Forbes List of Most Coveted Cars: Tesla Roadster, Fisker Karma, and Smart ForTwo
by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada 
on 10. 8.08
You Thought Prius Waiting Lists Were Bad?
A sign of the times, surely. Forbes Auto's list of Most Coveted Cars not only includes Ferraris and Rolls-Royces, but there are also a few green(er) vehicles.
At the top of the list with 27 months of waiting to get your hands on the wheel are the Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupé and Fisker Karma plug-in electric car. At 12 months is the Tesla Electric Roadster, and at 9 to 13 months is the least expensive vehicle on Forbes' list by far: The Smart ForTwo. Read on for our thoughts on Tesla and Fisker's strategy.
Green Cachet?
While we at TH might be interested in these vehicles because they show environmental improvements over traditional cars, the luxury bugs out there are interested in the exclusivity:
Two other eco-minded vehicles made our most-coveted list. The Fisker Karma, an upcoming plug-in hybrid luxury sedan, and the Tesla Roadster, an all-electric sports car, are harbingers of a new kind of exclusivity: trend-setting performance and design matched with environmental sensibilities.“It’s an idea whose time has come,” says Milton Pedraza, CEO of the Luxury Institute in New York. Any high-end manufacturer that can pull this off will have “an ability to leapfrog” other luxury brands in cachet, he says.
And while this might be frustrating to us non-rich people who would love access to plug-in electric vehicles, it seems to confirm Tesla and Fisker's strategy: Enter at the top of the market where people are ready to pay a premium so you can recoup your big R&D and capital investments, and once you have economies of scale and the technology is more mature, go downmarket.
In any case, we'd rather see the wealthy lust after electric cars than after the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 which "consumes more fuel than any other production car" (about 6 MPP on average).
Via Forbes Auto, WFTV
Plug-in Hybrids and Electric Cars
Tesla Motors Picks San Jose for $250 Million 'Model S' Plant and HQ
Fisker Raises $65 Million for Karma Plug-In Hybrid Sports Car
New Powertrain Increases Tesla Electric Roadster Range to 244 Miles and Boosts Torque
17 Electric Cars You Must Know About
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4 doors Karma = !!!
shoot, why not wish for every joe to have a private teleporter too. look, tech takes time to get affordable but don't expect miracles. thers is a reason its expensive: its unproven tech that is in its infancy. once it matures in 15 years or so we can have electric cars for the masses. but until then its really unrealistic to keep wising for something you cannot have...
And also, everyone who has a tight budget but still wishes for an electric car - there are plenty of conversion kits available an also You can build your EV from scratch.
It is the era of downloadable design after all...
@ Dan Rossini
Dan, I disagree with that statement. FAST and POWERFUL electric cars are expensive. the cars that can match todays performance in speed style and comfort. there are other cars that are a cheaper. For a start, the Indian Reva also more popularly known throughout EU as G-Whiz. Thats not too expensive. sure It looks like the original design was cross eyed or drunk when he came up with the design, but it's a start. I here that renault, smart, toyota, nissan are all coming out with electric cars that are not too powerful or fast, but can take a person through rush hour traffic just fine.
My most coveted car: Civic Coupe FFV, currently only available in Brazil.
i would love to see celebs and rapstars with their coveted EVs. gotta make these things look cool and trendy to the masses, cus let's face it, most people don't know whats good for em.
cant wait for when/if tesla comes out with affordable family Evs!