Fisker Silicon Valley, the local retailer for Fisker Automotive, an American manufacturer of premium green automobiles, unveiled the Fisker Karma at Santana Row, a vibrant retail, residential and office neighborhood, in San Jose. The four-seat, plug-in hybrid hardtop convertible provides 50 emission-free miles on a single charge to its lithium-ion battery pack and up to 403hp from two electric motors.
"The Karma furthers the Fisker belief that driving style and performance need not be compromised for environmental friendliness," said Adam Simms, owner, Fisker Silicon Valley. "We are very excited to be the Silicon Valley source for this luxury plug-in hybrid and think this market-with its strong awareness of green transportation issues-will be a good fit for the Fisker brand. We are happy to be a part of this community and support San Jose's efforts with its Green Vision," said Simms.
Fisker Silicon Valley will be among the first group of U.S. retailers to market and service the Fisker Automotive luxury plug-in hybrid vehicles, beginning with the $87,900, 100mpg Karma. Fisker Automotive chose Simms, who has a long history in Silicon Valley automobile retailing, specifically in the hybrid space, because of his familiarity with premium brands, new technology, discerning clientele and with the need to offer a vehicle that reduces environmental impact.
"I am delighted to welcome Fisker to Silicon Valley," said Mayor Chuck Reed. "As a leader in clean-tech innovation, we are working regionally to make the Bay Area the electric vehicle capital of the world. Having a variety of options like Fisker vehicles available to our residents will help put San Jose on the road to improving air quality, decreasing greenhouse gas emissions, and reducing our dependence on foreign oil."
For the debut of the Fisker Karma, Coulomb Technologies demonstrated the simplicity of charging the vehicle via its ChargePointTM Networked Charging Station, installed at Santana Row for the event. This installation complements existing charging stations installed in July 2008-when San Jose became the first large U.S. city to test electric-car charging stations from Coulomb Technologies. The charging stations are outfitted in public and mounted on streetlight poles and garages.
"Coulomb is thrilled to be a part of the debut of the Fisker Karma and are confident that it will open up the plug-in hybrid market by satisfying consumer demand for a performance vehicle that is both beautiful and green," said Richard Lowenthal, CEO, Coulomb Technologies. "We are pleased that the open architecture infrastructure of our charging stations will allow Karma owners an easy, fast and reliable place to charge," said Lowenthal.
