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Alternative Energy - Tuesday, April 7, 2009

$90K Electric Car Fisker Karma Raises $85M

Fisker Automotive has raised $85M for additional development and manufacturing of its plug-in electric luxury sedan. Investors are Eco-Drive Capital Partners and current investor Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. The firm had closed a $65M round last September. At a time when Detroit is in a world of hurt it's amazing to us that a luxeury car maker like this is getting so much funding.

The car is a beauty for sure. The Karma will be able to go from 0 to 60 miles in 5.8 seconds with a top speed at 125 miles per hour.

Fisker is planning to make three other variants of the plug-in Karma sedan: a convertible, coupe and possibly a four-door sport-utility vehicle. They would launch following the sedan and be available by 2012. Fisker's goal is to take 3.3% of the luxury market in the US. The firm says that revenue should hit $1.3B in 2011. The car maker is led by former Aston Martin designer Henrik Fisker.

Interestingly, founder Henrik Fisker and a designer were sued by Tesla Motors for breach of contract and stealing trade secrets and the case is expected to go to arbitration.

We agree with some comments on on our site Fisker beats Testa hands-down. Maybe that's because the Fisker founder comes from the auto industry whereas Tesla was founded in the tech industry. Fisker's design just looks so much more clean whereas Tesla looks like a kit car, and that matters when you are spending this kind of money.

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