SHOCKING BEAUTY
FISKER KARMA A CURRENT AFFAIR
While standing in front of the Edible Canada restaurant on Granville Island, I’m witnessing flocks of people gather around its EV charging stations.
One terminal remains dormant. No excitement there.
The other is nursing a 2012 Fisker Karma.
I’m far enough away from the masses (which is about four steps from the car) for them to completely ignore my presence, but close enough to hear their comments.
One young and bewildered chap who’s salivating at the mouth says: “Holy [expletive]! This car is electric!”
He looks at the car, then his buddy, then the car again. The dropped jaw says it all.
Another admirer — who I’m pretty sure is searching his brain’s vocabulary vault for the right adjective — gracefully lets the words, “Wow, it’s beautiful” fall from his lips.
A woman comments to the man she’s with: “I don’t know what that is but I want one! Can you get me one?”
The excitement in her eyes is quite profound for something she knows very little about. But it’s clear she likes what she sees.
These remarks alone, spoken in the few minutes I stood waiting for its owner to come and whisk me away for a ride, would constitute a story.
For those not familiar with the new breed of vehicle, let me introduce you.
Everybody, this is the Fisker Karma, the world’s first premium electric plug-in hybrid. Aside from liking long walks on the beach, here are a few get-to-know-you facts about this awe-inspiring four-door.
The Karma can run purely on electric power supplied by a rechargeable 20 kwh lithium-ion battery for up to 80 kilometres. When that charge is depleted, a 175 kw generator driven by an efficient, 2.0-litre, direct-injection, turbocharged gasoline engine extends the range by an additional 403 km, for a total of roughly 483 km per charge/tank.
With all the systems working together, the net horsepower under its sinuous hood is 403. Mix that with an astonishing 981 lbs.-ft of torque available from zero, and its 0-100km/ h time is 5.9 seconds.
And when you factor in the vehicle’s curb weight of 2,404 kg (5,300 lbs.), that’s quite impressive. Although, I think it might be taboo to talk about one’s weight in an introduction, no?
Nevertheless, to fully charge a drained battery takes about six hours via a 220V outlet.
Oh, and just one more minor detail. The man responsible for designing such iconic vehicles as the BMW Z8, Aston Martin DB9 and Aston Martin V8 Vantage, Henrik Fisker, also designed this vehicle.
Local resident Jerry Kroll, who owns this pristine piece of automotive heaven, picked up his new ‘baby’ a few days prior to our gallivanting.
It also happens to be number 006 of the first 100 Karmas ever made. Number 001 is rumoured to have gone to Leonardo Dicaprio, who was actually part of the inspiration of the vehicle’s development.
Dicaprio’s role came into play when he was seen by Fisker arriving at the Academy Awards in an environmentally-conscious Toyota Prius.
Now Leo and I have something to talk about at the next party we’re at together! Or not.
As Jerry and I cruised around town, down Robson Street, over the Lions Gate Bridge, and to our Deep Cove destination, the reactions from pedestrians, as well as motorists, were priceless.
If it wasn’t the Karma’s brilliant architecture that caught people’s eye, perhaps it was the patented spaceship-like noise emitted from the sound actuators that caught pedestrians’ ears. Or maybe even the solar panels that line the roof?
Regardless, watching people’s reactions was almost as good as riding around in it.
In the few days since Kroll took possession of his vehicle, he had already driven up to Kelowna and back, put the vehicle through snow, tacked on over 1,000 km and loves every minute being behind its wheel.
And why wouldn’t he? Kroll explained to me that he ordered his vehicle over two years ago, but it was well worth the wait.
And of all the vehicles he could have picked, his heart was set on the Karma’s brilliant transitional technology.
“I bought the Fisker because it’s the most amazing car I’ve come across with the thoughtfulness for people and planet we need in the real world.”
He continues: “My hope is that automakers start pushing hard for designs in this direction of sustainability.”
As for owning an EV in an urban setting? Jerry hasn’t experienced any setbacks from his condo strata. Woo hoo.
It was brilliant just sitting back, relaxing and enjoying the ride of the 2012 Fisker Karma.
And in the words of Kroll: “This thing kicks butt!”
Heck yes, it does. And in more than one way.
Contact Alexandra at shiftinggearsgirl@gmail.com and follow her on Twitter.com/cargirlsgarage