Fitted with a 180 kW electric motor, the quirky Venturi Fétish can reportedly accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in less than five seconds. Is this what sports cars of the future will be like?
Fitted with 180 kW electric motor, the quirky Venturi Fétish can reportedly accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in less than five seconds. Is this what sports cars of the future will be like?
CARtoday.com reported two years ago that French specialist sports car builder Venturi had displayed the Fétish concept coupé, fitted with a mid-mounted 134 kW two-litre 16-valve powerplant, at the Geneva and Paris Motor Shows. The concept was awarded a “Talent de Luxe” and “Michelin Challenge Design” award.
Since then, Venturi has turned its concept into a production car to coincide with the gyrfalcon-badged brand’s 20th anniversary, which it is celebrating at this year’s Paris Show. Developed under the technical direction of former F1 engine guru Gérard Ducarouge, who was the chief engineer of the project, the Venturi Fétish roadster is feted as the “first production electric sports car in automobile history”.
Incidentally, electrically-powered vehicles have been around since 1895, but have never become commonplace because of their limited range and short battery lives. The Fétish weighs 1,1 tons, which includes state-of-the-art, rapid-charging lithium-ion batteries that weigh 350 kg and offer a claimed maximum range of 350 km.
In fact, before the advent of lithium-ion cells, more than a ton of lead-acid batteries would have been necessary to produce the same power output as those fitted in the Fétish.
“The evolution from the traditional sports car to a noiseless electric sports car was brought about by a radical change in technological references, placing the battery, not the engine, at the epicentre of performance advancement,” the manufacturer says.
A monocoque carbon chassis and mid-engined layout give the Fétish an overall architecture not unlike that of a racing car and “roadholding to match”, Venturi claims.
Its electric engine has linear torque delivery, 100 per cent of which is available from rest, and a maximum speed of about 170 km/h. The unit is claimed to rev up to a dizzy 14 000 r/min and offer adjustable engine braking.
But as many laptop and cellphone users will undoubtedly be wondering… how long will the car’s batteries remain functional?