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With its stunning design—and nontrivial $60,000 price cut—Karma Automotive’s new GS-6 is HARD TO RESIST By Howard Walker Forget that this curvy, sinewy-bodied Karma is a plug-in hybrid. Or that there’s a fully electric version around the corner. Or that its dashboard can be made from timber salvaged from California wildfires. No, what will have your head rotating like the gal in The Exorcist is the car’s breathtaking shape. The most beautiful vehicle in the world? This is surely one of them. Maybe it’s all those rollercoaster swoops and sweeps over the giant 22-inch wheels. Or that raked-back windshield or ski-slope-like rear screen. Or the way the body looks like it’s been stretched like a dollop of Play-Doh. Remember, this is a car that’s almost as long as a BMW 7 Series but as low as a Porsche 911. Gaze at it in profile and it resembles a hip-high Italian supercar—with four doors and a trunk. But first, a little history lesson. Back in 2011, the LA-based Danish car-designer-turned-entrepreneur Henrik Fisker began building his
Fisker Karma plug-in hybrid. Before the company went belly-up in 2013, he’d made around 2,450 cars. Enter the Chinese Wanxiang Group, which snapped up the assets, kept the gorgeous design, and renamed the car the Karma Revero. The corporation started producing the modified version at a new factory in Moreno Valley, California, in 2016. Alas, a crazy-ambitious $130,000plus price tag, a punishing safety recall, and constant funding challenges meant the car never really gained traction—or sales. Fast-forward to 2021 and all has changed. After a $100 million cash infusion last summer, a solid business plan, and a ramp-up in dealers—we now have enthusiastic Karma retailers in Boca Raton, Fort Lauderdale, Miami Beach, and Naples—Karma is back. Arguably the biggest news is the smarter pricing. The newly launched Karma GS-6 plug-in hybrid has a starting sticker of $85,700. That’s down
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