Fisker Karma History

Unveiled at the January 2008 Detroit Auto Show and designed by company founder Henrik Fisker, the Karma was a four-door luxury sports sedan built around a series plug-in-hybrid powertrain: two rear electric motors were driven by a battery that could be recharged either from the grid or by an onboard generator spun by a GM-sourced 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder. It was one of the first plug-in hybrids to reach the market and was distinguished by a roof-mounted solar panel.

Backed by venture money (including Kleiner Perkins) and a $529 million US Department of Energy loan, the Karma began customer deliveries in 2011, with about 200 cars delivered that year and roughly 1,800 in 2012, priced from around $102,000. Production ran only at the Valmet Automotive plant in Finland.

The program unraveled quickly: a December 2011 recall and the August 2012 bankruptcy of battery supplier A123 Systems cut off the Karma's battery packs, production was suspended in November 2012 after about 2,450 cars had been built, and Henrik Fisker resigned in March 2013. Fisker Automotive filed for Chapter 11 in November 2013; its assets were bought by China's Wanxiang in 2014, which revived the design under the separate Karma Automotive brand.