[Karma 2012]

I have own my Karma since 2011. Honestly, I have not even gotten close to 50 miles per charge. I know it really depend on the driving condition, hills, etc. I have tried without A/C, without radio, flat highway, etc. I am averaging 30 to 35 miles per charge. I was told by my dealer that the battery range should improve after several cycles. It has been at least 4 months worth of charge cycles, and I have not seen any improvement. My car went into the shop today for 6.15 from 6.14.2. I wonder if that will make a difference. What are your ranges per charge?

 

[Fabulist]

I have own my Karma since 2011. Honestly, I have not even gotten close to 50 miles per charge. I know it really depend on the driving condition, hills, etc. I have tried without A/C, without radio, flat highway, etc. I am averaging 30 to 35 miles per charge. I was told by my dealer that the battery range should improve after several cycles. It has been at least 4 months worth of charge cycles, and I have not seen any improvement. My car went into the shop today for 6.15 from 6.14.2. I wonder if that will make a difference. What are your ranges per charge?

My morning commute is 34 miles. Starting with a full battery at home, I arrive at the office with 11 - 14 miles of estimated electric charge left. My commute profile is slightly downhill or flat, and due to traffic, I rarely go above 60 MPH and the average end-to-end speed is closer to 40 MPH.

 

[marcus]

I'm doing about 38-40/day with a high of 42.

 

[Skibum]

I'm in the same boat as Karma2012. I am getting app 30-35 miles/charge, and have had the car since January. I don't think 6.15 will affect that, but the new battery we are all getting should...

 

[ct-fiskerbuzz]

... I am averaging 30 to 35 miles per charge. I was told by my dealer that the battery range should improve after several cycles. ...

I wonder where they got the idea that "range should improve" (because it shouldn't) ... the main thing that would affect range is "drive profile" (if you go uphill all the way, e.g., from work in Tucson to home on Mt Lemmon, that's terrible; if you go dowhill all the way that's great) and then things like heat / aircon. It does sound like you might have gotten one of the defective batteries from A123 though, with your particular one being "just defective enough to lose 20+% of range" and not "so defective as to cause car to detect fault and shut down" (as Consumer Reports' car did).

 

[Fabulist]

... I am averaging 30 to 35 miles per charge. I was told by my dealer that the battery range should improve after several cycles. ...

I wonder where they got the idea that "range should improve" (because it shouldn't) ... the main thing that would affect range is "drive profile" (if you go uphill all the way, e.g., from work in Tucson to home on Mt Lemmon, that's terrible; if you go dowhill all the way that's great) and then things like heat / aircon. It does sound like you might have gotten one of the defective batteries from A123 though, with your particular one being "just defective enough to lose 20+% of range" and not "so defective as to cause car to detect fault and shut down" (as Consumer Reports' car did).

All of this is true of ICE-powered cars too, except that most drivers do not monitor gas consumption on a trip-by-trip basis and tend to notice the mileage only when they fill up their tanks. In the case of the Karma, the EPA and TUV tested the same car and came up with very different results on the EV range, which further confirms that the range is most closely determined by the drive profile.

It's too bad that the Karma only displays instantaneous KW usage and it is very risky to pay close attention to that display when you are driving. If they add a 30-minute graph of power usage, it would be easier to see where the power is going.

 

[Grebechini]

I am also getting right around the 50 mile range on a consistent basis. I have found turning the climate control OFF makes a large difference in the range. Also cold weather really shortens the range as well.

When I first got the car I had one trip where I got well beyond the 50 mile range....however I have not been able to do it again since (this was 2 or 3 updates ago)....maybe it was just a fluke.

I like Fab tend to drive to work on side roads usually hitting no more than 40mph or so on flat level roads....when I go home I take the expressway and at 70-80 mph I use about 10 more miles of range then on the way in to work.

 

[Karma373]

I have kept a spreadsheet since I got my vehicle the beginning of January and now have almost 1000 miles on the odometer. I average about 21-27 miles per charge, mostly city driving (with a very light foot, coasting to stops, etc.) I get 30-33 miles on freeway trips with no traffic (with just a couple of city miles to get to the on-ramp.)

 

[Fabulist]

I have kept a spreadsheet since I got my vehicle the beginning of January and now have almost 1000 miles on the odometer. I average about 21-27 miles per charge, mostly city driving (with a very light foot, coasting to stops, etc.) I get 30-33 miles on freeway trips with no traffic (with just a couple of city miles to get to the on-ramp.)

I would have thought that you would get better range on city streets than on the highway due to lower speeds and greater benefit from regenerative braking. Overall, the numbers seem fairly low, you way want to consider having the battery checked.

 

[Sigurd]

I'm getting around 45 per charge.

 

[brian]

While I believe it is possible to get 50 miles on a charge (by going 35 mph on a flat road and never stopping and with all other electronics off) I think it is misleading that Fisker promotes that range as being even remotely achievable in the real world on any kind of regular basis.

With normal gas cars I usually get +/- 5% of what the manufacturer claims. With the Karma it's typically -20%. I think Fisker should promote a range of 35 miles and if you get better then good for you, but that should not be the expectation. It's very disingenuous to keep saying 50. I think the EPA had it right way back in the fall.

-Brian

 

[ejo3rd]

I'm getting about 42 per charge. Mostly freeway driving.

 

[LJC]

Somewhere between 38-45 mpg with a full battery charge . Also if you use cruise control you might notice a significant improvement in your overall mpg average. At this moment with a total of 1100 miles my average is now 68mpg which includes the battery charge and gas.Use your settings icon to get this info.

 

[dennis]

I have kept a spreadsheet since I got my vehicle the beginning of January and now have almost 1000 miles on the odometer. I average about 21-27 miles per charge, mostly city driving (with a very light foot, coasting to stops, etc.) I get 30-33 miles on freeway trips with no traffic (with just a couple of city miles to get to the on-ramp.)

I would have thought that you would get better range on city streets than on the highway due to lower speeds and greater benefit from regenerative braking. Overall, the numbers seem fairly low, you way want to consider having the battery checked.

With city driving only, lots of starts/stops, and hills around my house, I get 30-33 miles/charge. When I do freeway driving that increases to 35+.

The EPA rating for the Karma is 32 miles/charge. I've never achieved the EPA gas mileage rating on my ICE powered cars. May be a right foot issue.

 

[FredFriendly]

Getting about 48 miles per charge.

In town, mostly 35 mph, moderate number of starts and stops.

In Florida, so completely flat, but running climate system flat out (typical outside temp is low 80's).

The few trips I've done on the freeway were very battery draining. I suspect any hills would also kill range. My commute is about 25 miles combined so I am very happily running battery Stealth almost all the time (and love it).

Completely satisfied with range.

 

[cbermudez8]

I am consistently getting in the 40 to 50 MPC range while driving around in the Detroit suburbs.

 

[ffcars]

We get no where near 50 miles. We get 30-35 miles AT BEST. And our driving is less than 50 MPH on back roads. We've tried babying it---it adds a little. We're tried using the downhill more---it helps a little. But we still haven't gotten over 35 miles in the 1700 miles of ownership.

 

[kwsmith007]

I did the following experiment twice, I left the car on with the AC blasting in the hot sun. My Fisker's climate control system + Overhead cost 6 Miles per hour. I live in South Florida where it's pool table flat (Good) and very hot and humid (Bad) I drive to work on back roads with few stops and I get about 42 Miles, My average speed is about 40 so 42 + 6 = 48 miles with no AC. Has anybody else done the AC range experiment?

 

[Mike]

I have had mine for a month and my 35 mile commute to work is consistently leaving 7 or 8 miles of charge left on my car. Check this out about battery replacement....

http://consumerist.com/2012/03/fisker-to-replace-karma-battery-that-quit-during-consumer-reports-testing.html

 

[ct-fiskerbuzz]

All of this leaves me wondering if the EPA's test car had a low-capacity battery while the TUV's was all good.