Karma continues to preview its future. After showing its long-range GTE sedan last week and self-driving electric van platform two weeks ago, it's moved on to showcasing the 1,100-hp four-motor all-electric configuration of future hypercars. The new High-Performance E-Flex Platform will serve as the foundation of all-out performance cars previewed by Karma's SC2 concept. The platform could make possible 0-60 mph (96.5 km/h) acceleration times under two seconds coupled with ranges of 400 miles (644 km).
After laying out its future plans at last year's Auto Shanghai show, Karma rolled into the 2019 LA Auto Show with the SC2 concept, a hard-topped evolution of the SC1 Vision Concept it showed in China. The impressive concept coupe came packaged with numbers like 1,100 hp and 350 miles (563 km) of range.
The High-Performance E-Flex Platform takes a peek under the SC2's curvaceous skin, and that of potential production cars like it. Four motors surround a centrally mounted flat battery pack of undesignated capacity (the SC2 had a 120-kWh pack) and silicon carbide high-density inverter to bring the E-Flex skateboard chassis to life. In addition to up to 1,100 hp, those motors fire out a 10,500 lb-ft wheel-torque storm, prompting sub-1.9-second 0-60 mph sprints. And like that, an SC2-style Karma could compete with the likes of the Tesla Roadster and Aspark Owl for the world's quickest supercar title.
Karma also says that the platform could offer up to 400 miles of range, a number we're loath to believe until it's been verified by someone less partial than Karma's marketing team. Not mentioned is any of the L4 autonomous tech that featured on the E-Flex Van platform. The SC2 concept car came with talk of an upgradeable autonomous suite, along with a host of other tech like biometrics and a gaming-inspired performance tracking system.
Karma says that it's completed the initial development stage of the High-Performance E-Flex. It plans to highlight other E-Flex configurations in the weeks to come, and hopefully that will mean a closer look at the underpinnings of the pickup truck it teased at the same time it showed the SC2 in LA.
Source: Karma Automotive