Consumer Reports pans $107,850 hybrid car

YONKERS, N.Y., Sept. 25 (UPI) -- Struggling niche U.S. automaker Fisker's top end Karma hybrid is a risky buy, product reviewing organization Consumer Report said.

The consumer product testing company said the Karma, which goes 30 miles on battery power alone before switching to a gasoline engine, is "plagued with flaws."

The car "has tight confines and limited visibility and a badly-designed touch-screen system that makes the dash controls an ergonomic disaster," Consumer Reports said.

CNNMoney reported Tuesday that the car company from Anaheim, Calif., responded with a statement that said, "Fisker has brought this pioneering vehicle to market based on a brand new platform and technology in record time and is now selling the car globally to critical acclaim."

Consumer Reports thought otherwise. "Although we found its ride, handling, and braking performance sound and it has first-class interior materials, the Karma's problems outweighed the good," said the director of the Consumer Reports Auto Test Center Jake Fisher.

The car has "disconcerting intermittent glitches related to the gauges, warning lights, power windows and radio," Consumer Reports said.

The car has been given mixed reviews elsewhere with some good marks given to its design. But it is a pricey ride with a sticker price of $107,850, CNNMoney said.