Karma is launching a self-driving electric van based on the E-Flex platform.
Start-up company Karma wants to become more than just a car manufacturer. The California-based company currently sells the Revelo GT, an electric sedan with extended range, but plans to offer engineering and design services as well as entire vehicle platforms in the future.
In late March, Karma unveiled E-Flex, a modular platform designed for battery electric vehicles and extended-range electric vehicles. The platform will form the basis of the Revero GT model, but Karma said it will be used to create up to five different vehicles. The second of these was unveiled on Thursday in the form of the E-Flex van concept.
The E-Flex van utilizes a battery-powered version of the E-Flex platform, but no details on power or range are given. All that is known is that this configuration utilizes both the flat battery and the I-shaped battery used in the extended range version of the E-Flex platform.
The E-Flex platform can be configured in 22 different ways, and buyers can install up to four electric motors, although installing four motors on a vehicle such as the E-Flex van would result in a smaller cargo area.
The flexibility of Karma's E-Flex platform doesn't end there. The company is also partnering with Chinese self-driving car company WeRide to equip its self-driving system with SAE Level 4; the computer processor for WeRide's system is Nvidia's powerful AGX drive, capable of processing 320 trillion operations per second. Pegasus
In addition to the Revero GT and E-Flex Van, Karma has hinted at pickup trucks, SUVs, and even a supercar. The company has stated that additional vehicles based on the E-Flex platform will be unveiled in the coming months, one of which will be a supercar.