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Fisker Karma
- Thread starter vfx
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- Electric Vehicles fail Fisker karma
They're just a fail in general...
Why would another automaker buy them? Got the funds to make a half-arsed attempt at a green car from random components and will now need to exit because of soft demand.
Why would another automaker buy them? Got the funds to make a half-arsed attempt at a green car from random components and will now need to exit because of soft demand.
The mods will probably move this because it's veering off-topic, but some veterans here probably have some good insight so I'll ask.
Hypothetical:
If Fisker's focus was on pure EV (rather than Hybrid, or "EREV" as they like to call it to sound high end) and he had some juice left to spend, would Elon "look past the past" and help them out in the name of his general EV mission? It would be an impressive show of character.
Hypothetical:
If Fisker's focus was on pure EV (rather than Hybrid, or "EREV" as they like to call it to sound high end) and he had some juice left to spend, would Elon "look past the past" and help them out in the name of his general EV mission? It would be an impressive show of character.
I don't get the impression that Elon is that into "shows of character". Just see his past comments on the Karma. He's pretty outspoken on the things he feels strongly about. Just my opinion.
The whole irony in the Fisker story is that the car is not bad looking and would be impressive if it worked better. Put a V8 in the thing and I'll bet it would sell like crazy. But (I still believe this) Henrik had to make it at least partly electric in order to get his hands on some cheap government money. Starting a car company is fantastically expensive, and he needed that money to get Fisker over the hump. He simply wasn't wealthy enough; Venture capital was only going to take him so far, and he had no strategic partner(s). As evidence that I'm right, just look at what's happened since the government loan was frozen.
medved
Member
Help them out?
You mean like Mercedes and Toyota?
Fisker and it's backers come to Tesla hat in hand and ask for Tesla's powertrain for their next model and Tesla says yes. It is aprt of Tesla's mission to make all cars electric.
As for the parnership, I see it as a win-win. Fisker sells over the top looking cars and they have the best drivetrain on the market, and Tesla looks mature and makes money selling powertrains.
I don't think it was just about government money. I think they needed the angle to interest investors, period. "Just another pretty car" isn't a big enough hook. "Green cars for the wealthy" sounds like it might attract funding.
The fisker karma was just featured on a jay leno episode, here it is:
2012 Fisker Karma - Jay Lenos Garage - YouTube
Toward the end fisker said a few hundred have been sold so far, and that it had only been out for a few months. I thought deliveries started in July of last year?
Toward the end fisker said a few hundred have been sold so far, and that it had only been out for a few months. I thought deliveries started in July of last year?
Last edited by a moderator:
They used to all be on their own website, but I think recently started also posting to youtube. I think now they've started posting old episodes to youtube as well. That Karma episode was originally posted mid January 2012.
Jay Leno's Garage - 2012 Fisker Karma | Fisker
It's interesting to see this episode again in retrospect. This was when regular customers were just getting their cars and before all the bad press about the bugs, fires, and poor UI.
rolosrevenge
Dr. EVS
That sums up their problems right there. There innovation was ... I have a really cool looking car. That's it.
Jaff
Active Member
I guess it's easy to have "a sufficient supply of cars" when you're only selling a couple of units / month...
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