Dutch Karma is here!

[Dutch]

After reading on Fiskerbuzz that Fisker has suspended all deliveries, one day before I would be getting mine, I feared the worst. The whole Friday - the 13th - I was excepting an unwelcome phone call from my dealer, saying he had to cancel the delivery. But that call didn't come. My car was delivered without software version 6.13 (it will be updated on a later date).

I got the keys at 10:00 this morning and since then I've driven 100 miles. And what an impressive car it is. And such an attention grabber. There must have been hundreds of people staring at it today, sometimes with their mouths wide open. My two young daughters, in the back (they loved the 'cosy' seats and the seat heating), were having so much fun looking at all those people looking at us and taking pictures of the car with their mobiel phones. On the highway other cars were 'circling' around us, people turning their heads 180 degrees, rolling down their windows just to stick up a thumb.

The car rides really well, especially in Stealth mode. Sport mode is a bit noisier, but it was not bothering me (when I turned on Sport mode the battery was already quite empty). The car looks very big, with the high fenders in front of you, but it handles very well. The suspension absorps bumps really well, despite of the 22" rims.

I'm 6'5 but had no problems finding a good seating position. The mirrors provide perfect vision, and even the small rear window didn't bother me.

The interior looks really good, with beautiful leather everywhere. It smells new, but not in a bad way. It doesn't smell chemical, like I had with other news cars. The control screen has not given me a single problem, although I didn't yet get to use all the functions. My daughter played with the radio, climate control and navigation for half an hour and there was not a single glitch.

Still, after having read about the experiences of other people, I knew the car (#332) would not be perfect. And it did have some things that need to be looked at (and I think can be fixed). First, on the highway when driving more than 40-50 mph, there is an annoying wind turbulence near the left rear passenger door, just behind the driver's ear. It sounds as if something is flapping in the wind. But the door and window were closed well (I checked). The sound is not there on the right side of the car. I think it must be caused by a panel alignment that is not perfect. The sound is bothering me and it will have to be looked at when the car goes back for an update.

Overall, the alignment of the body parts is good. Also where the bumper meets the hood near the lights (where other cars had problems). But the trunk is a problem. It looks as if the trunk cover is too big. On the right side it stick out about a centimeter. That is a lot! I will post a picture in the next post. On the left side it also sticks out, but a bit less. I think this needs to be looked at, it is too big a misalignment.

Last point: the range. When I got the car it had a full battery and the electric range said 80 kms (50 mls). But after I had done 40 kms (25 mls) it was down to 20 kms (12,5 mls) range and then I turned on Sport Mode, because I wanted to save the battery so I could drive in Stealth in my home town. I drove a constant 70 mph on the highway most of the time. I have to say it was cold today, around 3 degrees celcius (37 fahrenheit), and I wonder if that may have affected range. I suspect range will be better when it's warmer outside.

Then one confusing thing. From what I've always understood, in Sport Mode the engine and generator will charge the almost empty battery until it reaches it 50% charge and then keep it there. I've experienced on one of my test drives that electric range actually climbed in Sport Mode. But today I didn't see that. Sport Mode kept electric range constant (on one ride at 20 kms and on another ride at 0 kms). So I wonder if the charging mode has been changed, or whether I was simply going to fast and the engine couldn't at the same time propel the car and get the battery to a higher charge.

Reading back what I wrote, I see that the criticism takes up as much space as the positive comments. And that is a distortion. Overall, I love this car. It's the coolest car in the world, ever (EVer). It was worth the 4 year wait and if I would have to put my deposit down again I would do it again.

I think Fisker needed just a little bit more time to finetune the production process (panels) and the software, but I'm afraid that under pressure from the media, deposit holders and investors they simply couldn't hold back the car anymore after so many delays. Still, I'm confident they can fix these few issues over the next months, and also the few issues on my car.

In the next post I'll post some pictures I took today (I have to prove it's for real, right ).

[ct-fiskerbuzz]

(01-15-2012 07:48 AM)Dutch Wrote:  [mass snippage]

I think Fisker needed just a little bit more time to finetune the production process (panels) and the software, but I'm afraid that under pressure from the media, deposit holders and investors they simply couldn't hold back the car anymore after so many delays. Still, I'm confident they can fix these few issues over the next months, and also the few issues on my car.

Congrats on getting car! And I'm now thinking that being in the queue for an end-of-Feb-ish start to my build is probably a very good thing.

---

Also, re:

(01-15-2012 07:48 AM)Dutch Wrote:  Reading back what I wrote, I see that the criticism takes up as much space as the positive comments. And that is a distortion. Overall, I love this car. It's the coolest car in the world, ever (EVer). It was worth the 4 year wait and if I would have to put my deposit down again I would do it again.

It always takes fewer words to say "this part is great and I would not change anything" than it does to say "this other part here, I would make these changes: <insert list of changes>", so, not really surprising about the length of praise text vs criticism text.

[AnOutsider]

Dutch, that's great news man! One positive that I hear consistently is that the car drives and handles really well. That's an important thing for a luxury tourer, so it's good that fisker got that right.

[Dutch]

As you can see it's a beautiful car, in every aspect. Expect for this misaligned trunk. As you can see here, this is one thing that needs to get fixed (although in the two pictures below it looks a bit worse than it looks in reality).

Still, the overall feeling is that of a very happy owner.

[Sparky168]

(01-15-2012 07:48 AM)Dutch Wrote:  After reading on Fiskerbuzz that Fisker has suspended all deliveries, one day before I would be getting mine, I feared the worst. The whole Friday - the 13th - I was excepting an unwelcome phone call from my dealer, saying he had to cancel the delivery. But that call didn't come. My car was delivered without software version 6.13 (it will be updated on a later date).

I got the keys at 10:00 this morning and since then I've driven 100 miles. And what an impressive car it is. And such an attention grabber. There must have been hundreds of people staring at it today, sometimes with their mouths wide open. My two young daughters, in the back (they loved the 'cosy' seats and the seat heating), were having so much fun looking at all those people looking at us and taking pictures of the car with their mobiel phones. On the highway other cars were 'circling' around us, people turning their heads 180 degrees, rolling down their windows just to stick up a thumb.

The car rides really well, especially in Stealth mode. Sport mode is a bit noisier, but it was not bothering me (when I turned on Sport mode the battery was already quite empty). The looks very big, with the high fenders in front of you, but it handles very well. The suspension absorps bumps really well, despite of the 22" rims.

I'm 6'5 but had no problems finding a good seating position. The mirrors provide perfect vision, and even the small rear window didn't bother me.

The interior looks really good, with beautiful leather everywhere. It smells new, but not in a bad way. It doesn't smell chemical, like I had with other news cars. The control screen has not given me a single problem, although I didn't yet get to use all the functions. My daughter played with the radio, climate control and navigation for half an hour and there was not a single glitch.

Still, after having read about the experiences of other people, I knew the
car (#332) would not be perfect. And it did have some things that need to be looked at (and I think can be fixed). First, on the highway when driving more than 40-50 mph, there is an annoying wind turbulence near the left rear passenger door, just behind the driver's ear. It sounds as if something is flapping in the wind. But the door and window were closed well (I checked). The sound is not there on the right side of the car. I think it must be caused by a panel alignment that is not perfect. The sound is bothering me and it will have to be looked at when the car goes back for an update.

Overall, the alignment of the body parts is good. Also where the bumper meets the hood near the lights (where other cars had problems). But the trunk is a problem. It looks as if the trunk cover is too big. On the right side it stick out about a centimeter. That is a lot! I will post a picture in the next post. On the left side it also sticks out, but a bit less. I think this needs to be looked at, it is too big a misalignment.

Last point: the range. When I got the car it had a full battery and the electric range said 80 kms (50 mls). But after I had done 40 kms (25 mls) it was down to 20 kms (12,5 mls) range and then I turned on Sport Mode, because I wanted to save the battery so I could drive in Stealth in my home town. I drove a constant 70 mph on the highway most of the time. I have to say it was cold today, around 3 degrees celcius (37 fahrenheit), and I wonder if that may have affected range. I suspect range will be better when it's warmer outside.

Then one confusing thing. From what I've always understood, in Sport Mode the engine and generator will charge the almost empty battery until it reaches it 50% charge and then keep it there. I've experienced on one of my test drives that electric range actually climbed in Sport Mode. But today I didn't see that. Sport Mode kept electric range constant (on one ride at 20 kms and on another ride at 0 kms). So I wonder if the charging mode has been changed, or whether I was simply going to fast and the engine couldn't at the same time propel the car and get the battery to a higher charge.

Reading back what I wrote, I see that the criticism takes up as much space as the positive comments. And that is a distortion. Overall, I love this car. It's the coolest car in the world, ever (EVer). It was worth the 4 year wait and if I would have to put my deposit down again I would do it again.

I think Fisker needed just a little bit more time to finetune the production process (panels) and the software, but I'm afraid that under pressure from the media, deposit holders and investors they simply couldn't hold back the car anymore after so many delays. Still, I'm confident they can fix these few issues over the next months, and also the few issues on my car.

In the next post I'll post some pictures I took today (I have to prove it's for real, right ).

Right on! I am so happy to read your post. I am so excited for you. Karma is the only luxury car that can afford a pure EV driving without range anxiety. Each time when you drive by a gas station, I guess that is what that front grill big mustache smile is for.

Enjoy your toy.

[Hollies]

Dutch, gefeliciteerd, ziet er super uit!! Congratulations looks very cool, I'm glad you said it is worth the 4 years waiting, I recived on Friday the 13e the mesage from my dealer that my car is delayed again and won't be ready next week, but I'm glad for you that you have yours now, keep on riding and post a lot of pics and movies

[LonePalmBJ]

Congratulations Dutch!

[brian]

(01-15-2012 07:48 AM)Dutch Wrote:  on the highway when driving more than 40-50 mph, there is an annoying wind turbulence near the left rear passenger door, just behind the driver's ear. It sounds as if something is flapping in the wind. But the door and window were closed well (I checked). The sound is not there on the right side of the car. I think it must be caused by a panel alignment that is not perfect. The sound is bothering me and it will have to be looked at when the car goes back for an update.

That's the exact same noise I've been hearing that we've been discussing in the other thread. I *thought* it was wind turbulence too, but today upon listening closer, it seems to be an illusion that it's coming from the window because the person in the front passenger seat always says it's coming from the left-rear window, but for the driver it sounds like the right-front window. If you actually turn your head around all the way and center it then the sound appears to not be coming from the window, but from that back panel where the speakers are mounted near the rear headrests. Not 100% certain, but it's leaning that way.

-Brian

[Dutch]

That was my first thought too. But now I think the sounds have a different cause. For me, as driver, it is coming from the (front of the) left passenger door, close to my left ear. The person sitting on the seat behind me could also pinpoint it at that exact spot.

It sounded like it was coming from outside the car or from inside the door panel (but not from inside the car). It became louder the faster I was going, suggesting wind turbulence as a cause. It happened on a very smooth highway, so that should not cause any part of the car to creak. I suspect the wind creates the turbulence inside the door panel (through the seem), because on the outside the seem between the two doors looks tight and neat. I will have a look at the inside of the door tomorrow.

[matrix]

(01-15-2012 07:48 AM)Dutch Wrote:  I got the keys at 10:00 this morning...

Congrats! Beautiful car, Dutch!