Actor Leonardo DiCaprio Knows His Lines - and He's #1 on the Queue for the Fisker Karma

Irvine, California-based Fisker Automotive says it will, at long last, deliver its first 2011 Karma plug-in electric sports sedan later this month. The much sought-after set of wheels will go to a man who is arguably best-known for his affinity for large (even, Titanic) ships: actor and environmental activist Leonardo DiCaprio.

To give the actor his due, he's the one who kicked off the whole hybrids-for-Hollywood-stars trend, by showing up at the Academy Awards red carpet several years ago, not in a limousine, but driving his own unpretentious Toyota Prius

And DiCaprio is in excellent company. He’s at the head of a list of 3,000 prospective Fisker buyers, according to founder Henrik Fisker—including former U.S. Vice President Al Gore and General Colin Powell.

We hope they’re not impatient. Early production at the Valmet plant in Finland is now just five cars a week, but that will rise to 300 cars each week once the assembly line is running at full speed. Fisker estimates that production is sold out through early next year.

The 2011 Fisker Karma is a range-extended plug-in hybrid that runs on power from its lithium-ion battery pack for up to 50 miles, after which a 260-horsepower, 2.0-liter engine switches on to generate electricity.

The rear-wheel-drive luxury sports sedan is powered by a pair of electric motors, one ahead of the differential and one behind. The car's space frame is aluminum and it competes in roughly the same class as the BMW 5-Series, Cadillac CTS (News - Alert), and other mid-size luxury sedans.

Last December, Fisker raised the price of the 2011 Karma sedan. For DiCaprio and other early buyers, the car will carry a base sticker price of $95,900. We don’t know what color DiCaprio has on order.