In a legal suit in the U.S., arbitration is a way to step outside the confines of the court and have the two parties settle their differences by a binding agreement. It is a common step in commercial disputes and is what Fisker Automotive asked a California court for on Tuesday, according to Autoweek. Fisker is dealing with a lawsuit from Tesla Motors over the design of the WhiteStar. According to court papers looked at by Autoweek, there is a hearing scheduled for June 11.

The lawsuit, which Fisker is saying will not delay the introduction of the all-electric Karma plug-in hybrid, revolves around the design of Tesla's upcoming WhiteStar sedan and related issues. Fisker denies any wrongdoing and Henrik Fisker, said, "It's simply a ridiculous suit." Tesla's Darryl Siry had no comment to Autoweek but said, "Our suit is laid out pretty clear." UPDATE: whoops, the Karma is a PHEV, not all electric. Thanks to tankd0g.

[Source: Greg Migliore / Autoweek]

Click above for high-res live gallery of the Fisker Karma

It's a bit ironic that the Tesla WhiteStar sedan and the Fisker Karma grace our list back-to-back as the number two and three most exciting green cars we wish we could buy today. As you're probably aware, news has surfaced that Henrik Fisker was tasked with the design of a Tesla product before being dismissed from the project. Depending on which side you believe, Fisker then either stole Tesla know-how or salvaged his work by introducing his own electric sedan, the Karma. Either way, we think the design of the Karma is amazing and hope that it does in fact see the light of day.



Ready for Number 1?

Someone over at Fisker Automotive has been having fun with Photoshop. In the company's gallery of images for the Karma we see the sleek and "sexy" hybrid in a dark blue on some sort of rocky seashore. Very nice. There are also some actual close-up photos of the Karma taken by photographer Robert Kerian. The images are, I think, to accompany the Karma's debut in the April 2008 edition of the Robb Report Collection (pr after the break). The Robb Report is that glossy fantasy magazine that lusts after luxury items, so I guess this makes the Karma now officially drool-worthy. There's no new information about this 100 mpge PHEV, but at least we have something new to drool on look at. Check things out over at the Fisker Automotive website or in the gallery below.

Henrik Fisker is not slowing down. Following a positive reception to his Karma plug-in hybrid at the Detroit Auto Show, Fisker showed off the first picture of a two-door, four-seat convertible at the J.D. Power Roundtable in San Francisco today, according to Automotive News (subs req'd). That little picture is not all we know about this car, as Fisker said it will use the same PHEV powertrain as the Karma and will be available at around the same time (i.e., late 2009). If you've got an Automotive News subscription, you can see a larger version of the image above on the AN site.

While the Karma has four-doors, there is a lot of styling carryover between the two vehicles (based on this one image). The wheels, grille, and body shape all look similar. The two obvious differences are the missing top and reduced number of doors. What do you see? (you can compare the shot above with a large 3/4 shot of the Karma here.

Related:

• Detroit 2008: Fisker Karma live reveal

[Source: Automotive News]

Now that we've seen the Fisker Karma, we're glad to know more about the company behind this $80,000 plug-in hybrid. As part to the Karma's unveiling, Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide, the company that is part of the joint venture behind Fisker Automotive, announced that the funding group Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers gave a second round of funding to Fisker. How much? Well, it's a "multi-million dollar investment [that] builds on the initial capital funding from Palo Alto Investors." More details than that were not divulged by Quantum.

KPCB's managing partner, Ray Lane, said in a statement (pasted after the jump) that, "We believe that Fisker Automotive's groundbreaking, forward-thinking design stands to pave the way for a greener and more efficient transportation future." You can believe these things in a serious way when you've got millions of dollars to back up your belief.

Related:

• Detroit 2008: Fisker Karma live reveal

[Source: Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide, Inc.]

The look of the Fisker Karma plug-in hybrid that was unveiled in Detroit today is not a surprise. We saw a sneak peek of it all the way back in October. It was on the last day of October, but still. The difference is that now we got to oooh and aaah over this expensive and sleek (and I'm tempted to say shark-like, because that's what it reminded me of) PHEV hybrid in person after the curtain dropped this afternoon. I stood in the polite scrum and shot y'all some pictures of the Karma, just in case you can't find $80,000 to buy a Karma, the first vehicle from Fisker Automotive, Inc. in a few years. The company says it hopes to sell 15,000 Karmas a year when these go on sale towards the end of 2009.

The Karma has impressive performance numbers, with a 0-60 time of under six seconds and a top speed of more than 125 mph. The vehicle is moved by something called the Q Drive, which will be found in all future Fisker Karma derivatives, and has two driving modes: Stealth Drive (a nice name for electric only) and Sport Drive (which uses both parts of the hybrid drivetrain). Should you plug the Karma in at night, you can get 50 miles of EV-only driving. Unlike most high-end sports cars in the green realm (the Tesla Roadster, for example), the Karma has four doors. Like all of the others, this will remain tantalizingly out of reach for most of us. Still, one more player in this realm never hurts.

Video on the way after the jump.

Related:

• More details on Fisker's upcoming hybrid
• Henrik Fisker goes green with ECO-CHIC plug-in vehicle