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Fisker Karma Testdriven by Santa Monica Dealer

Just having a Hollywood celebrity putting his stamp of approval by buying the first example should have been enough the for Fisker Karma. However, the firm has also received 3,000 firm orders for the tree-hugging grand tourer.

We just couldn’t figure out what all the fuss was about when it came to this particular car. That was until we got to see the video of a Santa Monica Fisker dealer doing a testdrive with it. The company has started to deliver the four-door model late last month, and the waiting list is already reaching into the early part of 2012.

Besildes Hollywood star Leonardo di Caprio, other famous customers for the $100,000 hybrid sports sedan are former US Vice President Al Gore and former National Security Advisor and Secretary of State Colin Powell.

If the lines look familiar to you, that’s because the Karma is the product of the imagination of former Aston Martin designer Henrik Fisker, who founded his own company.

The architecture of the car is built around an aluminum chassis and features a battery pack placed in the middle for improved distribution. Two electric motors are placed at the back a turbocharged gasoline 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine up front, which charges the batteries acting as a range extender. Yes folks, this car has a 260 horsepower... range extender.

While the Santa Monica salesman takes the Karma for a spin around Los Angeles, he talks us through a bunch of features. He seems really impressed that the car doesn’t have to shift gears like a regular automobile. Cool features include a clear casing on the console that allows us to see the actual battery and a solar panel on the roof.

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About the author: Mihnea Radu
Mihnea Radu profile photo

Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida.
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