New Fisker Karma Coming to the Frankfurt Auto Show

Probably one of the most anticipated plug-in hybrid vehicles is getting ready to hit the market, accompanied by the high hopes coming from the top management levels of the company. The Karma, one of the most exciting PHEVs presented during this new offensive of the electric vehicle, is planned, at least on paper, as a big hit,

Having received more than enough support last year, from both the government and private entrepreneurs, Fisker, the company behind the Karma, plans big for the remaining months of 2011. According to Bernhard Koehler, the company's chief operating officer, plans are that 7,000 units of the model will be delivered this year, with well above double that, 15,000, to be sold in 2012.

Coming to the market as a four-door sportscar, the Karma line and the number it brings will be boosted, starting next year, by a new version of the model, which will be presented, according to Autonews, this fall, during the Frankfurt Auto Show. One year later, a third version of the model will be launched (in all, the company plans to launch no less than six models in the 2011-2016 time frame).

Production of the current Fiker Karma will kick off in Finland this March, and will be launched equipped with a set of electric motors and a 204 hp 2.0l turbocharged Ecotec engine, a combination which the manufacturer likes to call Q-Drive.

Q-Drive offers 408 hp of power and a torque of over 1,300 Nm, with the electric range estimated at 50 miles (80 km) and the total one at 300 miles (480 km).