The Paris Motor Show (Mondial 2008), held each year in October, saw a number of hot green vehicle concepts unleashed including the HYmotion3 Compressor and Nissan Nuvu. The latest vehicle to have electric car aficionados drooling is the red-hot, super sexy Venturi Volage (although nothing is ever as sexy as a bicycle, walking or taking the bus). However, the new family of hi-tech electric cars making their début will really make sustainability a hell of a lot more enticing.
The Venturi Volage is a 2-seater coupe style electrical vehicle with a purpose built chassis and body shell that minimizes aerodynamic drag, including covered wheel arches and sexy sculptured lines. It only takes a mere 5 seconds to go 0-100kph. Top speed is an estimated 150 kph.
The electric drive motors, 4 of them, have a combined 220kW output (about 300bhp), and give 232Nm (170ft.lbs) of torque, which is more than enough to have some serious fun in a 1075kg (2365lb) sportscar. The onboard batteries hold 45kwh of charge and 220V at 16 amps recharges your machine completely in 8 hours, or to 80% in 4 hours. The battery pack is good for 1500 cycles and each cycle gives around 320kms range (at a steady 90kph).
The Venturi Volage has electric motors mounted in its four drive wheels, each with Michelin active suspension and incorporates two electric motors per wheel (one for suspension and one for drive). All components such as the motors, gear reduction units and suspensions, are miniaturized and cleverly built into the wheels. The eight electric motors are controlled real-time by state-of-the-art electronics. The active electric shock absorber system will allow for total adaptation to various road surfaces and driving styles.
The cockpit has a dashboard touch screen where the driver can reconfigure the vehicle power systems, including battery management and the driver can decide to give preference in certain cases to range rather than power, or comfort rather than speed.
Venturi’s other electric vehicles include the Fetish Concept and the Citroen Berlingo. The Volage is scheduled for production in 2012 and will be assembled by hand in a limited production run.
Visit: http://www.venturivolage.fr/
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