Fisker Automotive trots out pictures of its sporty plug-in hybrid

We wrote about Fisker Automotive's sporty plug-in hybrid last week and now here is a picture.

The company is planning to come to market in about 18 months with a high-performance, high-end plug-in hybrid sedan. The car will cost $80,000. It will go about 50 miles on a battery charge, which isn't far, but the car will also come with a built-in gas engine that exists primarily to charge the battery. With the charging capability, the car can go around 620 miles before conking, according to Henrik Fisker, the company's CEO.

How's this for a plug-in hybrid

(Credit: Fisker Automotive )

With a range of hundreds of miles, the car will go farther than other electric cars coming to market. The new electric cars go only about 225 miles on a single charge at best. Granted, Fisker's car uses a little gas--something electric cars don't--but it won't burn much.. Long range and lower costs are the advantages plug-ins have over all-electrics. If Fisker hits its goals, it will have cars on the market in 2009.

Fisker also hopes to come out with SUVs and other types of cars. The drive train comes from Quantum Technologies, by the way. Quantum works with a number of companies and government agencies on alternative fuel vehicles. Initial production will be about 15,000 vehicles a year. It has received investment from Palo Alto Investors.

The company will show off a prototype in at the Detroit Auto Show in 2008.

In this day and age, it seems everybody has started an alternative car company. There is Tesla, Miles Automotive, Zap, Venture Vehicles. Everyone but my grandmother, and that's because we took her license away.

But Fisker does have something a lot of these other companies don't. Namely, experience in the auto industry. Henrik worked for years at Ford and BMW. He came up with the BMW Z8 and the Aston Martin DB9.