Yahoo Autos 2021 Karma GS-6 Fixes the Fisker Karma
If only Henrik's version had been this good. That thought popped into your author's head on a drive from Los Angeles to Palm Springs in a 2021 Karma GS-6 plug-in hybrid. Roughly halfway into the 107-mile trip, the 24.6-kWh lithium-ion battery pack had given all it could, at which point the BMW-sourced turbocharged 1.5-liter inline-three under the hood fired up to keep power flowing to the pair of electric motors out back. At highway speeds, the transition to gasoline power snuck up on us. It took about 10 miles for us to notice, despite the gauge cluster alerting us that the range-extending engine was now in use.
Karma Correction in Just 10 Years
With the introduction of the GS-6, it finally appears that someone got the Fisker Karma right. Car designer Henrik Fisker is no longer involved nor is the company that bore his name. Fisker's company made about 2000 or so Fisker Karma plug-in hybrids about a decade ago. Once the model name, Karma is now the brand that sells the heavily updated Fisker creation. That name change is one of many changes made by Chinese auto-parts supplier Wanxiang after it scooped up the smoldering remains of Fisker Automotive and decided to reintroduce the lusty luxury car under a new name, Revero, in 2017.
Karma's early Reveros weren't much different than Fisker's version and suffered from many of the problems of the original. Like the Fisker version, the Revero had impractical packaging, a smallish interior, outlandish pricing, and fit and finish in need of some TLC. Worst of all, it neither worked as an extended-range electric car nor a sports sedan. With a driver and a passenger aboard, the original Karma's weight surpassed 5500 pounds, and that prevented its twin, 402-hp electric powertrain on the rear axle from propelling it to 60 mph any quicker than a modern Toyota Camry V-6. We couldn't get more than 24 to 28 miles of electric driving from its battery before its 260-hp turbocharged four-banger kicked on to extend the range, bleating like an angry goat while sucking down fuel like a mid-size SUV.
Karma introduced the Revero with a detuned version of General Motors's turbo four and a slightly larger battery pack, but that wasn't enough to improve the car's range, performance, and weight problems. Then came the 2020 Revero GT with mildly restyled front and rear fascias, improved aerodynamics, and new rear-axle motors producing a combined 536 horsepower, 134 more ponies than before. Out went the GM engine, and in went a BMW i8's turbocharged 1.5-liter three-cylinder as the range extender. Karma then installed a more energy-dense 24.6-kWh lithium-ion battery pack. Thus equipped and a claimed 357 pounds trimmer, the new Revero (according to Karma) could now hit 60 mph in 4.5 seconds and travel 71 miles on a single charge. Armed now with stats to match the styling, Revero GT seemed more interesting, although with a price remaining well into six-figure territory, we weren't sure it was more compelling.