Fisker News & Blogs

Fisker Buys Ex-GM Plant, Will Build Affordable Plug-In Hybrid

Joined by Vice President Joe Biden and Delaware's Governor Jack Markell, fledgling plug-in hybrid entrepreneur Henrik Fisker announced that his firm has signed a letter of intent to purchase the shuttered GM assembly plant in Wilmington for $18 million and turn it into the new home of Fisker Automotive's Project NINA. When an additional $175 million in modifications and upgrades are completed, the facility will turn out a new line of more affordable mainstream plug-in hybrid sedans to complement the high-profile Karma luxury model that will be made by Valmet in Finland and go on sale here next summer. Fisker says the still-unnamed Project NINA vehicle, which is due to start production sometime in 2012, will cost under $40,000 after federal tax...
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California Mandates Cooler Cars to Fight Global Warming

It's not quite what you think. But the California Air Resources Board (CARB) has just passed the first legislation requiring solar-efficient glass to be used in all new cars sold in that state starting in 2012. Beyond literally keeping occupants cooler in the summer, the coincident reduction in the use of air conditioning will help improve average fuel economy and decrease the amount of greenhouse gas emissions. This new regulation will be enacted using a two-stage roll. From 2012-2015, all vehicle glass must be capable of rejecting at least 45 percent of the sun's total heat-producing energy, except for the windshield which will have a 50 percent rejection requirement. Starting in 2016, the numbers will rise to 60 percent all around. CARB data...
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Obama Plan Paves Way for Unified Mileage/Emissions Standards

President Obama today presented a landmark proposal aimed at moving the country ahead on the road to a clean energy economy. Speaking in the White House Rose Garden and flanked by members of his administration and key auto executives, Obama offered a comprehensive approach that will significantly boost fuel economy numbers and resolve the ongoing legal wrangling that has long set automakers and the state of California at odds over supplemental greenhouse gas emissions issues. The president, who characterized the existing rules governing fuel economy as "inadequate, uncertain and in flux," called for the adoption of a new single-standard formula that will accelerate the CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) requirement to 35.5 mpg by 2016 -- four...
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Top 10 KBB Green Stories of 2009 -- Early Edition

Okay, okay, we admit it's a bit premature to offer up any definitive list of top green-themed stories for 2009. But with yet another Earth Day upon us, we thought it would be worth taking a quick look back at 10 of this year's most significant and most popular KBB Green news items. As might be expected, their subject matter spans everything from new eco-friendly vehicles to advances in sustainable technology to fundamental changes in the legislative framework that will help shape and reshape the future of transportation well into the 21st century. So without further ado, and in no particular order, here are 10 stories that merited a just-in-timely Earth Day revisit.1. 2010 Toyota Prius: Recasting an Eco IconToyota Introduces its all-new and even...
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2010 Fisker Karma/Karma S: Plug-in Passion

Renowned designer Henrik Fisker doubled down in Detroit, showing both the first production version of his Karma luxury plug-in sedan and a potentially very-real retractable hardtop concept, the Karma S -- for Sunset. Both of these "eco-chic" stunners share the same aluminum space frame and proprietary Q-DRIVE powertrain that uses a turbocharged 2.0-liter GM Ecotec inline-four engine and a Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies controller to charge its centrally mounted Lithium-ion battery pack. That, in turn, powers two electric motors that generate up to 408 horsepower. Able to travel 50 miles on a single charge and hit 95 mph in its pure-EV "stealth" mode, the rear-drive Karma can sprint from 0-60 mph in less than six seconds and top out at 125 mph...
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