This is the Fisker Surf. Unveiled here at the Frankfurt motor show it's the California-based car maker’s second model. Company boss Henrik Fisker describes it as a “unique cross between a luxury sports car and a station wagon”.
Based on today’s Karma saloon, the Surf is built around the same range-extended electric drivetrain and aluminium spaceframe structure. The new model will go on sale next year and be built alongside the Karma at the Valmet factory in Finland. No details have been released but it’s expected to cost about £90,000.
According to company sources, Fisker expects to sell about 3500 examples of the new model and about 7000 Karma saloons each year. All will be left-hand drive.
About five metres long, the Surf sits on a long 3160mm wheelbase and 22in wheels. With most of the 20kWh battery pack running down the centre of the car, the Surf is a strict four-seater and, despite its length, boot space is far from generous.
The cabin is trimmed almost entirely in low-environmental-impact Scottish leather. The Surf uses a 260bhp turbocharged 2.0-litre petrol engine to drive a 175kW generator, which in turn drives the electric motors and charges the battery packs.
In Sport mode, the Surf develops 981lb ft of torque and hits a claimed maximum speed of 125mph, with 0-60mph taking 5.9sec. In Stealth mode, which is calibrated for efficiency, the Surf is powered purely by the batteries and will hit 60mph in 7.9sec, with a top speed of 95mph.
Using only its batteries, the Surf has a 50-mile range. With the engine/generator in operation, drawing on a 36-litre tank, the car can travel for another 250 miles. Fisker claims the battery pack can be recharged on a European 220V network in six hours.
In 2015 the Karma and Surf will be joined by a convertible, which was previewed as the Sunset concept at the Detroit show in 2009. Before that, Fisker’s Audi-A5-sized range, codenamed Nina, will go sale in 2013. Fisker says that before the dealer network took over sales operations earlier this year, it had 3500 deposits for the Karma.
When the Karma and Nina ranges are on full stream in 2015, Fisker hopes to be building just over 100,000 cars per year. It says it has now secured 45 dealers in the US and 45 in Europe, with 20 planned immediately in China.
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