Venturi revels in its EV history with new America

[Haltech]

Filed under: Coupe, Europe, Paris Motor Show, Electric



Venturi almost always cooks up something fresh and a bit crazy for the Paris Motor Show, from the America EV dune buggy to the Eclectic, which lived up to its name. This year at the Mondial de l'Automobile, Venturi is showing off its latest vehicle - a new version of the America EV - as well as the body work for the VBB-3, also known as the Buckeye Bullet, as it takes a look back at 30 years of the company and a decade of working on electric vehicles.

Venturi stepped into the EV space during the 2004 Paris show with the Fetish. A decade later, the new America is a little bit "over the Model S," according to Thierry Apparu, the news and communication manager for Venturi Automobiles. This time around, the dune buggy has doors (well, "doors" sort of like what the Renault Twizy has), a new motor and an updated powertrain, which makes it faster and more powerful, Apparu said. It also comes with better range - around 155 miles - thanks to a a 53-kWh battery pack. Take a closer look in our gallery above and get ready to hear more about the car in 2015.

The company will also celebrate the record the VBB-3 set on the salt flats earlier this year. It wasn't quite up to the speed that the engineering team wanted, but the sleek needle still set a specific FIA speed record (Category A Group VIII Class 8 for electric vehicles over 3.5 tons) with an average two-way speed of 212.615 miles per hour over a flying mile.

Despite the history lesson, the company was also happy to talk about its plans for 2015, which Include a return to the Salt Flats and more work with it Formula E racing team, "because we want to win," Apparu said.Continue reading Venturi revels in its EV history with new America

Venturi revels in its EV history with new America originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 03 Oct 2014 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.



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