|
|
Over twenty years ago, in 1984, people couldn’t help stopping and gazing at a beautiful coupe that was tucked away in one corner of the Paris Motor Show. The name of the car was ‘Ventury’ and it had been designed by two incredible designers, Claude Poiraud and Gérard Godfroy. Today, the manufacturers are a name to contend with when it comes to sports cars.
However, the company is a lot more than sports cars with appeal. They are also into manufacturing eco-friendly cars and today they have three on offer – Venturi Eclectic, Venturi Fetish and Venturi Astrolab.
The great thing about offerings from the Venturi stable is that what they promise, they deliver. Let’s first look at the Venturi Fetish.
This electric car has 31 batteries which translate into a peak power of 180kW. With a torque of 220 Nm, the acceleration of the car is from 0 to 60 miles in less than 5 seconds. This two-seater can achieve speeds of up to 100 mph and can go for 150 miles without a recharge. It measures less than three meters in length and weighs 980 kg. Charging takes just a few hours with the built-in charger.
Then comes a vehicle that needs no fuel but runs on wind and solar power and looks more like a golf buggy than a car. The Venturi Eclectic is a three-seater and has a roof of solar cells measuring over eight square feet and is charged by gusts of wind. It can actually reach a speed of 32 mph and is powered by NiMH batteries.
If it’s fully charged, it will go 31 miles but it can also be charged using AC power. Of course, if it’s a sunny day, you’re probably in for a longer ride. At a pinch, it’s light enough to push. It has been referred to as the ‘autonomous energy vehicle’ and has obviously been designed for in-city minimal driving in a car that is totally emission-free.
The latest offering from Venturi is the Venturi Astrolab. It looks like something out of a sci-fi movie and is powered by photovoltaic solar cells. It is an electric-solar hybrid car and you can reach a speed of 75 mph and up to 68 miles on a charge.
The car, which is to roll out in the beginning of 2008, uses absolutely no fossil fuels. It has a 16kW engine which gets recharged by solar power or by the motion of the car. The liquid-cooled NiMH batteries have the option of being charged by plugging the onboard charger into a standard 16A plug. It has an ultra light carbon monocoque chassis.
Will these cars ever be very popular? Time alone will tell but they definitely are the first steps towards a world that is pollution-free. They are the new generation vehicles that will probably be the inspiration for the cars we will all soon be driving, not just to work and for our daily city chores, but on the highways as well. They are the forerunners of the new green wave in vehicles