2018 Karma Revero Review - What The Heck Is It??? 

Karma owner here: The exhaust smell is a myth. The car turns off when it stops unless you are at 0 miles. At speed you’ll never smell the exhaust, even when you have the window open. BTW- the biggest reason the original car failed was because the sole battery supplier, A123 went out of business. There were other issues, for sure, but not having a battery supplier for your electric car is going to make it impossible to build and sell more units.

KARMA OWNER HERE: the blue bar is your "power buffer." It will decrease if you drive aggressively and refil itself as you drive normally/quicker during regen braking. The car will go into 'reduced power mode' if you dip below the final bar. Regardless of how aggressively I drive, I've never gotten the blue gauge below half.

I test drove a Revero @ West Coast Exotics years ago and liked it so much, I took my chances and bought a 2012 Fisker Karma back in 2022. Besides the 2 new screens, software and extra drive mode (sustain), the interior is identical to my car and the driving experience is nearly identical. These cars handle well and are fun to drive. And the car is a looker.

The Fisker Karma is probably the cheapest "exotic" you can buy. Despite how few were made, I regularly see them on the used market for $30,000ish.

I remember seeing a silver one of these vehicles in Naperville. It was the previous model you had mentioned, The Fisker Karma, as you mentioned the vehicle is huge, they weigh 5,300 lbs. The 2012 Karma has a 0-60 time of 6 seconds. I'm going to guess the overall vehicles weight, and one speed transmission are the reasons behind its lacking performance, but otherwise it definitely as you mentioned one of the most unique looking vehicles out there, especially for its time. Bur very cool review Zack, and I'm glad you had the time to review one and talk about its history.

I’ve seen a red Karma revero out here in Chicago like 2 weeks ago and fell in love with it. It’s an absolutely beautifully different looking exotic car and looking to buy 1 soon

In the original Fisker Karma, the roof solar panels only ran all of the accessories in the car like the A/C, power windows, etc. No doubt due to advances in solar technology, Karma could get more power out of the same size panels to do all of that and charge the battery.

The blue bar gauge is called the Performance Buffer - but haven't found what it actually is representing

As a Finn i have never see them and the factory that Produced them (Valmet Automotive) now Build's Mercedes 😄

One thing I did appreciate about Fisker is that it was originally based in my hometown of Anaheim, CA

Fisker's a bit of a sore spot in my area. My state gave them millions of dollars in subsidies to renovate a then-recently closed GM plant to build Karmas. They never did anything and then disappeared with the money. The plant ended up getting torn down and converted into a massive Amazon warehouse. It's ironic that this uses a GM engine and GM switchgear. I've seen one at my office and they are distinctive. We've come a long way in battery packaging. As you're sitting at a traffic light, you get to enjoy your own car's fumes.

I LOVE driving this car. Is it practical? No. But I don't mind getting stuck in traffic anymore. As far as interior space, I'm 6 feet tall and I have enough room to go from the driver's seat to the back seat with plenty of leg room. The visibility is limited and it is a big car. There have been a few hiccups learning the different settings but Karma concierge is like having your own personal advisor. And I do. His name is Steven. I do have one unsolved mystery. What is the "slot" between the cupholders and the console armrest?

I would play with the regenerative brake paddle all of the time! 😂

Not surprising at all to see the stalks and steering wheel buttons are GM parts * Electric mirrors, too! I think thst part is also used in European Opels

I didn't fall in love with this car until I saw one in person! Definitely has a one of a kind presence!

Henrik Fisker was a designer for Aston Martin for a while and was partially in charge of the design of the DB9 which I think shows in some of the detail in this car. He went on to do some of the initial design for the Tesla Model S which I think, again, has some influence in areas of this car.

Could the blue bar perhaps demonstrate the ratio of electric to gas usage?

I'm wondering if that blue bar is showing power available. Like when the motors heat up it must drop to show you can only access a certain percentage. Ten segments = 10% each? The only other thing I can think of is it shows time left for full power. Like if you're flooring it it counts down until the motors need to cool.

The original Kharma was what inspired me to want to take something with a larger roof, and integrate solar into it to use for something more than just a bit of cooling, say a 1996 Cadillac Fleetood limousine, a 15 passenger ford econoline, or hupefully eventually, a school bus.

Funny. Playing with that chime about 8:00 in sounds like the Speed Racer opening title sequence!

Clearly the blue bar is how unique the car is.

I love the looks of it and it would be a fun commuter car.

5:25 Very weird optics going on. It looks like you're driving into the sun when looking through the windshield. The tinting on the side windows makes a huge difference.

Hey I just got myself a 2003 caddilac seville sts. Saw your video 2 years ago about a Deville. Only worry is the Northstar V8. This one has 170k miles on it so hopefully that's a good thing for me.

The original Fisker came out around the same time as the Tesla Model S, and back then I was SURE the Fisker would be the big hit and the Tesla would flop. I thought they both looked great, but the plug-in hybrid was a lot more practical (virtually zero public charging infrastructure in 2011) especially since it used a bunch of off-the-shelf GM parts. Well, obviously that was very wrong. I only ever saw 3 Fisker Karmas - one was at a film shoot in Manhattan and two looked DOA and dusty being towed on a flatbed. I have seen a few Karma Reveros since they began making them again, and I still think they look great, but it's shocking that anyone buys them at this point. The only other car that was a true series hybrid like this was the BMW i3 with the optional range extender. Even the Volt and newer Honda hybrids have the capability of using the gas engine to drive the wheels, although they rarely do. It seems confusing that a relatively powerful and not particularly efficient engine is used in the Karmas, but they need a very large generator to keep those batteries charged!

*MYSTERIOUS BLUE BAR* it looks to be a ½inch from the fuel gauge icon that has an arrow directly next to it pointing directly at blue bar?!? Think it's basically telling ya your fuel economy in a poorly designed blue bar system, you STOMP on the GAS, the BAR'S go DOWN!? Think it's a basic MPG fuel economy status Icon, wrapped in something kind of complicated??! I could be wrong, that's my guess!??

Blue gauge is probably a mpg or efficiency gauge

All of the steering wheel controls/stalks are 100% GM, they look like they're from a Cruze or Sonic.

They are striking cars that are a mechanical mess. The car itself looks slick, it looks fast, and looks exotic. But underneath those looks is a mind boggling mechanical and electrical zoo of weirdness matched by no other car out there.

The new ones are built with a BMW engine??

Wasn't there another version, from a different company, of the Karma / Revero but with a V8?

It has a 2.0 LNF motor just to not use it. Weird

I saw 1 in Virginia in 2011...and never again

So cool

Seen one in Poland

She shuts off bruh, when stopping, so exhaust is not the issue

KARMA IS MY BOYFRIEND KARMA IS A GOD KARMA IS THE BREEZE ON MY HAIR ON THE WEEKEND KARMA IS A RELAXING THOUGHT aside from the taylor swift stuff, the branding stills puzzles me and people say that the older versions have a horrible sticky infotaimnent screen

video a bit long winded...

What’s the max distance?? 0 to 60? You lost the light because you missed out on some important data buddy… and I didn’t subscribe because of it