Shooting brake, n.: (1) A sports car, generally a two-door coupe, with an elongated roof and hatchback-like rear cargo area; (2) completely awesome.

The 2013 Fisker Surf, though it's a five-door and perhaps more accurately categorized as a sports hatchback or as a member of the funky new breed of "GT" sedans/hatches, satisfies nearly all of our requirements for classification as a shooting brake. It mates the low-slung, sporty proportions of a sports car with the sleek extended roof and cargo area of a hatch.

We're not going to worry too hard about the ontological implications, however: the 2013 Fisker Surf is gorgeous. It's also a pretty impressive range-extended electric vehicle, bearing under its skin all of the workings of the now-familiar, if still rare, Fisker Karma.

That means a 260-horsepower turbocharged onboard range-extender engine, a 175 kW (234 horsepower) electric motor, 20 kWh battery pack, and 5.9-second 0-60 mph times. Top speed will match the Karma's 125 mph in Sport mode, which engages both electric and combustion powertrains. Stealth mode allows all-electric range of up to 50 miles, but slows 0-60 mph acceleration to 7.9 seconds and reduces top speed to 95 mph.

The Surf's interior is as attractive as the exterior, with extensive use of textured fabric and metallic trim, cast in contrasting shades of grey and burnt umber. Seating for four (a tunnel divides the rear seats) and cargo area divided into three regions. The odd cargo configuration is due to limitations in packaging the Surf's battery and electric drive system.

The three regions include the flat load floor, where larger items can be placed; a raised "podium" area; and extra space created by laying forward either or both rear seat backs.

Fisker notes that one perk of the new shooting brake-like exterior design is the creation of more rear-seat headroom.

Pricing and availability details are yet to come, but we expect to see the Surf on the road sometime next year, and priced around $110,000.