TECHNOLOGY-HYBRID CARS!

*Recently, while wandering the world wide web and wondering about what was going on in the field of new motor vehicle power systems, I visited the [London] Times online (www.timesonline.co.uk/ ) and discovered a very interesting article about a preproduction hybrid sports sedan that is being called the “Fisker Karma,” which was described as being a “four door plug-in hybrid sedan” that was being shown at the latest Geneva Motor Show, and which featured a small petrol engine and a lithium ion battery park that worked together to power the car by using technology that was developed for a “secret” US military reconnaissance vehicle.
*Henrik Fisker, the chief executive of Fisker Automotive (http://www.fiskerautomotive.com/) is quoted in this article as saying “It is a plug-in hybrid so you can plug it in at home like you plug in a cell phone or any electrical device and charge it overnight. Then you can drive the first 50 miles without using any gas. After that there is a gasoline engine that turns the generator that charges the lithium ion battery.”
*Mr Fisker, is also quoted as saying that because his lithium ion battery uses "different chemistry" from that of its rivals, it will have a much longer lifespan, which could be over ten years. .
*Further, this article also states that the “Q DRIVE” hybrid technology that powers the car was developed by Quantum Technologies, which had developed a similar technology for the US military’s Delta Force as part of a vehicle designed to move silently and with maximum fuel efficiency behind enemy lines.
*Also according to Mr. Fisker, other manufacturers passed over this hybrid drive train because it was too big to fit into their conventional model, which is why he and his associates chose to build a new car, The Karma, around the drive train rather than to try to make it fit into any pre-existing models.
*The makers of the Fisker Karma have estimated that when driven only fifty miles a day their car would only require a gasoline fill-up about once a year, since it would be doing most of its work on its battery power, and that during this time it could be expected to deliver 0-60 times in the six second range and a top speed of about 125 mph.
*At present, this premium sports sedan is expected to have a starting price of about $80,000.00 when Fisker starts delivering production vehicles sometime in 2009.