Fisker Karma Production Kicks Off in Finland

The number of electric vehicles or EVs that are hitting the market today is increasing all the time. Some of the EVs and hybrids are in the $40,000 range like the Leaf or the Volt and some of them are much more than that like the Tesla Roadster. One of the most promising plug-in hybrids that I have seen in a long time is the Fisker Karma.

The car is dead sexy with swoopy bodywork that screams performance and luxury rather than cheap and sensible like some EVs. The downside to all that sex appeal the Karma packs is that the car is expensive. The Karma will start at $88,000 and Fisker expects that the first of the production vehicles will hit dealers in the US and Europe starting next month.

The final assembly of the Karma is being done in Finland by Valmet Automotive reports AutoWeek. The vehicle has a 50-mile driving range on electric power alone. After that 50 miles, the car has a gas engine that will engage. It is interesting to note that the same assembly plant also puts together some Porsche vehicles. Fisker is based in California.

According to Fisker spokesman Roger Ormisher the production is ramping up slowly. He said, "We're going to be ramping up very slowly, very carefully to ensure quality. This year we want to get over 7,000 deliveries."

Fisker has also noted in the past that the firm plans to have an IPO this year to raise money for more development. Fisker has already raised $150 million to develop other variants of the Karma and took loans from the US DOE last year totaling $529 million. One of the other Fisker models is a much more affordable vehicle called the Nina that will sell for right under $40,000 that will be built in Delaware in a plant that was previously owned by GM.

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