Having seen the Fisker at Detroit, the commercial doesn't do anything for me. Too much 'eye candy' and my understanding is they start around $80,000. Still, someone has to compete with Tesla. But there are openings on the front and rear bumpers.

The front and rear bumper openings are the speakers for their "synthetic roar." This lets the owner choose what engine powered, super car noise the Fisker should sound like ... pack of Hell's Angels anyone? Perhaps the Walter Mitty "pocketa-pocketa"?

Now I understand folks are different but regardless of the product, that commercial follows the same style used in most gas power commercials. Play it without sound and you'll see that it is visually, boring. The 100 MPG text is good but TV was also the source of all those 'informationals' that led to house buying schemes. Still it is better than the Volt, which remains a PowerPoint concept, not a real product.

Bob Wilson

I saw the same ad, but kind of mentally "tuned out" til I realized it was for "something completely different". Nice looking car, big $$$$ though.

as i mentioned in another thread... fisker is supposed to run 50 miles on electric in perfect conditions and after that run on 2.0l 4cly turbo engine.

This is supposed to be sports sedan. It means that when you push it (as you will), you might get 10-20 miles out of that tank (50 would be perfect cruising at 65mph)... and after that you run on 4cly engine in 100k car that will get you 20mpg.

i cant escape the feeling that it would have been much better as parallel hybrid like Prius instead of series one. It would let you have a lot of power whenever you want it and still get very good mileage out of that battery pack, instead of enjoying your 10-15 mile rides and then 8 hour recharges.

In the current issue of Automobile magazine, there is a quote from Fisker himself, and a few paragraphs about the car. Essentially, the car was designed because there are tens of millions of people around the world that are into performance cars. There always will be. Performance cars and professional auto racing inspire both children and adults alike. Mr. Fisker essentially says that car enthusiasts around the world saw heritage and dreams being crushed as gas prices skyrocketed and the future painted a picture of everyone driving "25hp minicars" (quote). But he then realized that it doesn't have to be this way. That is when developed the Fisker Karma. Unlike a Mercedes S63 AMG, which only gets 11/17 mpg, the Fisker Karma can get up to 100mpg in gentle driving (good luck trying to get that in the Mercedes AMG). For when you want to have fun (which is probably far less than 25% of your total weekly driving), the Fisker will keep your heritage and dreams alive.

(Hey, if we can get people to trade in their gas guzzling AMGs for Fisker Karmas, I'm all for it! Also, keep in mind that probably less than 1% of Americans own such high end performance cars. If 99% of society is driving a Prius/Insight/Volt/etc, I don't see any reason why the few who choose to drive a Karma cannot do so. Right now, in 2009, people wanting a sports car have their choice between a Viper, Ferrari, etc, etc, or a PHEV Fisker Karma. Those people are Not going to buy a Prius (maybe, they already own a Prius). If the Karma doesn't exist, their only option will be the gas-guzzler. For some people, even if gas gets to $30/gallon, they will still drive their Ferrari. Don't you think it is a good idea to offer those people the option of a PHEV? Then, maybe we can get 100% of America on PHEVs and electric someday instead of 99% on PHEVs and electric while 1% continue to drive their Ferraris.)

Fisker has done something that Ferrari, Lamborghini, Porsche, Viper, etc, etc. have failed to do. They offered a high-end PHEV. Maybe this will give Lambo and Ferrari something to think about. And, maybe even those companies, during their research, will discover something that Toyota hadn't thought of yet. Something that could make the Prius even better. Just maybe. But if we "dis" Fisker, then we will never know what it could have been.

Looks like Toyota is part of this game too. Toyota gets it.

Toyota knows that 100% of the population is not going to buy a Prius. That is why Toyota (and they are smart people) makes the Lexus LS600H and the GS450H. Think about that.
Fisker Karma or Toyota LS600H? Which one can be plugged in? Which one goes up to 50 miles on EV only if you drive it because you want to see it go 50 miles?

that doesnt make any sense, it is just an PR by Fisker... he saw business opportunity to fill an niche and he did it.

It makes very little sense because that Fisker probably cant complete more than few laps on the track. It is heavy vehicle with 2 powertrains so in normal driving, you wont be able to go more than 20-30 miles (if you have no traffic jams).

You can make it your weekend car, but then you can not really drive it for long...

so what it is for? PR? I see no sense in it.

I don't see any sense in any of these high performance cars.... but I see more sense in Fiskars then in Toyota's god aweful Lexus LF-A.

But how? What I am saying is that from both performance and mpg point, fisker would end up being much better vehicle for its customers if it used parallel hybrid design like in GS450h.

What you get now is 4cly engine in 100k car... makes no sense to me as perspective buyer.

Lexus LF-A 250k for 10 cylinders
Fiskar Karma 100k for 4.

Cost per cylinder for both 25k.

The Karma you can actually plug in.

If buying cars was based on rational decisions, we'd all be driving base models of our perspecive vehicles....