What Could Leonardo DiCaprio Be Doing With the First-of-Its-Kind Fisker Karma EV

Some folks here in the audience may have been aware that good ol’ Leo DiCaprio once teamed up with Fisker Automotive in order to help boost the company into excellent standings among EV manufacturing circles.

Back in 2011, Fisker Automotive, the rising EV star, teamed up with Hollywood legend and actor Leonardo DiCaprio to help get the ball moving. This wasn’t the first venture for the famed actor, as he’s always been a climate change activist and even drove an EV before they were a thing.

Since 1998, the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation had been established with a focus on a sustainable future. Their work covers a range of issues from wildlife protection to forest and ocean preservation, among others. This love for the planet later landed him the very first Fisker Karma that hit the market, out of the 3,000 buyers they had planned. Obviously, he had a large part ($) to play in this feature.

As it stands, the Karma is a 2.0-liter 400 hp luxury sports car, with 263.6 hp @ 5300 RPM. With a direct injection hybrid drive, a 0-62 mph (0-100kph) time of 6.1 seconds was shown on the clock. RWD and a single gear made the Karma seem like the most alluring EV at its time. Take the combined fuel economy of 118 mpg (2 L/100km) and you’ve got yourself a fun machine.

Fisker, on the other hand, was having issues with a recall on more than 250 Karma EVs due to a misplaced hose clamps that could potentially lead to fires. So, taking on the image of a star like Leo should have brought a nice boost to the company.

Well, it didn’t. Due to an unpaid loan from the Department of Energy and a shocking battery recall, Fisker Automotive was soon on its way out of the EV game. Now, things like this were expected to happen, especially since battery tech in EVs was in its infancy in comparison to today's tech.

Nonetheless, years later (today), the Fisker name, and even vehicle design, is still on the market because some Fisker Automotive assets were bought by Wanxiang, which later brought forth vehicles like the Karma GS-6 and a few other planned EVs. Henrik Fisker is still in the game with his EVs from Fisker Inc. Looks like some of Leo’s Karma rubbed off after all.

Ventures like this are not uncommon for the star, and even today, Leonardo is implicated in a venture where he’s basically building his own “eco-friendly” island. Back in 2005 the actor bought a small patch of sand in the Caribbean Sea and eventually announced a project known as Blackadore Caye, an island that’s meant to bring balance to mankind and nature. With plans to modify the island in such a way as to “restore” forest and wildlife, the plan has been quite controversial, especially for such an eco-driven human.

As to whether Leo still owns the Karma, it would seem so, as no sources have surfaced that would indicate he sold it or anything like that. Wait a minute, what am I saying!? It's the first of its kind and will probably end up being auctioned to fight climate change...or build a private island. Now that’s an investment, even if Fisker’s wasn’t, or was it? Wink wink.