Karma Kaveya leads company's turnaround lineup of ultra-lux EVs
Over the weekend, Karma Automotive CEO Marques McCammon presided over the re-relaunch of the 10-year-old automaker. The way forward will be led in spirit by this, the Karma Kaveya coupe. We say “in spirit” because the car isn’t due until the end of 2025; however, it sets the tone for the vehicles coming before then, which includes an updated Revero range-extender EV and the Gyesera “touring sedan.”
As a primer on how we got here, Henrik Fisker co-founded Fisker Automotive and launched the Fisker Karma EV in 2011. The ex-designer’s first foray into launching an EV company didn’t go well as the company out of business two years later. Chinese parts company Wanxing Group bought some of the assets as eventual products for a new company called Karma Automotive, founded in 2014. Karma Automotive transformed the former Fisker Karma into the Karma Revero in 2016. Despite the occasional updated flagship and LA Auto Show concept, the situation hasn’t changed much. In March of this year, though, Wanxing installed McCammon as president, and he poached Michelle Christensen, who penned the latest Acura NSX, to be the company’s head of design.
So here we are with the Kaveya, its butterfly doors stuck midway down a carbon fiber body that’s 187.7 inches long, 78.8 inches wide, and 49.4 inches high, on a 104-inch wheelbase. The footprint is 1.6 inches longer than the 2024 Mercedes-AMG GT Coupe we just drove, its width within an inch, its height 4 inches lower. Buyers with creaky hips and knees need to stay away from this one. Underneath the composite panels is an aluminum spaceframe with an all-aluminum suspension. The Kaveya rear-driver comes first, in Q4 2025, packing 536 horsepower. The all-paw model follows a year later, making a combined 1,180 horsepower and 1,270 pound-feet of torque. Despite the AWD trim packing a 120-kWh battery, range is quoted as “greater than 250 miles” — a suspiciously small figure for a car three years away.
The Gyesera “BEV touring sedan” is due at the end of next year. Karma’s only teased this one, but it’s an evolution of the Revero, identically sized and offered in rear-wheel drive, like the Revero. It weighs 257 pounds more, which we expect is due to the much larger battery compared to the range-extended Revero. The preliminary spec sheet says the Gyesera’s got 590 hp, 693 lb-ft, a 120-kWh battery, and a range of more than 250 miles.
The Revero comes first, due in Q3 next year with 536 hp and 708 lb-ft, with a 28-kWh battery providing a 65-mile range on electricity alone. This represents the same horsepower and battery spec as the Karma GS-6, which was the Revero’s interim name when we drove it in 2021, but a lot more torque and, oddly, an all-electric range that’s 15 miles lower. The thing about the Revero is it’s basically still the design of the original Fisker Karma, and it’s still a beautiful car. We hope Karma can deliver the interior this car has always needed and deserved.
Karma Automotive considers 2024 its birthday year, so expect further updates after the calendar flips to January, and more vehicles to be announced later in 2024. McCammon said, “Undoubtedly, our plan is aggressive. After rolling out our initial new vehicles beginning in Q3 2024, we will debut new products and concepts every six months.”
