- The official EPA ratings for the Fisker Karma have been released.
- The EPA rated the Fisker at 52 mpg-equivalent (mpg-e) in combined city and highway driving.
- This includes 32 miles of all-electric range, and 20 mpg when its gasoline engine/generator kicks in to provide electricity once the car's lithium-ion battery pack is drained.
ANAHEIM, California — Fisker Automotive got a lot of press over the last few years claiming that its exotic Fisker Karma range-extended plug-in hybrid would deliver 50 miles of all-electric range. Now the official EPA rating for the car is out and the number falls far below that claim.
The official numbers the $96,000 Karma will wear on its window sticker are 52 mpg-equivalent (mpg-e) in combined city and highway driving. This includes 32 miles of all-electric range, and 20 mpg when its gasoline engine/generator kicks in to provide electricity once the car's lithium-ion battery pack is drained. The Karma's EPA rating prompted conservative Fox News to post an item on its Web site suggesting the Karma is a fuel economy flop.
Indeed, the Karma's fuel efficiency numbers are lower than those of the market's other plug-in hybrids, the range-extended Chevrolet Volt and the 2012 Toyota Prius Plug-In. The 402-horsepower Fisker, however, is larger, heavier and has much larger electric motors than the other two. Still the disparities in fuel economy — especially as the Chevrolet and Toyota plug-ins also cost far less than the Karma — are sure to start figuring into dealership marketing programs.
The 2012 Chevy Volt is EPA-rated at 60 mpg-equivalent overall with a 37-mile all-electric range and a 37-mpg rating when its flex-fuel gasoline/E85 engine-generator is running. Toyota estimates that the 2012 Prius Plug-In — which doesn't have a range-extending generator and uses its gas engine for propulsion — will get an EPA rating of 87 mpg-e and will deliver up to 14 miles of all-electric range.
At $39,995 the 2012 Volt starts at less than half the Fisker's price while the Toyota's $32,760 base price is about a third of the Fisker's.
Fisker Automotive CEO and Co-Founder Henrik Fisker refused to be dismayed by the EPA rating, saying in a statement released by the company that he's confident many Karma drivers will get better fuel economy than that computed in the EPA test. "As with all electric vehicles, range varies greatly on the conditions of the road and how you drive the car," Fisker said. The 2012 Karma's 52 mpg-e rating is close to the 54.5 mpg fleet average that the Obama administration wants the auto industry to be delivering in 2025, 14 years from now, he said, insisting that the EPA ratings, "verify the Karma's remarkable green credentials."
A Karma driven 40 miles daily, the company said, would use just 9 gallons of gasoline a month if the car began each day with a fully charged battery. "Overall, we are very pleased with the results of the EPA's tests," Fisker said.
Inside Line says: Given the Karma's market slot as a high-performance exotic aimed at buyers who likely already have Corvettes, Ferraris and other high-end, high-performance vehicles in their garages, the fuel economy numbers aren't likely to put a damper on sales, but they could fuel critics in Congress who have opposed federal aid to nascent manufacturers of advanced technology cars.
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tbone85 says:
09:06 PM, 10/22/2011
I absolutely love it when people blame the government for the engineering or business results of private companies. For good or ill, Fisker is responsible for this product. If this car was a smashing success no one would credit the government for that success. Therefore blaming them when the initial testing is disappointing makes no sense--other than an opportunity to repeat tribal talking points.
There is no boogeyman, companies, governments, unions, churches, and individuals are responsible for their own individual actions. Blaming the evil empire for every perceived wrong in life is simply weak.
mklrivowner says:
10:01 AM, 10/21/2011
@stresser - Depends on what your definition of 'exciting' is. Trying to build up enough speed in a Prius to merge on a grade with traffic whizzing by at 75 mph would be pretty exciting. Just not that kind of exciting.
1919diesel says:
01:24 PM, 10/20/2011
True comparison would be the Karma versus the S-class or 7-series with Diesel and/or Hybrid powertrains.... what are those vehicles delivering in terms of MPG? Definitely NOT 52 MPG, so on that basis Karma wins the Full-Sized Luxury Sports Sedan MPG contest. Really, this car will compete in a narrow niche of the market, soon to have the TESLA Model S alongside for comparison. It will get really, really interesting for "the rest of us" when we start seeing cars with these kinds of powertrains in the under-$30K price range. Then, we have some options other than pure gas.... can the prices come down that much? Maybe in 10 years......
stresser says:
12:35 PM, 10/20/2011
Compared to the Volt (a smaller car) the EV range is not too bad, but the 20mpg in battery depleted mode is disappointing. Overall 52mpge is a big step forward for a premium sedan.
I don't understand the comparisons to the Prius. The Karma was not designed to compete. Nobody would compare a 5-series to a Corolla.
Karma Prius
Cool Yes No
Luxurious Yes No
Exciting performance Yes No
mau19 says:
11:59 AM, 10/20/2011
I see this and Tesla as the future of American automobiles.
scott230 says:
09:34 AM, 10/20/2011
This is a NEW company that made a new competitive luxury car that develops the best mileage in its price range. It will definitely cost less to maintain in the $100,000 car class because it has a small chevy motor vs some exotic engine. Great car and Great out of the box thinking company with no retro designs which it seems the Big 3 are only good at.
greenpony says:
09:05 AM, 10/20/2011
jb68902: "You know if it were liberal CNN or liberal NBC, they wouldn't have included the word liberal."
Or liberal NPR or liberal New York Times or liberal Edmunds.com... the list goes on.
dagmar3 says:
08:24 AM, 10/20/2011
This is what you get when the government picks the winners and losers: over-promised hype and under delivered results.
smallfield says:
05:00 AM, 10/20/2011
Man - 20mpg - Hardly worth a government subsidy. A true mixed city/hwy driver would be better off with a Audi A6 - better performance and economy when you aren't plugged in. I guess that said - most of the time people commuting with this will have a full charge and it'll be OK.
I also thought the electric only performance of this car was rather anemic too. So if you want performance over the Volt - you have to run an inefficient engine getting poor milage. It makes GM look pretty good. Best plug-in hybrid so far as Prius won't cover a round trip for most americans.
Granted they didn't make the internal components from reused that and recovered this.
And it was pretty
And they did motorcycle like ads with pretty girls
kiiwii says:
10:58 PM, 10/19/2011
didn't this company steal part of our tax money?