(March 18, 2019) IRVINE, Calif. — Southern California-based automaker Karma Automotive celebrated its five-year anniversary by continuing major investments in its U.S. operations and by sharing a glimpse of an all-new 2020 Revero luxury-electric vehicle.

Karma’s latest investment of nearly $7.5 million resulted in the installation of a new suite of state-of-the-art powertrain test labs at the company’s global headquarters in Irvine, Calif.  The new equipment strengthens Karma’s in-house engineering capabilities as the automaker readies for a period of rapid new product introductions.

The company’s powertrain engineers will use the labs as a testbed for a variety of product-development activities including evaluating the performance and durability of electric motors, generators, and range-extended powertrains. These new in-house resources strengthen Karma’s product development process by allowing it to move faster while reducing engineering costs since it won’t have to use or rely on outside labs for this type of work.

The new equipment includes a traction dynamometer, electric motor dynamometer, and an engine/generator test cell used to evaluate powertrain optimization. As part of a continued employment drive across the company, the Karma Powertrain Engineering department will support the new dynamometer labs with additional resources and will be fully operational by mid-year.

Karma’s Powertrain Lab could eventually grow to become a new profit center for the company given the high demand among various industries for this kind of state-of-the-art testing facility.

“These new capabilities will help Karma speed up our product development process, lead to better performance and durability and protect the intellectual property that’s critical to our success,” Zhou said. “This investment shows our commitment to implementing Karma’s vision of becoming a luxury automaker driven by technology and innovation.”

The announcement arrived in time for the nearly 1,000 Karma employees to celebrate the company’s fifth birthday. The automaker’s story, and that of its Revero, started in 2014 when Wanxiang Group, one of China’s largest multinational automotive components manufacturing companies, founded the Karma Automotive business.

“We have a solid product plan that spans the next decade and relationships with the right partners who are helping us accelerate technology and product development,” said Zhou. “Since 2014, Karma has been quietly building a full value chain and planning a strong relaunch; now, we are ready to tell everyone: Karma is back!”