This is the most miles I’ve covered in a short period of time, and I learned some things about the gas economy and range that I thought I’d share. Thanks to the dandy spreadsheet shared on Fisker Buzz (tip of the hat to LonePalmBJ) I’ve been diligent about keeping all the records of fuel economy.
As I documented in a previous road trip, through systematic measurement, the Fisker gets about 26 MPG if driving at 60-65 - but only about 21 MPG when travelling at 80mph – which is a pretty typical speed on Highway 5. So, I did not get the 300 miles the car showed when I got in to leave for the trip, but I hadn’t really multiplied 21mpg x 10 to set my expectation of 210 miles of range based on speeding along in the fast lane on Highway 5.
The Fisker range calculator on the dash is not a predictive calculation. It seems to be a scaled calculation – like the 50miles range on the battery meter – it simply goes down faster than a mile for mile basis initially. I think I’ve gotten used to that and just know to figure on about 40 miles of electric range, regardless of the 50 miles shown. But, I haven’t driven much in gas mode, so I really didn’t know how to adjust my expectations for the gas gauge. Here is what I experienced:
The outside temperature as about 60 degrees. When starting the trip, the range was about 300 miles. But, I got the second fuel warning light notice, and with about 25 miles of range left stopped at Harris Ranch. This is about 220 miles – indicating about 240-250 miles of range under the driving conditions. This is totally predictable based on the speed I was going, and it is worth others keeping in mind if you are going 80, you should plan your stops every 225 miles (if you started with battery) and more frequently if only on gas.
Here is the original post where I conducted the MPG data collection/analysis:
http://www.fiskerbuzz.com/forums/13-fisker-karma/1642-cracking-code-fisker-gas-millage.html
The next day, I turned around and headed back on what was left on the tank, plus 50 miles of electric charge. I wanted to stop somewhere past Harris Ranch so I wouldn’t get tight on range, since I know I wouldn’t have as much range given I’d only be adding gas without a plug-in.
I tapped the AAA App Triptik, which shows plugins, and gas station, etc, and found the next stop was about 30 miles up the road just as I passed Harris Ranch… I thought about taking the next exit and turning around, but I had 36 miles of range, and I vaguely recall a post noting that the eclectic reserve kicks in if gas goes out (maybe?). I went for it figuring the 36 miles range is probably a floating calculation taking into consideration driving speed and consumption in some smart way… And, maybe Trip Tik was wrong and there would be another Gas station before the 30 miles.
Maybe that was expecting too much. It was a stressful last few miles because about half way there, I had only 16 miles of range left. I moved over to the slow lane, followed a semi truck – and I kept recalculating on trip tik to see how many miles left. With 4 miles to go, I had only 4 miles of range. And, with the exit in sight, and a little less than a mile to go, it went to zero... but kept running. As I filled up, it took 9.947 gallons of gas. According to the users manual, there is 9.5 gallons of usable capacity. Yikes, that was close. I think it tapped into electric as I drove across the overpass, looking at the energy flow, but I am not 100% sure... maybe it was fumes that got me to the station... but i think it was a tiny bit of the reserve left in the battery.
The rest of the trip was uneventful. I made it home the 43 miles of range left, and headed to the gas station to fill up and get the final stats:
Fill Up 1: (Harris Ranch on the way down – Stealth Mode Only)
• 9.027 Gallons (started with full electric charge).
• 276 Spot Miles
• 30.6 MPG
Fill Up 2: (Firebaugh Exit – Some sports mode for maybe 15-20 miles of trip, on the steep up hill Questa Grade on Hwy 101, and Sports Mode on Hwy 41 from Atascadero to where it meets hwy 46, a really fun winding road with no traffic –LOVED the handling of the Fisker!)
• 9.947 Gallons
• 260 miles (includes full electric charge in the AM)
• 26.1 MPG
Fill Up 3: Back near home (all stealth)
• 8.447 Gallons
• 184 spot miles (about 40 miles left in indicated range)
• 21.8 MPG (cruising at 75-80MPG)
Lesson I learned is to consider how fast I am going to be driving. If it is 75-80, then I should only expect 200 miles of gas range. I could get about 240 if cruising at 60, based on my previous data. I had thought I had a 10 gallon tank, but learned we only have 9.5 usable.
Fisker mileage range calculator did this odd thing where it stayed at 100 miles for like ten or fifteen miles, then started to drop rather quickly at is seemed to recalibrate… all the sudden I looked down and it was at 70. Be aware of this if you are on a road that has long stretches between gas stations.
Conclusion:
I really liked the Fisker Karma on the road trip. I absolutely loved the sports mode and handling on the unpopulated and very twisty stretch of highway 41. I kicked it on because I still had some miles of electric range, and wanted to punch up the driving a bit. The ease at which the car can be tossed around corners really makes if feel much smaller and lighter that it really is. It is an absolutely stunning gran turismo type feel that is more pleasing to drive than my old Ferrari Maranello. The Maranello, which I’ve had on the same stretch of road, had more rapid acceleration, yet I found the Karma quite gratifying.
Seats were really comfortable. Kicked on the seat warmers to relax the back for some of the time, and cruise control was great and let me stretch my legs a bit. Defroster worked well when needed.
Bluetooth for conference calls on the way down worked fine. Bluetooth with my iPad Mini to listen to music & audible was even better.
Trunk space was fine for me, probably would have been fine for 2, but would require really concise packing for 4. (as a friend with a lambo once told me when I teased him about his trunk space, “If you can afford the car, you can afford to fedex your luggage to your destination” – I think the logic may apply for the Fisker as well).
It rained some, and it handled fine, and windshield wipers were adequate. I had to tap the defrost button every now and again, and the worked great. There was one fog spot on the drivers side window that inconveniently obscured the side mirror… would defog solution work on this?
What could have made the trip in the Karma better? Not much. I would have liked the trip computer and screen dimmer buttons to be on the single button area on the command center, as I found myself trying to hit settings, and page through to check stats, or adjust brightness, and that was a minor inconvenience. The Karma did great! As I saw a Tesla pass the opposite way on Highway 5, I thought, I really do like the extended range gas option. I made two less than 5 min pit stops and was in and out in no time. I liked that. In the tesla, it would have consumed a lot more time, and I really like knowing I can drive anywhere I want to in the Fisker.
