Wall Street’s love affair with Tesla Motors got off to a romantic start on Tuesday. The company’s newly issued stock advanced 10 percent in a decidedly negative market that saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average sink 270 points.
Meanwhile Fisker Automotive’s Karma went negative. The company has acknolwedged a second delay in the release of its plug-in electric sports car.
Tesla’s IPO went out of the blocks at $17, above the expected $14 to $16 share price, an indication that demand was strong. And strong it was. The stock climbed to $19 before settling back to $18.73, up $1.73. The question, of course, is how long the good feelings last. Tesla will post losses for several years as it spends mightly to get its more affordable (and yet still $50,000) Model S sedan to market.
Fisker Automotive has a different job to do. Volume production of the sleek Karma is now expected to start in the first quarter of next year, not this summer as the Energy Department promised when it awarded a $529 million government loan to the company last year. Fisker is blaming financial, not technical, difficulties for the slip.
Despite the delay, the muscle-bound Karma casts a long shadow. We ran into a Karma prototype last weekend at a car show in Silicon Valley (seee pictures below). The four-door luxury has two, 201-hp electric motors and a top speed of 125 mph. After 50 miles, a gasoline-powered generator kicks in to recharge the lithium-ion battery pack. The car will sell for between $88,000 and $115,000.
Karma’s profile is sleek and curvy. It boasts a top speed of 125 mph and will accelerate from zero to 60 in 7 seconds. An optional solar panel built into its roof runs a fan.
For a sports car, the Karma’s interior is roomy and the dashboard uncluttered. The car’s center console includes a display screen The back seat, however, is tight.
The car is anything but boring to look at. A cutaway side panel stands out from behind. The trunk has room for two golf bags.
Posted by Mark Boslet 
