Silly market. You offer an overpriced hybrid that is "kind of fast". Anyone with this much money is going to get something much nicer and faster, they have the money to spend on gas.

I doubt this vehicle will help many people since it cost so much. The only hope is that the technology trickles down to less expensive vehicles.

I will almost never drive more than 50 miles in a day. I would love to buy this car. This is exactly what I would love to have!

Sure, it's a little pricy... but that's cause of the car, the looks, etc. We need a car like this to pave the way.

From one Henrik to another, keep pushing for Q4 2009. I would love to get one... not to mention, maybe even buy some stock. :P

I wouldn't pay 80000€ for it. A lot of better products in that segment. Maybe if it was half of that price.

Dude, but how much would so many people pay for some green rep? A lot, as the deposits on Fisker/Tesla already show.
Nowadays to drive a 600 hp v12 may make you look a bit like an ogre... which sucks, really.

"Anyone with this much money is going to get something much nicer and faster, they have the money to spend on gas."

That's probably the dumbest, most short-sighted statement I've read today. Why would you assume that everyone who drives nice vehicles care solely about track performance? Or that everyone who can afford to waste gasoline does? There are many people who care about the environment and America's dependency on foreign oil who are wealthy, not too mention those who love cutting-edge technology and having something unique. In fact, I think I just described everyone who lives in Silicon Valley.



Second of all, rich people are hardly the only ones who buy gas guzzlers. I see all kinds of old pickup trucks and SUVs around here.

The more I hear of electric and hybrid vehicles the more I realize the tremendous improvement in quality of life they are going to bring about once they become the norm. Even cleaner air is something of inestimable value for everybody's health and the general sense of well being.

We have to forget about what we had before in the traditional car. It was a doomed concept from the start. Sure right now it is still viable, but in the near future you can bet your britches fuel is going to become so expensive that nobody will want anything to do with the old gas guzzlers. Mark my words on this.

On the other hand if enough people start driving cars with a high fuel efficiency then the price of fuel will drop again due to a lower demand. So we need these hybrids out there for that at least. Of course if everybody started driving hybrids as soon as possible then the questions surrounding the state of the world's fuel reserves becomes much less of an issue. There will then be more than enough fuel to last for a while still. And that will at least give us more time to adapt. And even if it turns out to not be possible for everybody to drive something electric or electrically augmented due to a short supply of some kind of material needed to manufacture them then it would still be awesome if only a quarter of the world's cars can be electric, because it will already benefit everybody directly or indirectly.

The pace of the technological advancement in the field has been quite phenomenal. I remember being quite surprised when the tesla roadster first came on the scene. I was not expecting anything like it so soon. So I'm positive. I'm pretty sure our grand children one day will one day look back at what we drive now in the same light as we look back at steam trains now. It has always been like this throughout history anyway. At one stage perfectly normal people adamantly argued that cars are stupid and horses are best.

So I wish everybody who are opposed to what quite obviously is progress will stop being so damned negative. At the very least let people who want to build environmentally friendly cars build them and let whoever wants to buy them buy them. It's just so none of your business. Even though you yourself will probably within the next decade be driving either a hybrid or a full electric vehicle. Nobody wants to listen to you gripe. Just stop being so damned... old :/ mkay?

It's great that these pluggable vehicles are coming out, but the costs aren't there. I burn 13 gallons/week at $4/gal which is $52/week to drive to work. I've seen estimates that say that electric would be equivalent to $.70/gal. That would be $9/week for a savings of $43/week or $2236/year. I *might* consider spending an extra $10,000 on a hybrid that I could commute purely on electric. But, I have a family and occasionally go on road trips. (I'm waiting for the Tahoe pluggable hybrid:) )

With its ability to take trips witha driving radius
infinitely longer than the sorry 100 mile range of the Tesla, the Kharma is actually a practical way to avoid almost all gasoline. Those driving the Tesla
will have to use gasoline on their trips, whereas at least the first 50 miles on the Kharma will use electricity only. As a commuter, the Kharma ca eliminate 98% of the need for any liquid fuel, and ethanol can easily supply what's needed. So why would anyone ever spend money for an all electric car?
Those Tesla batteries cost $25,0000 and only last 5 years, regardless of whether you drive the car or not.

Anyone can get a "car" with good gas mpg, however, the SUV offering are pathetic. Chevy Tahoe "hybrid" isn't enough. We need FULL electric (with small gas generator for long trips). You would think that although SUVs are so much bigger, there would be plenty of space to hide batteries, etc. The weight of an SUV can drop significantly if you remove the huge transmission, 8cyl engine, front/rear differentials, transfer case, etc.

It would be great to go from 12-14mpg to 30-40 mpg in an SUV.

YES - People NEED SUVs to avoid getting KILLED by these idiots in cars going 80mph! :)

Batteries are indeed very expensive, but remember that everything is costly in the beggining. I believe soon those batteries will come down in price and go up in capacity, as it becomes more common for everybody to have one.

Heck, you don't even have to OWN a battery, i believe that in Israel they are testing out some way that if you need power for your electric car, the "gas station" will actually trade the battery you have for another one fully charged and your on your way.

This could work very well with a user contract with a battery replacement supplier in gas stations: you pay some kind of a rent for battery usage every month and another little sum when you exchange for another one.

1st: I really think this is too expensive, as others pointed out, those of us who aren't rich will not try to purchase such a car unless in 3-5 years you'd get your extra investment back in gas savings (and that would need to account for battery replacement costs as well...).

2nd: "$80,000 in the U.S. and 80,000 Euro (about $123,000) in Europe"
Why is everyone thinking europeans are all rich??
Taking the exchange rates from today (www.oanda.com):
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
80,000 US Dollar = 51,593.9 Euro
80,000 Euro (EUR) = 124,046 US Dollar (USD)
So if it was about 55000 Euros, it would still be more than in the US... are these guys kidding? Anyone that can afford this can arrange to import it.

What's even more strange is that this is happening in most technology / expensive things... like mobiles, fuel, etc... I really don't understand what is happening...

...until you run someone over because they can't hear your noiseless engine :s

I think this is a great idea. Run all electric for shorter commutes, switch to gas for longer ones. In a few years this type of hybrid might work it way into standard sedans and the price should drop quickly.

@cruzinmy64: What if the "idiots" doing 80mph are in SUVs too?