Will Fisker Karma be saved by a V8?

Published May 06, 2013

FoxNews.com

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Can the internal combustion engine save the electric car?

In the case of the Fisker Karma, it just might.

VL Automotive says its plans to convert the sexy plug-in hybrid sedan to V8 power is on track, despite Fisker’s recent woes. The company hasn’t built any new cars since last summer, due to the bankruptcy of its battery supplier and recently furloughed 75 percent of its workforce as it seeks partners to keep it afloat.

VL Automotive co-founder and former Vice Chairman of General Motors, Bob Lutz, tells Wards Auto that demand for his startup company’s concept remains high and production is still scheduled for late this year.

Since it was first unveiled at the 2013 Detroit Auto show, VL Automotive has modified the design to use the 556 hp 6.2-liter supercharged V8 from the Cadillac CTS-V rather than the 628 hp motor from the Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 that was in the show car. Lutz says interested parties wanted an automatic transmission, and one wasn’t available for the more powerful engine.

Lutz says VL Automotive already has 20 Karma platforms, which are built for Fisker by Finland’s Valmet Automotive, and has been contacted by current Karma owners who would like to have their existing vehicles converted to V8 power. The price for a complete Destino is $185,000, and conversions will likely cost between $85,000 and $90,000.

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Sniper takes out bus gunman who killed woman, as child hostage saved

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  March 20, 2013: Armed officers surround a house in Fort Wayne, Ind., where police say a man suspected of killing a bus passenger earlier in the day is holding a 3-year-old child hostage.AP/The Journal Gazette

FORT WAYNE, Ind. –  A man pulled a woman off a city bus in northern Indiana on Wednesday, fatally shot her and then took a 3-year-old boy hostage before a sniper killed him during a police standoff.

A police officer carried the child out of a house in Fort Wayne about 4:30 p.m., and police announced soon after that the suspect, 45-year-old Kenneth Knight, was dead.

Police said from the outset that they did not believe the shooting was random, but the relationship, if any, between Knight, the woman and the child was not immediately clear.

Police spokeswoman Raquel Foster said a protective order had been filed against Knight in the past few days, but she did not say who had requested the order.

Police said Knight and the woman, 49-year-old Jacqueline Bouvier Hardy, had both been riding a city bus when Knight pulled her off and shot her about 25 feet away in front of several people. The shooting took place about 8 a.m. along a busy street. Children waiting at school bus stops were among the witnesses, a school official said.

A backpack lay at the feet of the victim, whose body was covered by a sheet.

Knight fled after the shooting into the surrounding neighborhood. Several hours later, police said a standoff had ensued and the child was being held hostage. A few hours later, Police Chief Rusty York told reporters Knight was dead, killed by a single shot from a sniper.

Darnell Glaspie, who has lived in a nearby house for about four months, said he watched from his window as the standoff reached its climax.

"They're going in right now. They were all in the front yard, I heard a big boom and then I saw a bunch of them run up there in the house. I just saw about eight of them go up there in the house," Glaspie told The Associated Press by telephone.

Citilink General Manager Kenneth Housden said police will be reviewing video and audio equipment from the bus for their investigation.

Housden said the incident, though tragic, was an isolated one and people should continue to feel safe on Citilink buses.

"We do take safety and security very seriously and respond very quickly to any incident," he said.

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