GENEVA — A niche car manufacturer from California believes that virtually every automaker will install super-efficient lithium-ion batteries in hybrid vehicles within a decade, but that their slowness opens up a booming market for a range of greener cars.

In an interview with The Associated Press, the head of Fisker Automotive says his company is well-positioned to pioneer fast but efficient automobiles.

"For me it's important to create a vehicle that's so sexy you've just got to have it, and later you find out that you can go 80 kilometers (50 miles) without using any gas," Henrik Fisker says. "That's how far 75 percent of people in Europe drive every day. If all of those people drove plug-in hybrids we would get rid of all our emission problems, and our dependence on foreign oil."

Fisker says his company has been getting "between 50 and 100 orders a week" for its plug-in electric hybrid Karma sports car, which will begin rolling off the production line in the fourth quarter of 2009. An order backlog means new buyers will have to wait a further year to get their cars.

A version of the sleek, silver concept car was on display at the Geneva Auto Show this week with a sticker price of $80,000 for the United States. But with a shape reminiscent of an Aston Martin, where Fisker was formerly design director, and features including a solar-paneled roof, the company sees room for big growth. The show runs through March 16.

Fisker says he has yet to begin actively advertising the car, and orders were being driven by its performances at auto shows.

Orders are also coming from Europe, even though customers there will likely pay at least $106,000 because of higher taxes and import charges, he says.

"We have people ordering this car from us even though we're unknown," Fisker says. "That shows that there's a market for it."

The four-seater can travel 50 miles on a single battery charge. When the battery empties, the car automatically activates a 1-gallon fuel engine that generates enough electricity to power the car another 450 miles.

Fisker says the Karma, which was designed with the Irvine, Calif.-based Quantum Technologies, uses a new type of lithium-ion battery that does not suffer from the overheating problems that have caused large auto manufacturers to shy away from the technology.

Fisker's battery can be fully recharged in 3 1/2 hours. The solar panels come in handy when the car is parked in the sun, providing enough energy to nudge up the battery charge and simultaneously cool the inside cabin.

By using the battery exclusively, owners would save 80 percent of fuel costs compared to a regular gas-powered vehicle, Fisker says.

The car will be built somewhere in the United States, he says. Fisker will not set up its own factory, but is in talks with "German and American car companies" about manufacturing.

The company, which competes against U.S. rivals Tesla Motors and Visionary Vehicles for a share of the electric sports car market, says its Karma has a top speed of 125 mph and can go from 0 to 60 mph in six seconds.

But the electric motor also has an unexpected side effect: It is completely silent, Fisker says, which might worry pedestrians with bad eyesight and disappoint sports car freaks keen to hear the roar of their machines.

Fisker says the solution is speakers the company has added inside and outside the vehicle. One option will allow drivers to make their car sound "like something between a Formula One car and a jet plane," and certainly loud enough to be heard by pedestrians.

A gimmick?

Fisker says most carmakers already tinker with the sound of the engine.

"It's been enhanced and manipulated to make sure it sounds good," he says. "Part of any experience is the acoustic experience."