Venturi improves the about-to-be-launched Fetish
Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Lightweight, European Union
April 2008 was the month when Venturi intended to launch the Fetish, a carbon-fiber EV sportscar which makes the Tesla look like a bargain. Instead of offering the car this month, Venturi has instead announced that they have managed to improve the Fetish engine - which now gets 300 HP and 380 Nm of torque (280 lb-ft) at 92 percent of efficiency - while reducing by 30kg the global weight of the car, down to 950kg. The batteries will be likely produced by France's Saft and will use lithium-ion technology. The car also features all-around carbon fiber technology.
Le Blog Auto now says that first deliveries are now expected to be held off until June 2009 for an astounding €297,000 (currently $465,000). The car will be assembled in Monaco, although the company is examining a new factory in France. The Fetish races from 0 to 100 km/h (0-62 mph) in 3.5 seconds, although maximum speed is limited to 160 km/h (100mph).
[Source: Le Blog Auto]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
4-24-2008 @ 6:58PM
stevejust said...
I thought the old price of the Fetish was supposed to be $660,000? At least that's what I thought Green Car Journal was reporting about two years ago. Maybe competition from the Tesla drove the price down a bit, and forced them to add some performance for the $300,000 gap in prices? Who knows.
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4-24-2008 @ 11:36PM
Tony Belding said...
You mean they still haven't actually delivered any? AFAIK they've been talking about the Fetish since 2002 as if it were already ready. Whenever the question of how many -- if any -- had been sold (or made, or delivered) came up, nobody knew the answer. The assumption usually tended to be, "surely they must have made and sold a few by now. . . it's just that their handful of super-rich customers (probably in Dubai) value their privacy and don't want to talk about it, right? right??" Wrong!
So now we know. First deliveries June 2009, well over a year after the first Tesla Roadsters have been delivered. How did Venturi manage to fritter away seven years since the unveiling of the concept car? I just don't know what's going on over there.
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4-25-2008 @ 4:03AM
Chris M said...
The original price quote I read was $300,000 so the price has increased with the performance.
Venturi has been taking their time on this, partially due to the development work needed, and partially because they weren't in a rush. They'd only planned to produce a limited number.
Venturi is also known for making a series of interesting but impractical concept cars that regularly appear in European car shows. Maybe they were too busy with those other concept cars?
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4-25-2008 @ 10:20AM
Dan said...
It looks like a smart roadster on 'roids. I think it should be priced as such.
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4-25-2008 @ 5:26PM
Kevin Nugent said...
It looks better than the tesla roadster i must give them that but that price will give even the most rich a slight hole in the pocket.
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4-26-2008 @ 4:20AM
Ian said...
The was a segment on one of Discover's Futurecar shows, shot in Monaco in 2007, where Rodger Moore test drives a Venturi with his wife and surprises her by saying he bought it for her. If the Fetish isn't even on sale yet, was this a fictional scenario scripted just for the show?
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