[dennis]

This poll should answer the question:

What is the real world MPG that Fisker Karma owners are experiencing?

Please be sure to select the appropriate answer in the poll and click the Vote! button

 

[ct-fiskerbuzz]

My driving has been "bimodal": lots of trips that get "infinity" and several long trips that require gasoline.

The Trip B meter (which I reset when I picked the car up from the dealer) was at 31 mpg last time I checked. Trip A, which I reset after filling the car up after the 640 mile drive, is at 409 (max). The tank is still basically full. The longest drive (640 miles) drive was on the 9th, i.e., about 16 days ago. I did about 200 miles on the 2nd and just over 150 on the 8th, as well.

The reading on the 640 mile trip was 24 mpg (on Trip A before I reset it) but I calculated something closer to 21.5 mpg. Given that this one trip was half the miles I have put on it, if the others work out to about 40 mpg overall (this is a wild guess, I'm in no shape to do serious calculations due to ongoing kidney stone stuff) then I'm currently around 30.75 mpg. So I guess that's what I'll put in the poll—but it will go up and down a lot from there depending on future trips.

 

[fisker579]

My real world MPG based on cost ranges from 66 to 72 MPG. I calculated for the first few months of ownership using gas @ $3.50/gal and 0.14/KWH.

 

[dennis]

My real world MPG based on cost ranges from 66 to 72 MPG. I calculated for the first few months of ownership using gas @ $3.50/gal and 0.14/KWH.

Wow, where do you live? In CA we are paying $4.35/gal for premium and $.20/kwh. :exclamation:

 

[MyColorIsGreen]

I am pushing into the .39/kwh on my electric bill and I only use 1000 kwh per month.

 

[ct-fiskerbuzz]

Wow, where do you live? In CA we are paying $4.35/gal for premium and $.20/kwh. :exclamation:

In Utah (SLC area), Chevron 91 octane recently went for $4.019 (happen to have credit card receipt right here, left over from computing Zion mileage) and electricity is about $.10/kWh (it's a little higher in summer and a little lower in winter; and those are Rocky Mountain Power rates, as I have no idea what the other municipal utility rates are).

 

[dennis]

I am pushing into the .39/kwh on my electric bill and I only use 1000 kwh per month.

It is interesting that road test observed mpg (24mpg) in no way resembles real owner mpg (current median 135 mpg in our poll) when testing PHEV's. It is a valid measure for comparing ICE's, but for PHEV's mpg is too dependent on your personal daily driving cycle. The road test observed mpg will always dramatically understate real world mpg for PHEVs because they do a lot of miles in one day and get little relative benefit from the battery.

 

[MyColorIsGreen]

Yeah.. I thought it was interesting to compare the performance statistics..

stopping from 60-0 in about 185ft... yikes.. if I could keep up with my friends McLaren MP4-12C... I would be hitting him with an extra 80 - 85 feet of force going into turn 1. haha.. the model s actually has the braking performance close to the mp4... and the mp4 is the fastest stopping car I have ever been in 100ft

I am seriously considering the model s now..
Fisker Karma $114,000 5297 lb 406 hp 0-60 6.1 sec 60-0 185 ft 0.87 g
Tesla Model S P85 $105,400 4766 lb 416 hp 0-60 3.9 sec 60-0 105 ft 0.92 g
Cadillac CTSV Wagon $63,000 4353 lb 556 hp 0-60 4.1 sec 60-0 105 ft 0.90 g
Panamera Turbo S $194,000 4388 lb 550 hp 0-60 3.5 sec 60-0 105 ft 1.00 g

I took the stats from the CTSV wagon to add a little weight so it would compare to the heavier electric cars..
The Tesla Model S's performance is incredible compared to these other cars.. even the Turbo S stats..

The Fisker Karma has the same brembo brakes as the CTSV so why does it take so long to stop? The spinning weight of the 22" wheels is one thought... as slamming on the brakes does not engage much of the abs. the weight shouldn't be that big (80ft) of a difference since the Tesla does a 105ft stop and is only 500lbs lighter than the karma.

The tesla has pretty much the same power as the fisker. same brake horsepower etc.. they just do a way better job delivering the power to the wheels.

Needless to say the Karma is the sexiest car on the road but I need power. The feel of acceleration and brake performance is what I need right now. Hey Dennis... any chance...

 

[Dutch]

The Model S Performance is fast, but I think you're giving it a bit too much credit in speed. The 6,1 seconds for the Karma is the manufacturer's number, the 3,9 seconds for the Model S is not. Without rolling it's 4,4 (still fast ofcourse). For the non-performance it's 5,9 seconds and for the cars with smaller batteries 6,5 seconds.

Where does the 185 ft braking distance for the Karma come from? Is that official? In my experience the Karma stops pretty fast, I cannot imagine it overshooting these other cars by 80 feet.

 

[MyColorIsGreen]

Hey Dutch,
I am not referencing manufactures numbers.. I am referencing Motor Trends testing numbers.. these are more realistic numbers than the manufactures claim. Fisker claims 5.9 for the Karma.

The Model S turned fast times when motortrend did their tests..

Here is where I got my information
http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/alternative/1208_2012_tesla_model_s_test_and_range_verification/viewall.html

I researched EXACT numbers on every car before I posted this... I did not just dream up numbers

The 185ft comes from the car and driver report.


I wasn't looking for consumer reports only companies that post real performance numbers..
I will also do a test on the stopping ability of the karma and post my results.

The Model S Performance is fast, but I think you're giving it a bit too much credit in speed. The 6,1 seconds for the Karma is the manufacturer's number, the 3,9 seconds for the Model S is not. Without rolling it's 4,4 (still fast ofcourse). For the non-performance it's 5,9 seconds and for the cars with smaller batteries 6,5 seconds.

Where does the 185 ft braking distance for the Karma come from? Is that official? In my experience the Karma stops pretty fast, I cannot imagine it overshooting these other cars by 80 feet.

 

[Sportsmeddoc]

5400 miles and 172 mpg

 

[dennis]

Based on the 26 poll responses thus far, the median mpg that Karma owners are experiencing is 115.

I know there are a lot more than 26 owners on this forum. Please respond to the poll and indicate the overall mpg you have experienced with your Fisker Karma. :fisker::fisker:

 

[MyColorIsGreen]

I tested the brake performance about 8-10 times and I was getting about 120ft for 60-0 braking..

that is not that bad.. I am not sure where that magazine got 185ft.

 

[JSPONSLER]

I have 2200 miles and have used only 1/2 gallon of gasoline.
I filled up once on the first day of ownership.
My daily commute is 20 to 30 miles and can charge up at work and at home.
My actual MPG is therefore 2200/0.5 = 4400 MPG.
The only time I ever ran out of battery was when I forgot to plug in one night.
The ICE happily came on and generated the power to get me home.
In Wasilla Alaska electricity is generated by a natural gas system and that methane is mined locally.

 

[ct-fiskerbuzz]

[If various things,] then I'm currently around 30.75 mpg. So I guess that's what I'll put in the poll—but it will go up and down a lot from there depending on future trips.

Update: I'm up to 1400 miles and the Karma's trip computer (for Trip B, which I set to 0 when I first picked up the car) now says 34 mpg.

The Karma has run the engine "unnecessarily" (as in, I didn't ask it to, nor did I open the fuel door, and there was plenty of battery charge) twice in the last week or so. No idea why. It would be nice if the system diagnostics page had a way to show a log of "things worthy of logging" (which would include "why the computer ran the gasoline generator")...

 

[EVer1]

If you are interested in tracking your lifetime MPG, I suggest that you don't rely on the Karma's trip computer. Many of us have found that computer gets "reset" during upgrades or after passing significant mileage marks (like 3k). I started using LonePalmBJ’s spreadsheet with my first fill-up, (and all three of them since). For that reason I wasn’t too distressed when my “Trip B” went from 170mpg before the 6.28 upgrade to 1mpg after.
See the thread titled “Fisker Mileage Calculator” for the downloadable spreadsheet.

 

[gatorsurgeon]

My trip computer got reset when they did the 6.15 upgrade (at about 1800 miles), but not when they did the 6.28. So my current "trip" is 2850 real-world miles, including no-gas commute days around town but also a number of road trips up to 250 miles in a day. The magic number stands at 141mpg. 93 octane gas is ~$3.75 a gallon right now, and electricity is ~0.115/KwH.

 

[ct-fiskerbuzz]

If you are interested in tracking your lifetime MPG, I suggest that you don't rely on the Karma's trip computer. Many of us have found that computer gets "reset" during upgrades or after passing significant mileage marks (like 3k). I started using LonePalmBJ’s spreadsheet with my first fill-up, (and all three of them since). For that reason I wasn’t too distressed when my “Trip B” went from 170mpg before the 6.28 upgrade to 1mpg after.
See the thread titled “Fisker Mileage Calculator” for the downloadable spreadsheet.

Yes, I keep a log book in the glove compartment, and log (gasoline) fill-ups and maintenance. The trip computer is just for convenience, since Trip B has not yet reset (it was at 30 mpg 200 miles ago, and has crept up to 34 with the all-electric driving in the last few weeks).

I can't use an Excel spreadsheet; I use either google docs (now called "google drive"), or a truly ancient Unix-based spreadsheet called "sc" (I modified it a bit to get it to run again on FreeBSD and MacOS since I have a bunch of existing "sc" spreadsheets from the 1990s and 2000s). But mostly I use the log book since I can just keep it right there in the car.

 

[Mike_D]

Finally filled up...

Broke down and filled up for the first time after six months of ownership. She took 8.1 gallons after 3550 miles. 438 mpg. Gotta love it!

 

[LonePalmBJ]

Broke down and filled up for the first time after six months of ownership. She took 8.1 gallons after 3550 miles. 438 mpg. Gotta love it!

Last week I got gas for the first time since April too. My MPG over six months was *only* 261.2. Electric driving is cool

Brent