Author: EVAI

Karma on Friday unveiled the Ivara concept at The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering, one of the premier events of 2024 Monterey Car Week that ran last week in California.

Joining it on Karma’s stand were the previously revealed Kaveya sports car and Gyesera sport sedan. The Kaveya was shown in Monterey with a revised interior that Karma said represents the design planned for production.

The Ivara is an SUV with a sleek, almost coupe-like design, and is slated to spawn a production version by the end of 2027. It seats four and features design elements that Karma said will feature on its future lineup.

Karma said the Ivara is being developed to offer the choice of battery-electric and plug-in hybrid powertrains. Karma didn’t say what PHEV technology it plans to use, though it’s likely to be a series plug-in hybrid setup similar to what the company already offers in its Revero sedan.

2020 Karma Revero GT with available Sport package

The Revero features a pair of electric motors at the rear axle delivering a combined 536 hp, and a BMW-sourced turbocharged 1.5-liter inline-3 sitting up front and serving purely as a generator for the battery. Karma estimates a range of 80 miles using the battery alone, and more than 360 miles with the gas engine employed.

The company previously planned to only launch electric vehicles beyond the Revero, though cooling demand for EVs means Karma is now likely to to add more PHEV powertrains.

Karma Gyesera

The Gyesera is also likely to offer a PHEV powertrain. The sedan was originally planned to launch this year as an EV, though speaking with Automotive News (subscription required) at the reveal of the Ivara, Karma chief Marques McCammon hinted that the Gyesera may be modified to fit a PHEV powertrain.

“We’ve listened to the market and we’re leveraging our flexibility,” he said. “You’ll see some changes in the Gyesera platform that the market will respond well to.”

Marques McCammon

The Kaveya for now will be offered with a battery-electric powertrian only. The sports car is on track for launch in 2026 and is promised with up to 1,000 hp. The starting price will be around $300,000, Karma has previously said.

Karma at Monterey Car Week said the Kaveya will be a true software-defined vehicle (SDV) featuring technology developed with Intel. An SDV is essentially a vehicle equipped with software and hardware that allow it to receive over-the-air updates, potentially throughout its entire lifespan.

Karma Kaveya

Karma is the company born out of the remains of the original Fisker Automotive that went bankrupt in 2013, and its first and sole model currently available is the Revero, a heavily updated version of the former Fisker Karma. The company only a few years ago planned to offer luxury vehicles alongside commercial vehicles, though it now plans to focus exclusively on luxury vehicles with a high level of personalization.

It wants to position itself as an American ultra-luxury brand, not unlike Duesenberg more than a century ago. Production of the new Karmas will be handled at the company’s plant in Moreno Valley, California, where the Revero is built.

EV collision repairs continue cost more than those of internal combustion vehicles, according to a new report from Mitchell International, which provides tech for the auto insurance and collision repair industries.

The report, based on second-quarter 2024 data, shows similar rates of EVs and 2021-and-newer gasoline vehicles being declared total losses by insurance companies. EVs were declared not worth repairing in 9.16% of cases studied in the U.S., compared to 9.45% of newer gasoline cars.

Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV and EQA crash test

When EVs aren’t totaled, though, they cost nearly 20% more to repair than comparable gasoline vehicles, according to the report. EV repair costs averaged $5,753 in the U.S. in Q2, compared to $4,806 for vehicles with a combustion engine. The average repair-cost rates for hybrids and plug-in hybrids were $4,726 and $5,059, respectively, which Mitchell puts down to plug-in hybrids’ use of larger battery packs.

The rate of claims for EVs also increased 45% in the second quarter, the report found, although that’s to be expected as more vehicles join the fleet and are inevitably crashed. The newness of many EV models is also reflected in a higher use of OEM parts for repairs, at 89% of parts dollars spent compared to 65% for combustion cars.

Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV and EQA crash test

EVs do at least require less frame repair work, according to the report, likely the result of higher curb weights and battery packs that can act as structural reinforcements. However, mechanics spent more time in Q2 appraising EV repairs than those of combustion vehicles, at 8.18% and 5.21%, respectively.

The new report has similar findings to one published by Mitchell in 2023, which found that average repair costs for EVs in the U.S. were $963 higher than comparable gasoline cars. Hertz also cited high collision repair costs as the main reason for slowing its EV plans, and they continue to be a factor in why EVs cost more to insure than hybrids right now.

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• EV wireless charging has a standard to get positioned for an efficient charge
  
• Called DIPS, it enables cross-compatibility between hardware from different suppliers
• It also helps set the stage for wireless bidirectional charging

Charge ports, connectors, and cables may soon no longer be the only typical way to keep EVs and some types of hybrids charged up. 

That’s because the inductive wireless charging industry is finally on its way toward a whole ecosystem of components that will be able to send a charge to vehicle batteries with no physical connection—via an oscillating magnetic field and the principle of electromagnetic induction.

The core of these new standards—on top of the unified standard for wireless charging announced in 2020 and original guidelines set in 2016—is the so-called Differential Inductive Positioning System (DIPS), which uses a low-intensity magnetic field with multiple smaller coils. The arrangement will recognize multiple ground assemblies and help the vehicle get aligned precisely with the charging pad despite various vehicle ride heights and weather conditions. 

Mahle wireless charging

Publication of the standards was announced last week by the organization SAE International, the same organization that finalized the Tesla-based NACS charging interface. They address unidirectional wireless power transfer, so it might be used in both vehicle charging or in applications that send power banked in batteries back to the home or to the grid. 

SAE finalized the methodology for DIPS last November. Now that it’s set as a standard, it opens the door for a range of suppliers to build a wide range of wireless charging components and accessories for EVs—including driveway or parking-lot charging pads, vehicle units, and fleet systems, all with a high level of confidence these systems will be cross-compatible. 

Differential Inductive Positioning System component of SAE J954 wireless-charging standard

According to the organization, these standards used “a lengthy consensus process” to finalize alignment for safe wireless power transfer of up to 11 kw at efficiencies of up to 93%. That’s far better than the efficiencies typically seen for smartphone charging pads, and nearly the same as for physical charging connectors when including long charge cables. 

Wireless charging costs more than than physical charging, but over the long-term it’s an EV game-changer. Although it could help reduce the reliance on DC fast-charging by making public EV charging less complicated and deliberate. 

Model S wireless charging pad

So far, the expense of it—and the compatibility concerns—have kept wireless charging from going big. But with this boost from cross-compatibility plus plenty of hints Tesla is considering wireless charging, this tech might finally be on the verge of catching on.

Parts of Interstate 80 in Placer County, California shut down for hours Monday as crews worked to extinguish a Tesla Semi blaze.

Aston Martin will continue to use Chase Auto as the private-label lender behind the captive finance company Aston Martin Financial Services following a renewal of their partnership announced Aug. 13.

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