The combination of interstellar radiation and the earth's magnetic field created some amazing light shows over northern Michigan last night

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Here's an interview I did with Henrik Fisker at the Detroit Auto Show a couple of years ago. In the interview he discusses using a battery from a company called Advanced Lithium Power, but that subsequently ending up going with energy storage from A123 Systems.

http://www.greenfuelsforecast.com/ArticleDetails.php?articleID=680

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However, ever since I began writing about it in late 2007, I was always skeptical about whether it actually reach production. Numerous other plug-in vehicles like the Phoenix SUT and Aptera 2e have succumbed to the realities of trying to launch a new carmaker. Even Tesla struggled with the launch of the Roadster and the Model S will be at least two years late to market and the company has never had a profitable quarter.

Much to my surprise the Karma is now trickling out the Valmet factory in Finland although it too is late. As of today, Fisker can even legally sell it in the United States after having received it fuel economy and emissions certification from the EPA.

Just as the final label fuel economy values of Chevy Volt and Nissan Leaf remained a mystery right up until they got EPA approval, the same is true of the Karma. In a release published by Fisker today, the numbers came up well short of what the startup has been bragging about for the past several years.

Instead of the claimed 50 mile electric range, the 20 kWh lithium ion battery is only rated for 32 miles per charge. Now that the EPA has settled on a procedure for estimating electric driving range, this drop was to be expected.

Plug-ins like the Karma, Volt, Leaf and the upcoming Prius PHEV are tested on the various drive cycles with a full charge and then recharged to determine how much electricity was consumed. The electrical consumption is then extrapolated to determine total range and then factored down account for real world factors like using headlights, AC and traffic. Just as the Volt's range dropped from 40 miles to 35 and the Leaf from 100 miles to 73, the Karma will carry a label that rates it 32 miles per charge.

Of course real world range will vary tremendously based on factors like driving style and environmental conditions. A Volt can achieve somewhere around 25-27 miles in the depths of winter or easily get over 50 miles on a nice spring day. Getting 50 miles from a Karma under optimal conditions, shouldn't be too challenging.

Like the Volt, the Karma carries a gasoline engine to run a generator and maintain the charge once the plug-power is used up. However, unlike the Chevy ER-EV, the luxury sedan lacks some of the more interesting drivetrain tricks cooked up by the engineering team led by Larry Nitz, Pam Fletcher and Andrew Farah at the GM Tech Center. The Volt still manages to achieve 35 mpg city, 40 mpg highway and 37 mpg combined running on gas.

I give a much more detailed explanation of how the Volt works in my e-Book on the car's development. It's available on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005GY0SZC/ref=as_li_tf_til?tag=samsthought-20&camp=14573&creative=327641&linkCode=as1&creativeASIN=B005GY0SZC&adid=01THG4PKP373YNMGVWC8& , B&N http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/charging-into-the-future-sam-abuelsamid/1104806909?ean=2940013095755&itm=1&usri=recharging%2bthe%2bcar and the iBooks store http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/recharging-the-car/id457122112?mt=11

The Karma only manages to squeeze 20 mpg out of every gallon of petrol. That's not bad for a big luxury car like this, but frankly not all that impressive considering all the hype. If you drive less than 40 miles a day (which covers about three-quarters of all driving in the US) and have somewhere to charge it regularly, you can get by with little or no gasoline use. But if you have a longer commute, there might be better options out there, although perhaps not as stylish.

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Newsroom – Fisker – Press Release
English. Deutsch. Italiano. Français. Español. ??. News. Press Releases. Auto Shows. Story Ideas. Research Room. Fisker in the News. Archived Search. Models. 2012 Karma. Concepts and Future Models. Mu…

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If a similar case came before the current US Supreme Court, how many here think that a similarly wise and well reasoned ruling would result?

Reshared post from +Bob Goyetche

"The internet cannot, in short, provide access to information without hyperlinks. Limiting their usefulness by subjecting them to the traditional publication rule would have the effect of seriously restricting the flow of information and, as a result, freedom of expression.."

Nice ! I know a few people this is too late to help, but it's nice to see it there now..

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Internet links not libel, top court rules – Politics – CBC News
The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that hyperlinking to defamatory material on the internet is not the same as publishing the material itself.

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Reshared post from +John Pozadzides

Dear TSA,

In album Things That Make You Go… Hmmm! (141 photos)

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Watching a report on last night's GOP debate and I'm more convinced than ever that America doesn't need any more swaggering Texans in the White House. Fortunately it appears that the more that Rick Perry speaks, the more America agrees.

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All I can say is Ice Cream Sandwich looks amazingly tasty

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With what has been discovered in recent years about both social behavior and intelligence in a wide range of animal species anyone that continues to insist that humans are special or any better is simply deluded and ignorant. Crows in particular are remarkably intelligent. Their ability to both adapt to changing environments and use tools is startling. One segment shows a crow figuring out a sequence of actions to get one tool (a short stick) hanging from a string that it then uses to retrieve a longer stick from a cage. The second stick is used to get a piece of meat from a box. In Japan, jungle crows swipe wire hangers used to hang out laundry and then use their wings to reshape them to build nests. Amazing to watch. update: I added a link to the PBS page with the show.

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A Murder of Crows ~ Full Episode | Nature | PBS
Although cultures around the world may regard the crow as a scavenger, bad omen, or simply a nuisance, this bad reputation might overshadow what could be

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