Atlantic sedan at the former General Motors plant in Delaware. A few years ago, Fisker announced that site would be the company's new domestic production home (the Fisker Karma extended-range plug-in hybrid is made by Valmet in Finland). Still, Fisker did say that any ...

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    Video: Justin Bieber chromes his Fisker Karma
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    While we normally don't care whether or not Justin Bieber wakes up and takes a breath each morning, it is unfortunate news when the teen pop idol is gifted a six-figure plug-in hybrid produced by one of the world's best designers, and then proceeds to wrap it in chrome, stick on some fuscia LEDs and drive it around on giant black ...

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    Fisker Karma
    Report: Fisker may change plans on Delaware production, details Karma troubles
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    Fisker Automotive may drop plans to use a Delaware factory to build its upcoming Atlantic sedan and is looking at "other options," Automotive News reports, citing an interview with company CEO Tom LaSorda. The company, in an online meeting with owners of the Fisker Karma extended-range plug-in sedan, spelled out some of the issues that have been plaguing ...

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    Spy Shots: Fisker Nina caught peeking out before New York reveal
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    Who wants to wait until the official unveiling of the Fisker Nina plug-in hybrid next week when we can see spy shots right this second? Neither do we. So, what do the shots reveal? For starters, we can see that the Nina is indeed shorter than its Karma big brother. This is expected, but the impression we have is that the Karma's design language ...

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    Video: Consumer Reports finally posts Fisker review, finds litany of owners suffering from bad Karma
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    You can buy a bunch of information for $107,000. Consumer Reports is learning all sorts of things about the Fisker Karma now that it has purchased one for testing, only to have it die with less than 200 miles on the odometer. After 48 hours in the dealer's repair shop – under warranty – the car is back in the CR fleet and is starting to get ...

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    Report: Ex-dealer alleges Fisker Karma pushed to market prematurely to meet DOE loan conditions *UPDATE
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    Fisker has found itself struggling with a range of technical issues shortly after the launch of the company's Karma extended-range EV, from faulty battery packs to pesky software updates. According to one former employee, that's no surprise. According to GigaOM, the worker in question reportedly left the company because of a push to get the production ...

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    Report: Fisker Karma owned by Consumer Reports breaks down
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    Like pretty much any driver, we've had our share of car trouble over the years, both with vehicles loaned to us for review by automakers and our own private rides. What we haven't experienced is being the first media outlet to plunk down over $100,000 for a luxury plug-in hybrid, only to have it konk out before we even put 200 miles on it. That "honor" ...

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