Everything You Need to Know About the Fisker Karma
The Fisker Karma has undergone some changes over the years, now being renamed the Revero GS-6.
Written by Serena Aburahma
Reviewed by Kathleen Flear
Hybrid cars
and electric vehicles are becoming more popular among daily drivers, and some celebrities are encouraging a greener driving experience. One plug-in hybrid, the Fisker Karma, came out years ago but couldn't take off due to some problems it had. After a decade of improvements, the Karma has come back, albeit in a slightly different form. What was it like originally, what is it like now, and how do you find
insurance
for it?The original Fisker Karma
To see how far the GS-6 has come, you need to understand what the original model offered. Around a decade ago, Henrik Fisker designed and produced his vision of the plug-in hybrid, which was called Karma at that time.
However, Fisker didn't do the manufacturing of the car, according to
Car and Driver
. It was outsourced to a few different companies. Some parts of the Fisker Karma came off the production line of Valmet Automotive. General Motors and Magna took on the task for the more significant parts of the hybrid, like the engine and some of the interior.
Fisker wanted to put more into manufacturing the vehicle and not waste money on building a factory to produce the car in.
The Karma was developed around the drivetrain because Fisker merged with Quantum Technologies to build a hybrid car with a specific type of engine setup, which was a design created for a military vehicle.
Back then, the Fisker Karma was able to go 50 miles on the electric motor and 250 miles more when the gasoline engine, which was a 2.0-liter direct-injection four-cylinder, kicked in.
The battery would be charged by excess energy coming from the engine and regenerative braking. The gas/electric combination generated 402 hp and came with a price tag of $87,900.
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What happened to the Fisker Karma?
By 2017, Fisker Automotive was barely hanging on as a company. The Chinese auto-parts supply manufacturer, Wanxiang, bought it and made some changes. The first thing they did was remove the Fisker name from the car, but they kept Karma, which they made the brand.
The luxury hybrid model became the Karma Revero. Unfortunately, they didn't help the sedan much. They designed a new engine and battery pack but it did little to improve the previous design because it was overweight.
Its interior was too small and needed more refinement, and its price was still on the high side. However, in 2020, a Revero GT came out from the company, which was pretty impressive.
The engine was replaced with a 1.5-liter three-cylinder from BMW, which could bang out 536 hp. Some of the body's weight was also trimmed so that the vehicle could finally go from 0 to 60 mph in 4.5 seconds, and it could travel 71 miles on one single charge.
While the hybrid model was definitely improving, the price tag wasn't. It was still running in the six-figure range, which few people could afford.
Where is the hybrid model today?
Once they refined the specs on the Revero, a new sedan showed up, the GS-6, which is a mirror to the predecessor GT. The most significant difference with the GS-6 sedan is the price. You can now get one for around $85,700.
There's even a GS-6e model, which is an all-electric powertrain that's offered for $81,700. While all this makes the vehicle that much more hopeful, some drawbacks remain even from the original design.
According to
Car and Driver
, the original design's uncomfortable seating and steering wheel were long replaced, but the push-button shifter, which they felt was awkward, still remains. The interior space is still just as cramped as before, and it's not easy to get in and out of.The fuel economy isn't too bad at 22-27 mph combined with a battery that gets around
61 miles per charge
, which is one of the longest available on the market.Will going greener with a hybrid vehicle bring better savings?
The answer is that it varies. It would depend on your personal driving history and the insurance company you went with. Some agents will offer savings as an incentive to buy a greener vehicle like a hybrid or electric one. But, not all of them will because they are expensive vehicles to repair.
Finding the right agency to offer coverage for your hybrid will be key.
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