Fisker can only cry wolf so many times, before everybody disregards its bold plans for a plug-in hybrid future.

This will be a make-or-break year for the $87,000 (or higher) plug-in hybrid. Year after year, Mr. Fisker promises that the gorgeous four-door Fisker Karma is really and truly coming next year. With a half-billion dollars of federal loans riding on Fisker’s fate—and its ability to move beyond the Karma model to the more accessible plug-in hybrid sedan known as Project Nina—Fisker needs to deliver…or risk losing all credibility. If the company can put a few Karmas on the road, it will produce a ton of buzz for plug-in hybrid technology—a value greater than the sum its low-volume sales will produce.