The 2012 Fisker Karma has finally been EPA certified, which means that Fisker Automotive can begin selling the car to customers. This is great news for the fledgling automaker, but the low fuel-economy numbers of the extended-range electric luxury sedan are being lambasted for being so disappointing. Instead of simply presenting the EPA’s figures and making snarky comparisons between them and the better numbers promised by Fisker when the Karma debuted at the 2009 Detroit auto show, we dug a bit deeper. We studied the Karma’s mechanical specifications to better explain the efficiency gap between it, Fisker’s original claims, and one natural competitor, the conceptually similar Chevrolet Volt.
So how “bad” is the Karma’s rating? The EPA’s testing revealed the sedan could travel just 32 miles on electricity alone. During those 32 miles, expect to achieve 52 MPGe combined; both numbers fall short of the Chevrolet Volt’s electric-only range of 35 miles and 94 MPGe. Things go from bad to worse once the Fisker’s 260-hp, turbocharged 2.0-liter four fires up to extend the car’s range. It swills high-test to the tune of 20 mpg combined, barely besting a V-6–powered Ford F-150. The EPA’s numbers are much lower than Fisker Automotive’s early claims of 50 miles of electric-only range and average fuel economy of 100 mpg.
Weight is a big factor for the lower numbers. According to Fisker Automotive, the Karma weighs 5300 pounds (the Volt is a relatively svelte 3755). That’s a lot of car to move around—the 2012 Porsche Panamera S hybrid is nearly identical to the Karma in size, price, and performance, but weighs 900 pounds less (and gets 25 mpg combined, but can only travel short distances under electric power alone). Excess pork helps explain why the Karma’s electric range is less than the Volt’s, despite the Fisker’s higher-capacity 20-kWh battery pack.
