Irvine-based Karma Automotive’s SC1 Vision Concept car shows where the luxury hybrid automaker’s head is at when it comes to design and performance moving forward.
Last Friday’s grand opening of Karma Newport Beach’s 15,000-square-foot retail spot along Campus Drive, a few blocks from John Wayne Airport, marked the first time the SC1 Vision—the first two letters in the name derived from its Southern California roots—was on public display in Orange County, following its North American debut at this year’s Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.
The Newport Beach ribbon cutting also allowed the automaker to show off its new 2020 Karma Revero GT, an updated version of the Revero that starts at $135,000.
Easy on the Eyes
The SC1, which takes design cues from Howard Hughes’ 1935 H-1 Racer, boasts an abbreviated design and development time of nine months. It’s not self-driving, but it bears elements of an autonomous vehicle that could very well be used in the future. Artificial intelligence means the car understands commands and eye-tracking technology allows the AI system to kick in if a driver is distracted or tired.
Concept cars, while largely a nice marketing play for automakers to flex at auto shows, can also prove good windows into the future.
A spokesman for the company called the SC1 “a signpost to Karma’s future product direction and specifically our new full BEV [battery electric vehicle] platform,” which is expected to materialize across multiple products beginning in 2021.
Karma Automotive said it currently has 23 North America retail partners and projects a dozen more by year end, the spokesman said.
Market expansion plans include South America this year, Europe in 2020, and Asia in 2021.
