Venturi Fetish EV will get more power

April 26th, 2008

Venturi Fetish EV

Venturi Automobiles, a French coach builder behind the Venturi Fetish EV, has finally presented its super-luxury and ultra-expensive electric roadster at the annual Top Marques Monaco supercar show.

The vehicle, which is significantly closer to the assembly line than the first prototype, will sport more powerful and efficient engine and will be a tad lighter, too.

The updated Venturi Fetish EV, the company is reporting, now features a 241 hp (180 kW) / 220 Nm (162 lb-ft) air-cooled electric motor that has a power efficiency of 92 per cent.

The company promises that the car’s LiIon LIV-7 batteries will take as low as one hour to fully recharge if using an external charger. However, when charged with an on-board charger, the full “refill” may take as long as four hours. The battery’s life is limited to 2000 charging cycles, or approximately 250,000 kilometers, which is a tad more than 155,000 miles.

Weighing in at only 950 kg, which is 30 kg lighter than the original version, the car now accelerates from zero to 100 km/h in less than 5 seconds. Its top speed, though, still sucks a great deal being limited to miserable 160 km/h. Not much for a sports car with a price tag of frightening в‚¬297,000 ($465,000).

Its range is limited to ridiculous 250 km. I seriously doubt that the French electric roadster, which will sell at a price of a super-car, will prove to be a decent competitor either to the new Tesla Roadster EV or the upcoming Lightning GT EV.