Posted on 05/15/2008 12:48:43 PM PDT by Red Badger
We love our green sports cars here at Inhabitat, and we have plenty of room on our favorites list for more than one. While we’ve been raving for the last two years about the Tesla Roadster, the Fisker Karma has been doing the one thing Tesla has yet to do: bring a hybrid sports car to market. Created by noted car designer Henrik Fisker, the ultra cool Karma is a sleek, power packed eco-luxury ride.
The Karma’s performance specs rev out at 0-60 mph in 6 seconds, and a top speed of 125 mph. At $80,000 USD, The car is a plug-in hybrid based on technology of Quantum Technologies. The Q DRIVE consists of a small gasoline engine which in turn charges the lithium battery packs in the car. According to Fisker, if charged properly, the hybrid would need to use no more than a fuel tank per year, quite a claim!
Now before you think that the Fisker is just a concept vehicle, Wired managed to get some pics of the Fisker Karma in action. Here’s hoping that soon we can have two really cool sports cars that show that being green can be done at maximum speed.
>>>Now your Karma can really run over your dogma!............... <<<
Beat me to it!!!
>> bring a hybrid sports car to market. <<
Hybrid wasn’t Tesla’s goal. What a stupid article.
Ooh, shivers. Should be able to outrun a loaded Odyssey.
To be fair, that was a fast car, 10 years ago.
I like a little "sport" with my "sports car."
You could buy a 10 mpg Hummer for $35,000 and have the interest on the remaining $45,000 pay for all the gas you could ever use for the rest of your life...
I think they should change the black and white to a true zebra pattern.
But you wouldn’t get that smug, self-righteous feeling of innate intellectual superiority as you drive!.............
$80,000 for a hybrid - sure wish I was rich.
I dunno why they do that stuff. GM and Ford do it, too.......with today’s computer software, those stripes can be photoshopped right off in no time.......
Or, you could spend your $80k on a Corvette Z06 or Nissan GTR.
There are a lot of mass-produced cars in the 50k range these days.
Range??
Check this:
Test Drive : Eliica vs. Porshe [Performance, Electric vs. Gasoline/ Petrol]
The Eliica (or the Electric Lithium-Ion Car) is a battery electric vehicle prototype, or concept car designed by a team at Keio University in Tokyo, led by Professor Hiroshi Shimizu. The 5.1 metre (16.7 feet) car runs on a lithium-ion battery and can accelerate from 0-100 km/h (60 mph) in four seconds. In 2004, the Eliica reached a speed of 370 km/h (230 mph) on Italy's Nardo High Speed Track. The team's goal is to exceed 400 km/h (250 mph), breaking the record set by today's street-legal gasoline-powered vehicles.
The Eliica weighs in at 2400 kg (5291 lbs) and seats the driver and three passengers. The body of the four door car has a futuristic, bullet shape design which was tested in a wind tunnel. The front doors open forward and the rear doors open upward like wings. The car's platform contains 4 tracks of 80 batteries, which make for one third of the vehicle's cost. They currently require about 10 hours of recharging from empty to full charge, and can be easily charged off of a residential power grid.
The car has eight wheels enabling it to be closer to the ground for better traction. Each of the wheels has a 60 kW (80 hp) electric motor, giving a 480 kW (640 hp) eight wheel drive which can tackle all kinds of road surfaces. The four front wheels steer. The electric motors mean that the Eliica can deliver a smooth acceleration free from gear shifts of about 0.8 g. Each wheel contains a disc brake and employs a regenerative brake system to recover energy.
There are currently (as of 2005) two versions of the Eliica: a Speed model and an Acceleration model. The Speed model is made to challenge gasoline-based records and has a top speed of 370 km/h (230 mph) with a range of 200 km (125 miles). The Acceleration model is made for the street and has a top speed of 190 km/h (120 mph) with a range of 320 km (200 miles).
The estimated cost of development was in excess of US$320,000. Once the team receives corporate sponsorship, they plan to produce at least 200 units. As of early 2007, the projected pricetag was ¥30,000,000, or about $255,000 US.
On December 19, 2005, the Prime Minister of Japan Junichiro Koizumi tested this vehicle in a 10-minute ride to the Parliament. In 2006, the car was tested by Shintaro Ishihara, the governor of Tokyo, as well as by the Crown Prince Naruhito.
Sites
http://www.eliica.com/
English
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eliica
Português
http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eliica
Video
http://video.google.com/videoplay?doc
WATCH:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QS8jqmBh4M0
The Ellica has to be by far and large the most b-ugly car I have ever seen. Looks like a auto version of a spider with 8 wheels and 13 eyes.
At a 8% rate on $45000 your yield will be around $3600/year. At $4/gallon that will buy 900 gallons. 900 gallons will get you 9000 miles in said Hummer. Few drive that little and 8% is generous. In a bond fund or something fairly non-volitile, 4.5% would be more realistic yielding you somewhere around the 5000 mile mark. If you cut into the principal, you'd probably dry it up within 6 years at 15000/year.
At 6’9’’, the only way I would fit in that thing is to amputate both legs.
Think I will stick with my Cummins racer. It eats Vettes anyway.
Microwave........
Haha! So true!
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