Fisker announces fuel economy for Karma plug-in hybrid – without much hype

 
Measuring fuel consumption in the upcoming generation of plug-in hybrid cars is not a straightforward process, as we’ve said before. Depending on the driving cycle and how often they’re recharged with electricity, their miles per gallon can range to infinity.
 
But such claims sound preposterous and may only damage automakers credibility, such marketing campaign in which  General Motors the upcoming Chevrolet Volt.
 
So it’s refreshing to see an emerging automaker make a more realistic claim, based on a standard set by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE). Fisker Automotive, which plans to  introduce the Karma  plug-in hybrid electric sedan next year, says the car will get 67 mpg based on the SAE test. (GM says its tests of the Volt were based on a new Environmental Protection Agency standard that has not been made public. However, government sources have told us the new EPA standard is based on the same SAE standard cited by Fisker.)
 
In price, the Fisker Karma is likely to compete with cars like the Mercedes-Benz S-Class and Lexus LS 600h. At Fisker’s claimed 67 mpg, the Karma would achieve a 75 percent reduction in fuel consumption and CO2 emissions compared with those cars. And it would be cleaner and more efficient than today’s best hybrids.
 
Like the Volt, the Karma’s fuel economy will depend entirely on how often it is recharged electrically and how it is driven.
 
Fisker also released some other detailed specifications for the Karma: It will have a 22 kwh battery capable of taking the car 50 miles on electricity between recharges. (A turbocharged 2.2-liter gasoline engine will kick in for longer trips.) The battery pack will produce 200 kw (about 268 hp). Fisker calls electric mode Stealth. Combining the engine and the electric motor (in Sport mode) yields a total of 403 horsepower.
 
All these numbers sound impressive. But we’ll have to wait until the Karma goes on sale to verify their accuracy. At least they don’t seem as wildly out of reach as those of GM.
 
-- Eric Evarts 

2009 Detroit Auto Show: BYD--Where have I seen you before?

A funny thing happened as my colleagues and I walked past the BYD display. One of the cars the company was showing--the F6DM--was basically cut in half to show its dual-mode (hence, the initials “DM”) hybrid technology. What it also showed, however, was the car’s interior details. Several caught our attention and left us scratching our heads. Somehow, this new Chinese car’s interior looked familiar.

Take a look at the photos and let us know what you see. Any of the design cues remind you of anything? Use the Comments feature, below, and give us your best guess.

--Mike Quincy

See Consumer Reports' coverage of the 2009 Detroit auto show.

Best new car deals - American style

The Detroit 3 automakers find themselves in desperate straits. And while the pleas of their CEOs for emergency federal aid—and their travel modes—have made headlines, a spate of dramatic sales incentives designed to stimulate devastatingly sluggish automotive sales have gone largely unnoticed. Potential new vehicle buyers who are actively shopping in anticipation of a purchase within the next few weeks can choose from several heavily "incentivized" Consumer Reports-recommended GM and Ford vehicles (including related Saab and Volvo models) to meet their needs; there are no CR-recommended Chrysler-made cars.

For example, combined dealer and customer incentives of $6,750, plus dealer holdback, bring the Consumer Reports Bottom Line Price (the effective price the dealer pays GM for the vehicle) for the 2008 Buick Lucerne CXS to $27,132. That’s a whopping 28% off the sticker price (MSRP plus destination charges) of $37,795! Once you allow for a reasonable dealer profit of, say, three percent, the vehicle price climbs to only $27,946: a savings well over $10,000 versus sticker.

If a pickup truck better suits your needs, you can find savings of nearly 18% off sticker on a 2008 Ford F-150 XLT 4x4 SuperCrew.  Significant savings can also be found on other CR-recommended pickups such as the Chevrolet Silverado 1500 and the GMC Sierra 1500.

Here’s a complete look at the current domestic best deals in cars, trucks, and SUVs.

Brand name	Model name	Version name	Expires	MSRP	Invoice price	Customer rebate	Dealer incentive	Bottom Line Price	Potential savings below MSRP
Buick	Lucerne	5XL CXL	1/5/2009	$35,770	$33,803	Yes	Yes	Bottom Line Price	20%+
Buick	Lucerne	CXS	1/5/2009	$37,030	$34,993	Yes	Yes	Bottom Line Price	25%+
Cadillac	DTS	Standard	1/5/2009	$45,400	$42,449	Yes	Yes	Bottom Line Price	15%+
Cadillac	DTS	V8	1/5/2009	$43,175	$40,369	Yes	Yes	Bottom Line Price	25%+
Chevrolet	Avalanche	4WD Avalanche LT1	1/5/2009	$38,880	$35,575	Yes	No	Bottom Line Price	15%+
Chevrolet	Avalanche	4WD Avalanche w/1LT	1/5/2009	$37,355	$34,180	Yes	No	Bottom Line Price	25%+
Chevrolet	Malibu	1LT	1/5/2009	$21,185	$20,020	Yes	Yes	Bottom Line Price	25%+
Chevrolet	Malibu	1LT	1/5/2009	$22,505	$21,267	Yes	Yes	Bottom Line Price	20%+
Chevrolet	Malibu	LTZ	1/5/2009	$27,095	$25,605	Yes	Yes	Bottom Line Price	25%+
Chevrolet	Malibu	LTZ	1/5/2009	$26,880	$25,402	Yes	Yes	Bottom Line Price	20%+
Chevrolet	Silverado 1500	1LT 4x4 Crew Cab	1/5/2009	$32,720	$29,939	Yes	Yes	Bottom Line Price	25%+
Chevrolet	Silverado 1500	1LT 4x4 Crew Cab	1/5/2009	$33,495	$30,648	Yes	No	Bottom Line Price	20%+
Ford	F-150	XLT 4x4 SuperCrew 150-in	1/5/2009	$33,700	$30,446	No	Yes	Bottom Line Price	15%+
Ford	Mustang	GT Deluxe	1/5/2009	$26,240	$24,186	Yes	No	Bottom Line Price	20%+
Ford	Mustang	GT Deluxe	1/5/2009	$31,065	$28,529	Yes	No	Bottom Line Price	15%+
GMC	Sierra 1500	4WD Crew Cab SLT SWB	1/5/2009	$40,575	37,126	Yes	Yes	Bottom Line Price	25%+
GMC	Sierra 1500	4WD Crew Cab SLT SWB	1/5/2009	$41,055	$37,565	Yes	No	Bottom Line Price	15%+
Lincoln	Navigator	4x4 L	1/5/2009	$54,645	$50,291	No	Yes	Bottom Line Price	10%+
Saab	9-3	2.0 T Sport Sedan	1/5/2009	$28,445	$27,108	No	Yes	Bottom Line Price	5%+
Saab	9-3	2.0T Sport Sedan	1/5/2009	$30,360	$28,933	No	Yes	Bottom Line Price	5%+
Saab	9-5	2.3T	1/5/2009	$37,685	$35,612	No	Yes	Bottom Line Price	10%+
Saab	9-5	2.3T	1/5/2009	$38,380	$36,269	No	Yes	Bottom Line Price	10%+
Saturn	Aura	3.6 XR	1/5/2009	$25,675	$24,006	No	Yes	Bottom Line Price	15%+
Saturn	Aura	3.6 XR	1/5/2009	$26,925	$25,175	No	Yes	Bottom Line Price	15%+
Volvo	C30	T5 Version 1.0	1/2/2009	$22,950	$21,573	No	Yes	Bottom Line Price	15%+
Volvo	C70	T5 M	1/2/2009	$39,240	$36,886	No	Yes	Bottom Line Price	10%+
Volvo	C70	T5 M	1/2/2009	$39,800	$37,412	No	Yes	Bottom Line Price	10%+
Volvo	S80	3.2 FWD A	1/2/2009	$38,705	$36,383	No	Yes	Bottom Line Price	15%+
Volvo	S80	3.2 FWD A	1/2/2009	$39,600	$37,224	No	Yes	Bottom Line Price	15%+
Volvo	XC90	V8 AWD A	1/2/2009	$48,505	$45,100	No	Yes	Bottom Line Price	15%+

For advice on buying a new car, from vehicle selection to financing, read our car buying guide. Detailed pricing information is available in the Consumer Reports Auto Price Reports.

From the logbook: Hyundai Genesis

Car companies usually have a few competitors that they target, be it for benchmarking or simply for stealing sales. This list is usually a short one of a few top sellers and performers. For example, a car company would be crazy not to target its new family sedan at the Honda Accord, Nissan Altima, Toyota Camry, Mazda6, Ford Fusion, or Chevrolet Malibu. Simple enough.

But Hyundai’s Genesis goes up against one of the largest possible cross-sections of competitors that we’ve seen:

•    At the Genesis' debut in Detroit this winter, their promo video showed the car competing against the Mercedes-Benz E-Class and BMW 5 Series. Of course there are tons of cars in that class, such as the Infiniti M35, Lexus GS, Acura RL, Audi A6, to name a few.
•    Price wise, it lines up exactly against a Lexus ES, and it targets the same comfort-oriented customers. 
•    Folks shopping a loaded Toyota Avalon could consider the Genesis, especially if you skip some options. Same with a Buick Lucerne or even the Hyundai Azera.
•    Yet, Hyundai claims the Genesis has as much interior volume as a Mercedes S-Class. That brings a whole other realm of competitors, including the king of posh rolling isolation, the Lexus LS.

That range of competitors raises some questions. While Hyundai has been building some knockout products – the Elantra SE and Santa Fe were CR Top Picks in our April issue – their brand image is still recovering from the days of the first craptastic Excel. Although the car is aggressively priced, all the better in a down sales market, does Hyundai have enough cachet to pull off selling a car of this stature?

In the end, that’s not really our concern. We just want to know if the Genesis is a good car. So, we bought a $36,000 Genesis 3.8 with the Premium Plus Package, including a Lexicon stereo, swanky brown leather dash inserts, and a sunroof. (The V8 wasn’t out in time for our test group, and we avoided the navigation system with its iDrive-lite-like controller.)

How is Hyundai’s most ambitious car to date working out so far? To the logbook!

“A good cruiser with lots of room in the back for kids and stuff.”

“Strong acceleration and brakes.”

“Steering is light, but a lot better than most Lexi.”

“Wonderful fit and finish, nice materials, and great fit.”

“Low speed urban ride is a bit stiff.”

“Blue switch lighting very hard to read at night or on a rainy day.”

“Doors close with a satisfying thunk.”

“I don’t think the market is going to support a $36K Hyundai.”

“Strong stereo, but I needed to look in a dictionary to know what Lexicon means.”

“Impressive vehicle. Parked next to a (Cadillac) DTS, it cedes very little.”

“Controls are nice and large.”

“Great motor – V8 power [from a V6].”

“Quiet cabin, easy controls, comfy seats.”

“Exterior styling is a bit invisible – I walked past it twice and actually got into the Sonata before I realized that it was the wrong car.”

“A screaming deal at $36K, and I’d buy this over an ES 350 or Lucerne – but a car needs to be near perfect to take on M35, E-Class, or 5 Series.”

“A number of my neighbors thought this was a Lexus or Infiniti.”

Given the questions in the introduction above, it’s no surprise that we don’t all agree if the Genesis will be a success in the luxury car field. But we’re pretty much in agreement that the Genesis is a really nice car. We’ll report how well it performs in our February magazine group.

--Tom Mutchler

2008 Annual Car Reliability Survey: Gas-saving models in the lead

Fuel-efficient vehicles are a very reliable segment overall, European cars are improving, and, on average, Ford continues to build the most reliable American cars. These are the key findings from Consumer Reports latest Annual Car Reliability Survey. This year we had responses on more than 1.4 million vehicles (model years 1999 to 2008) owned or leased by our subscribers.

A total of nine hybrid models for which we have sufficient data rated above average in predicted reliability, most from Japanese automakers. From the Family Cars category, the Toyota Prius, the Toyota Camry Hybrid, and the Nissan Altima Hybrid, as well as the luxury Lexus GS 450h Hybrid sedan are all among the most reliable. The Lexus RX 400h and the Toyota Highlander Hybrid are among the most reliable in midsized SUVs, while the Ford Escape Hybrid and Mercury Mariner Hybrid small SUVs rated above average in predicted reliability. The Honda Civic Hybrid is also above average. In addition, conventional gas sippers such as the Honda Fit, Scion xD, Smart ForTwo, and Toyota Yaris had few problems. 

Ford’s three nameplates – Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury – lead the domestic automakers and continue to pull away from the rest of Detroit.  Except for some truck-based vehicles, almost all Ford products are now average or better. Excluding those, Ford’s reliability is now on par with good Japanese automakers. The Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan continued to rank among the most reliable family cars. The freshened Ford Focus sedan rated above average, a vast improvement from when the new model debuted in 2000 with below-average reliability.

European automakers, particularly Mercedes-Benz, showed signs of a comeback. Six Mercedes models, including the redesigned C-Class and E-Class (V6) sedans and the ML350 SUV have improved to average reliability and are now recommended. Last year, no Mercedes models had average or better reliability and so could not be recommended.

Still, Japanese cars are the most reliable overall, leading 15 of 16 categories in Consumer Reports’ predicted reliability ratings. The Scion xD has the best predicted reliability score for all new cars with about 80% fewer problems than the average model.

Check out our full reliability history charts and predicted reliability on hundreds of 2009 models, plus a list of what’s up and what’s down, best and worst models, and a comparison chart of brands (for subscribers).