California-based EV automaker Karma Automotive is looking to claw itself back from irrelevance in a fast-paced industry that has hockey-sticked upward in innovation without it. Following an aggressive strategy under a new president, Karma intends to introduce an entirely new EV portfolio next month, including its first super coupe. Here’s what we know so far.
Karma Automotive is a Chinese-owned automaker based in Orange County, California, whose roots date back to another early EV innovator that saw its own renaissance – Fisker. In February 2014, Chinese auto part supplier Wanxiang Group purchased the remaining assets of Fisker Automotive after it had filed for bankruptcy, deriving its very brand name from the Fisker model it had acquired.
By 2016, the young automaker released the Revero, which was really just a PHEV version of Fisker Karma. It was followed by plans for a Revero GT, which was supposed to be the brand’s halo vehicle. In 2021, Karma introduced a new GS line of EVs, including the GS-6 PHEV and all-electric GS-e6 – the latter of which never saw production.
For those keeping score at home, Karma has yet to deliver a passenger BEV. News surrounding the brand for the past three years has been sporadic. There was a lawsuit against fellow startup Lordstown Motors, which found the gavel in its own right, filing for bankruptcy this past June.
Other than that, we covered Karma expanding into the B2B market to help commercial operators electrify their fleets, but still no new passengers EVs. Hope had seemed lost until a new president stepped in this past spring who looks to put a spotlight back on Karma to crank out some new models quickly.
Karma shares plans for a new EV lineup coming 11/11/23
According to Karma Automotive, its current president, Marques McCammon, has been quite busy since he took over the role in March of this year. McCammon said that one of his first tasks as president was to reach out to the company’s vice president of global design, Michelle Christensen, in order to try and emulate the work she did with Acura on the NSX supercar in 2017.
This isn’t just one vehicle remodel, though, but an entire portfolio of new EVs donning the Karma badge. McCammon spoke:
I explained that Michelle’s design work at Acura, which perfectly melded with the NSX brand platform, was the strategy I wanted to adopt at the new Karma. Then I told her you’ve only got eight months to get it all done.
Here we are, seven months later and a mere month away from Christensen’s deadline – can Karma deliver? Based on its press release today, it appears poised to at least unveil some new EVs next month, but to what stage in the development process they sit remains a mystery. Christensen spoke to the process of the past seven months, some of the hurdles faced, and where the automaker may end up in the EV market:
We resemble more of a woven fabric than a linear string like most automakers. This is the challenge of a lifetime. Designing vehicles – especially high-end exotic vehicles – historically takes several years, but our collaboration and ingenuity with low volume techniques has produced a seamless, gorgeous representation of our Karma identity. This is an animal that is very pure, a beautiful new flagship/halo that is all at once futuristic and will age gracefully. We’re creating low, long and fast vehicles that compare favorably to any high-end European brand.
Low, long, and fast – that’s what we may get a glimpse of on November 11, which is when Karma intends to share new details of its EV lineup at the Wynn Concours in Las Vegas, Nevada. The automaker says the public will learn more about its initial lineup of BEV sports tourers, including a super coupe, as well as how it intends to reach market.
Per Karma, it also intends to explain the company’s “rapidly paced product plan” that will see new Karma EV on the road in 2024 and beyond. All eyes will be on Vegas next month to see what sort of technology Karma is touting.
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