The Car Aficionado

Fisker Karma

The plug-in hybrid Fisker Karma makes it easy being green. Robert Kerian

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The U.S. government recently granted Fisker Automotive $529 million, because although it’s unseemly to purchase a sports car in a bad economy, it's always politically correct to “go green.”

Henrik Fisker is a Swiss-educated, Danish car designer renowned for English and German sports cars. He is also the founder and chief executive officer of Fisker Automotive, a California-based car company that formed when the designer combined forces with Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide (QTWW). Quantum is an alternative fuel company that developed a vehicle platform for the U.S. Army's special forces. Called Q Drive, the quiet system constitutes a chassis, power train, fuel system, lithium battery pack, and the operating software that makes it all run.

The new company’s first car, dubbed Karma, is a premium, plug-in, gas-electric hybrid sedan that looks like a stylish sports coupe. The car operates so quietly, the exhaust tips do not emit exhaust; rather, they are speakers that can be programmed to make any sound you desire—from a loud wail to a low rumble. The shapely body is mostly high-tech and lightweight carbon fiber, topped by an optional solar-voltaic roof that recharges the batteries.

The Karma has a 300-mile range, but you can drive it...