Independent wants his fast car to be first plug-in hybrid

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http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080114/BUSINESS03/80114046

Independent wants his fast car to be first plug-in hybrid

January 14, 2008

By JEWEL GOPWANI

FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER

Henrik Fisker said he expects his new company to be the first to offer a plug-in electric hybrid, the CEO of Fisker Automotive said Monday at the North American International Auto Show.

Fisker unveiled a four-door sports sedan, called the Karma, with a long, sculpted roof Monday, the same day that it announced a multimillion-dollar investment from venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, the second round of funding from the firm that counts Al Gore as a partner.

Fisker is pitching a four-door plug-in hybrid, and aims to deliver the $80,000 car by the end of 2009. Fisker is one of several companies with hybrid or electric cars in the works, as niche and mass-market automakers try to alter the image of environmentally friendly vehicles as small and unimpressive.

“We feel we have a two-year head start,” Fisker said, compared to other automakers. That’s because the one of the companies involved in the joint venture has been developing plug-in hybrids for the U.S. military.

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http://www.fiskerautomotive.com/