DOE loans Fisker Automotive $530 million to build two plug-in hybrids

In its latest bid to help finance the car of tomorrow, the Obama administration said it would lend more than $500 million to Irvine-based Fisker Automotive Inc. to develop a pair of plug-in hybrids.

The loans, announced today, come from a $25-billion Department of Energy program to fund development of alternative vehicles. According to the administration, the loans will help create or save 5,000 jobs at Fisker and at suppliers to the vehicles.

The $528.7-million low-interest loan "is another critical step in making sure we are positioned to compete for the clean energy jobs of the future," said Energy Secretary Steven Chu. Over the summer, the DOE loaned $8 billion to a variety of automakers and suppliers under the same program.

The loans to Fisker are sure to spur the rivalry between it and Tesla Motors Inc., maker of a $109,000 all-electric sports coupe called the Roadster. Tesla, based in San Carlos, Calif., was awarded $465 million in DOE loans, primarily to build its second all-electric car, a sub-$50,000 sedan, in the Golden State.

For its part, Fisker plans to use $169.3 million of the loan to finish development and production of its $87,900 plug-in hybrid sedan, the Karma, which is due out next summer.

Fisker Karma to debut at Monterey

Fisker Automotive plans to show that its Karma plug-in hybrid is ready to run -- at least for two laps around the racetrack at Monterey.

The Irvine automaker said the prototype would make a two-lap progress around the Mazda Laguna Seca course during the Rolex Monterey Historic Automobile Races on Aug. 15. The course is a little over two miles in length.

It will be the public driving debut for the Karma, which was unveiled 19 months ago as a concept car. Fisker claims a 50-mile battery-only range for the Karma. A 2-liter gasoline engine powers a generator that extends the battery’s range by an additional 250 miles.

The Karma has a top speed of 125 miles per hour and can go from zero to 60 in about six seconds, according to Fisker.

The company has said the luxury sedan will list for just under $88,000. Fancier versions will cost up to $104,000.

The races are part of Monterey Week, a weeklong series of auctions, tours, classic racing and private showings on the Monterey Peninsula. For more information on the races, go to their website.  

-- Martin Zimmerman, Joni Gray

Photo: Fisker Karma. Credit: Fisker Automotive

Expert panel tries to guess the automobile's future

What is the future of the car and what will be different in 2020? Last week, at the New York International Auto Show, three participants in a Newsweek Executive Forum tried to answer that question. The panel consisted of Henrik Fisker, chief executive of Fisker Automotive Inc., Lou Rhodes, vice president for advanced vehicle engineering for Chrysler and Kevin Smith, editorial director of Edmunds.com.

Fisker said his company was on track to sell its electric vehicle this fall. He promised the car would deliver 100 mpg for most users and that it would have true mass-market potential.

When Newsweek senior editor and moderator Daniel Lyons asked what we’ll be driving in 2020, Fisker said, “You’re going to be driving a Fisker.... We will have plug-in hybrids that cost $20,000. And at least one-half of the vehicles in each niche will be hybrids.”

He also said, “What’s going to change is the way we generate electricity in this country. People will be able to drive in the cities, people will be able to drive only in electric mode."

This coming from a company with prices that will start in the $80,000 range, was an interesting viewpoint.  “The car industry," Fisker said, "has to reinvent itself and it has to happen now. We can do it because we start from a clean sheet of paper.” He said the company had raised an additional $85 million in venture capital money.

Chrysler's Rhodes has an unusual distinction. He raced in an ENVI electric car against the Dodge Challenger and won.