Karma

Karma Automotive is back in the news, this time for the introduction of its latest vehicle called the GS-6. The GS-6 is essentially the Revero GT that the company revealed in the past, but with few significant changes. Karma plans to use the Revero moniker for a future, upmarket product.

Anyway, the GS-6 is a plug-in hybrid vehicle that debuts in the “new luxury” segment; a term coined by Karma to perhaps create a new niche. The GS-6 is not priced as exorbitantly high as the previous products and starts under $100,000.

Karma is entertaining us with quite the stand at the Los Angeles Auto Show, which is also home for the SC2 Concept. The Karma SC2 previews the startup’s future design direction - those are Karma’s words, by the way - which means we’re not necessarily going to see a road-going car inspired by the prototype. Instead, this is Karma showing us what its design and engineering departments are capable of churning out.

We’re sorry to trash your expectations this early, but there’s more to the SC2 Concept than the probability of it spawning a road-ready car. For example, Karma says that the all-electric powertrain is powerful enough to propel the rig from 0 to 60 miles per hour in just 1.9 seconds. Is this a poke at the Tesla Roadster, which “coincidentally” (and theoretically) can dispatch the same interval in 1.9 seconds, too?

Three years after the Karma Revero hit the market, Karma Automotive has launched the updated version of its hybrid sports car. It’s called the Karma Revero GT and it comes with plenty of improvements over its predecessor beyond the addition of the “GT” suffix. The Revero GT looks more evolved than the Revero. It comes with an updated interior and a revised powertrain lineup that includes the addition of BMW’s 1.5-liter turbocharged three-cylinder engine. Karma Automotive hasn’t released the official price of the Revero GT, but expect it to sell for more than the $135,000 price tag of the outgoing Revero. It’s a steep price, which begs the question: is the Karma Revero GT worth $135,000?

The Karma nameplate has a long and less-than-glittering history. First appearing as a hybrid-powered GT sedan from Fisker Automotive in the late 2000s, the original Karma only lasted for about a year before biting the dust. Fisker Automotive produced less than 2,700 examples before it went bankrupt in 2013, after which the Wanxiang Group Corporation bought up the remaining assets. Recently renamed to Karma Automotive, the company charges headlong into the premium hybrid GT segment with the Revero. The Revero first appeared in 2016 for the 2017 model year, and now it is getting a refresh with a new look, updated interior, and powertrain parts sourced from the BMW i8.

The Karma SC1 Concept was one of the coolest – if not the coolest – cars at the 2019 Shanghai Auto Show. It was showcased next to the new Karma’s only, to this date, production model, but it stood out way more thanks to its crazy flamboyancy, butterfly doors – yes; those are still a thing – and some pretty crazy tech. That tech, by the way, included 5G connectivity and a “humanized communication system.” But, it wasn’t really any of this that really made the SC1 so cool. In fact, the car is very deceiving.

The SC1 Concept was designed to showcase Karma’s future design language, and the biggest deception of all is that excessively long hood that, without a doubt, screams “I’m hiding a BIG V-12.” But, sadly – and maybe even surprisingly – that wasn’t the case. In fact, this rolling interpretation of the future didn’t have anything under the hood. Since it is a “vision” car, we speculated that it’s probably packing a pretty intense electric drive system; one that’s probably good for anywhere between 700 and 900 horsepower. But, the world will never know. Still, there’s something more that makes a car like this, with all that 5G, humanized connectivity, special.

It’s the fact that it was built, from the ground up, in just 9 months. And, that’s been done by a company that has next to no lineup and is still clawing its way from the ashes that resulted from the Henrik Fisker mishap. Now, just a month or so after the SC1’s debut, Karma has released a whole collection of videos to showcase just how such an intense car was built to perfection (minus the drivetrain, of course) in just 9 months. Check the serious out below!

Karma Automotive, the company that emerged after the bankruptcy of Henrik Fisker’s first automotive venture, came to the 2019 Shanghai with its own "Big Three": A flamboyant open-top concept, the revised Revero GT and this lavish and elegant two-door sports car penned by Pininfarina which could be produced in limited quantities by Pininfarina if enough buyers get together. As it’s based on the Revero’s underpinnings, it should be at least as quick and agile if not more so.

Karma has been around for a few years already, but it was seen as a stagnant company. After all, its only product has been the Revero, essentially an exercise in rebadging the Fisker Karma. In a way, it makes sense as Chinese company Wanxiang who bought Fisker’s assets (as well as a production plant and other things) paid over $149 million for them and, anyway, the Karma’s bad rep was never due to its design since it’s arguably one of the prettiest four-door GTs of the 21st century (just look at the curvaceous rear fenders).

Last year, Karma introduced the Aliso, a limited-edition version of the Revero and the company announced that only 15 will be made with a base price of $145,000, some $15,000 on top of the Revero’s base MSRP of $130,000. This luscious coupe we see here should be at least as expensive if it will be put into production. If not, just look at it in concept form and think that it’s a source of inspiration for Karma products to roll out in the near future.

Karma Automotive was built from the ashes of Fisker Automotive, and with the latter no longer around, the new automaker — it’s owned by Chinese auto supply company Wanxiang Group — made a bold statement at the 2019 Shanghai Auto Show with the introduction of the SC1 Vision Concept. As you might expect, the SC1 Vision is Karma’s slightly fleshed out interpretation of its future electric supercar. It’s unlikely to hit production anytime soon, but there’s no better time than today to let the world know of your plans, right? Among other things, the SC1 Vision is a showcase of Karma’s ideas and a platform to promote high-tech systems like 5G connectivity and a humanized communication system, both of which, Karma says, are big parts of its future as a purveyor of high-performance electric vehicles. Whether that future materializes remains to be seen, so, for now, we at least get an idea on what that future could look like.

Karma came with its truck filled to the brim at the 2019 Shanghai Auto Show. Not only did the company built from the ashes of Fisker Automotive present its sole production model, but it also previewed its path into the future with two exquisite concept cars. One of these concept cars is the SC1 Vision Concept that is an unapologetically flamboyant supercar with butterfly doors and a hood so long you could fit a continent between the windshield and the tip of the nose. This EV’s strongpoints are 5G connectivity and a humanized communication system. It’s said to be a sneak preview at the future of Karma’s design language.

Karma brought to Shanghai a trifecta that the company calls its ’New Dawn.’ I see it as sort of rebirth or, at the very least, an attempt at rebrand and repositioning by a company that was known for years as one that simply assembled the cars designed by someone else that they acquired the rights for. Of course, this is an over-simplified view of how things stood, but I’m sure that’s how many thought of Karma, beside the many people that have never even heard of the company altogether. Now, the Chinese conglomerate that urges the automaker on plans to change this and this in-your-face concept might just do the trick. Why? Well, just look at it!

The Karma nameplate has a rather checkered past, first appearing on an ill-fated hybrid GT sedan from Fisker Automotive in the late 2000s. After Fisker Automotive went bankrupt in 2013, the China-based Wanxiang Group Corporation purchased the assets, renamed the company Karma Automotive, and set about fixing the vehicle’s many lingering issues. Now, five years later at Auto Shanghai, Karma Automotive is ready to reveal the fruits of its labor with three new models that springboard off the original Karma’s impressive design.

Automotive history books are littered with stories of cars with European bodies and American running gear, commissioned by American companies, many of which were very good. Cases of successful fusion that resulted in some very pretty limited run cars like the Hudson Italia, the Scaglietti Corvette and, with that in mind, we give you the spectacular Karma Pininfarina GT Coupe that was just unveiled at the 2019 Shanghai auto show. Yet another name to add to that list.

If you’re looking for a unique, handsome, tech-savvy hybrid sports sedan, the Karma Revero is a pretty decent choice. Now, Karma is offering an extremely limited special edition dubbed the Aliso, which takes its name from a town in Southern California, and offers customers a slew of additional California-style customization options that could hint at what’s to come from the boutique automaker. And no, that doesn’t mean it just comes with avocado.

Karma Automotive, previously known as Fisker Automotive, unveiled the preliminary details about the Revero, essentially an updated version of the hybrid sedan that Fisker built between 2011 to 2012. The exact details for the four-door are still under wraps for the most part, but the California-based company release a few pictures of the car, as well as a bit of information about the drivetrain.

But, before we dive into that, let’s have a quick look at the history of this hybrid sedan that is about to return to the market after nearly four years.

Launched as the Karma in 2011, it was built by Fisker Automotive and designed by the company’s founder, Henrik Fisker, the same man who penned the BMW Z8 and the Aston Martin DB9. Power was provided by two electric motors, while a turbocharged, 2.0-liter four-cylinder acted as a range extender.

Production was suspended in November 2012 due to financial difficulties after sales of around 1,800 units in North America and Europe. Fisker Automotive filed for bankruptcy in November 2013, after the United States Department of Energy auctioned its debt and sold it to Hybrid Technology LLC for US$25 million. Later on, Fisker’s assets were sold to Chinese company Wanxiang, which announced plans to relaunch the Karma back in April 2015.

Meanwhile, the Fisker Karma was used as a starting point for the Destino, a V-8-powered sedan built by VLF Automotive. The company was founded by Bob Lutz and Gilbert Villarreal as VL Automotive and renamed when Henrik Fisker himself joined the automaker.

The new Karma Revero will be sold for the 2017 model year. The company says that existing Fisker Karma owners will gain exclusive access to a website that gives them the ability to reserve a Revero before the general public.

Updated 09/09/2016: Karma Automotive announced prices for its new Revero and also revealed that the company is now accepting orders for it. Full details on the "Prices" section. The announcement also comes with a series of new images and a new video. Check them out in the "Pictures" tab.

Continue reading to learn more about the 2017 Karma Revero.