Karma News: 2020 Karma Revero Gets Updated Battery And Regenerator

[Drew Dowdell]

Karma Automotive is preparing to release the 2020 refresh of the Revaro.  The current car uses GM's 2.0 liter 4-cylinder as a regenerator to charge the 21.4 kWh battery while underway. The battery then powers a pair of electric motors in the rear that produce a combined 403 horsepower letting the Revero dart to 60 in just 5.4 seconds. Range in full EV mode is about 37 miles, so says the EPA.

In a press release, Karma has announced that the the refreshed Revero will now move to a 1.5 liter BMW 3-cylinder to support a new, more powerful NMC lithium-ion battery pack.  The rear drive unit is being replaced as well with a new twin-motor rear drive module.  In the 2020 car, naught to 60 will drop by nearly a full second to 4.5 seconds. 

The refreshed Revero will sport updated body work to go along with its technological upgrades. 

Karma will be unveiling the 2020 Revero at the Shanghai Motor Show on April 16th along with two other concepts. 
 

2020 Karma Revero Teaser (Click to Enlarge)

Related:

 

View full article

[G. David Felt]

Nice to hear, how about actual production. We have yet to see anything since the ownership change. I wonder when they actually will start building auto's for sale?

[Drew Dowdell]

29 minutes ago, dfelt said:

Nice to hear, how about actual production. We have yet to see anything since the ownership change. I wonder when they actually will start building auto's for sale?

They go into production in a few weeks and will be on sale by the summer. 

[smk4565]

Why is this company still around?  It was a cool looking car in 2012 or whenever it came out, but that is old news.  And who really wants to pay top dollar for some unheard of brand with a parts bin car when  you can buy a Tesla or one of a dozen German luxury cars.

[balthazar]

^ Some would say the Tesla was a cool looking top-dollar car from an unheard of brand when it came out in 2012 or whenever.

But I think it's the potential shake-up / unseating of the Germans fraternal triplets that Tesla (& perhaps Karma) that's the threat. MB/BMW's electric efforts to date have been pathetic and they are a decade behind Tesla.

[smk4565]

If Karma was a viable company they wouldn't have to buy their engine off BMW.   I feel like they are buying BMW i8 powertrains and putting it into an old sedan shell they have and trying to sell it.   This company seems less viable than Saab was 10 years ago.

As for the Germans they have plenty of EV's coming, and the market really hasn't demanded them yet.  Tesla is a bit of an anomaly, with how quickly they were able to find success.   I do think EV is the future, but won't hit it big until the 2025-2030 time frame.  Karma is no Tesla.

[balthazar]

What kind of F-d up metric is that?
Let's see : 'If Rolls Royce, Ferrari & Jaguar were viable companies, they wouldn't have to have bought their transmissions off of General Motors.'

How's that work for you?

[smk4565]

9 hours ago, balthazar said:

What kind of F-d up metric is that?
Let's see : 'If Rolls Royce, Ferrari & Jaguar were viable companies, they wouldn't have to have bought their transmissions off of General Motors.'

How's that work for you?

Well BMW bought Rolls.  Ferrari is viable due to their price point and merchandise sales.  Jaguar has bled money from one owner to the next.

Those were all established brands though.  Fisher went bust, Karma will do the same.  Why would buyers trust a brand that might not be able to honor a warranty or be in business for repairs.

[Drew Dowdell]

15 hours ago, smk4565 said:

If Karma was a viable company they wouldn't have to buy their engine off BMW.   I feel like they are buying BMW i8 powertrains and putting it into an old sedan shell they have and trying to sell it.   This company seems less viable than Saab was 10 years ago.

As for the Germans they have plenty of EV's coming, and the market really hasn't demanded them yet.  Tesla is a bit of an anomaly, with how quickly they were able to find success.   I do think EV is the future, but won't hit it big until the 2025-2030 time frame.  Karma is no Tesla.

That's some faulty logic there. They are attempting to be an all electric company eventually, so why put money into developing and building a gas motor when there are plenty out there that can be bought.  The BMW choice give an air of premiumness to it... but they would have been suited equally well with something from Honda Motor Company. 

The market hasn't demanded EVs? Telsa is 1/3rd of the entire luxury sedan market at this point. 

[balthazar]

4 hours ago, smk4565 said:

...BMW bought Rolls.  Ferrari is...  Jaguar has...
Those were all established brands...

What's worse- a established brand having to go to it's competition to source components/parts, or a start-up doing so?

[smk4565]

4 hours ago, Drew Dowdell said:

That's some faulty logic there. They are attempting to be an all electric company eventually, so why put money into developing and building a gas motor when there are plenty out there that can be bought.  The BMW choice give an air of premiumness to it... but they would have been suited equally well with something from Honda Motor Company. 

The market hasn't demanded EVs? Telsa is 1/3rd of the entire luxury sedan market at this point. 

Then why not just build EV’s?  

I am all for EV’s and I think what Tesla has done to get market share and not use the old dealer model and all that is great.  Part of the Tesla appeal is you are buying the future, that luster may wear off when a lot of people have autonomous EV’s.

I don’t see Karma building a better car than Tesla, Audi or Mercedes, so what is the point, especially with the $100k type money they will want for it.

[Drew Dowdell]

The revero is a transitional ev.... But you already know that

[balthazar]

Who saw a start-up in a repurposed GM plant with a rebadged Lotus eventually upseating the c-class in sales??

[G. David Felt]

I saw a fairly new C-Class this morning and the lug nuts were rusty. Makes one wonder about the tag "Best or nothing at all!" I wonder if this marketing ever comes to mind when they cut corners on quality.

[oldshurst442]

Hey...this body shell is still sexy AF.  I like the Model S and all, but the Model S is really showing its age right about now.  The Model 3 is fresher. Even if its smaller and similar looking to the Model S, the Model S is long in the tooth the design department. And that is even if you like the Model 3 design or not...

But the Karma Fisker/Revero still looks good.   Both came out about the same time, non?

 

The new body shell  would be a great idea for Bob Lutz to use and update his company's model for a Blackwing V8.  

Or really go medieval and ditch GM and get a Hellcat crate engine. Or really really go bat$h! crazy and get the Hellephant crate engine for it...

But I wished the Revero was a 100% battery electric vehicle more than anything less at this point...

 

 

 

Edited April 8, 2019 by oldshurst442

[A Horse With No Name]

On 4/8/2019 at 7:53 PM, oldshurst442 said:

Hey...this body shell is still sexy AF.  I like the Model S and all, but the Model S is really showing its age right about now.  The Model 3 is fresher. Even if its smaller and similar looking to the Model S, the Model S is long in the tooth the design department. And that is even if you like the Model 3 design or not...

But the Karma Fisker/Revero still looks good.   Both came out about the same time, non?

 

The new body shell  would be a great idea for Bob Lutz to use and update his company's model for a Blackwing V8.  

Or really go medieval and ditch GM and get a Hellcat crate engine. Or really really go bat$h! crazy and get the Hellephant crate engine for it...

But I wished the Revero was a 100% battery electric vehicle more than anything less at this point...

 

 

 

Agree entirely.