Karma Automotive, the California-based automaker that started in life as Fisker and was subsequently acquired by a Chinese group in 2014, will unveil its new portfolio of battery-electric vehicles on November 11 at the Wynn Concours in Las Vegas.
As part of the announcement, Karma teased a very dark image of one of its upcoming models, which is described by the automaker as being a “super coupe.” This will be part of an initial lineup of battery-powered sports tourers, as the marque calls them, which will hit the road next year, coinciding with the brand’s ten-year-anniversary.
Speaking about the completely new vehicle portfolio, Marques McCammon, who was named president of Karma Automotive in March, said that he immediately contacted Michelle Christensen, who had previously worked on the second-generation Acura NSX, to make sure she was on board to develop a revamped lineup in less than a year.
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“I explained that Michelle’s design work at Acura, which perfectly melded with the NSX brand platform, was the strategy I wanted to adopt at the new Karma,” said McCammon. “Then I told her you’ve only got eight months to get it all done.”
On her part, Christensen added that Karma is in the business of creating low, long, and fast vehicles that can go toe to toe with any high-end European brand.
“This is the challenge of a lifetime,” she added. “Designing vehicles – especially high-end exotic vehicles – historically takes several years, but our collaboration and ingenuity with low-volume techniques have produced a seamless, gorgeous representation of our Karma identity. This is an animal that is very pure, a beautiful new flagship/halo that is all at once futuristic and will age gracefully.”
When we spoke to Karma's president last month, he hinted that the previously rumored GX-1 crossover has been scrapped and that the automaker is pivoting toward “more than two” ultra-luxury performance EVs and series hybrids. In other words, the Irvine-based small-volume manufacturer will offer some kind of range extender hybrid with battery packs that will likely be T-shaped, just like the ones that were offered on the Revero GT hybrid.
Gallery: 2020 Karma Revero GT PHEV Revealed With 535 Horsepower
Karma Automotive started life in 2007 under the name Fisker Automotive, founded by automotive designer Henrik Fisker, who went on to establish another company that currently makes the Ocean SUV EV. In the beginning, the startup made the Finland-built Karma four-door range-extended plug-in hybrid that used a GM-sourced 2.0-liter gasoline engine and a 20.1-kilowatt-hour battery pack.
The original entity, together with its battery supplier – A123 Systems – went bankrupt in the first half of the 2010s and was purchased by Chinese automotive investment firm Wanxiang Group, which rebranded the new venture as Karma Automotive and the car itself got the name Karma Revero.
In 2019, the Revero – which was basically still a Fisker Karma underneath – got a raft of improvements, including a BMW three-cylinder engine, a bigger 28 kWh battery, and a new name: Revero GT.
The GS-6 followed, which was just an incremental update over the Revero GT, and a fully electric version dubbed the GSe-6 was planned but never made it into production. In total, Karma Automotive delivered roughly 1,000 cars worldwide, according to its president.
Source: Karma Automotive