Venturi sportscar to show EV potential

An electric concept vehicle Volage ultimate GT, designed by Sacha Lakic for Venturi Automobiles and French tyre supplier Michelin, is displayed on media day at the Paris Mondial de l'Automobile October 2, 2008.

DETROIT (Reuters) - Electric vehicles may not sell worldwide in large numbers for some years, but the CEO of electric sports car maker Venturi wants his company's racy models and high-end technology to demonstrate their potential.

Gildo Pallanca Pastor, CEO of Monaco-based Venturi, told Reuters in an interview ahead of the Detroit Auto Show that the electric vehicle segment was facing two critical years as carmakers race to make the leap from concept cars to production models and emissions legislation tightens.

Electric cars may start to sell in significant numbers in around five years, he said, adding however that a deep shift in the industry toward zero emission technologies could take longer.

In the meantime, the company, which Pallanca Pastor bought in 2001, wants to show what electric cars can do, undertaking projects that push the technology to their limits.

A Shanghai to Paris challenge later this year will show off the capabilities of the electric version of partner PSA Peugeot Citroen's (PEUP.PA) Berlingo, Pallanca Pastor said.

Venturi, and PSA, Europe's second-biggest carmaker after Volkswagen, last year won a tender to supply electric versions of the Citroen Berlingo small van for French postal operator La Poste, in a project that will initially see the service taking on 250 of the battery-powered vehicles, a relatively large number in the fledgling market.

Venturi has also teamed up with the university of Ohio to set a speed record with a fuel cell car and hopes to start production of its Eclectic small car, which has solar power panels and a wind charger, next year.

POLAR CHALLENGE

The company is also developing an electric vehicle that can withstand the extreme conditions of Antarctica. The vehicle will be sent to Belgium's Princess Elisabeth research station -- the first zero emission polar base -- in November.

The Antarctic project was the brainchild of Prince Albert II, the ruler of the tiny principality of Monaco, famous for its rich inhabitants, luxury cars and glitzy casinos, as well as the annual grand prix that sees sports cars racing through the narrow city streets.

A lifelong passion for fast cars -- Pallanca Pastor raced for 12 years and holds a world speed record for driving on ice -- and this does not conflict with developing electric cars, with their reputation for more sedate speeds.

"When I presented Fetish in 2004, everybody thought I was completely insane," he said of the electric sports car, but journalists and the public flocked around the car. "The first goal at the time was to change people's minds -- the public, journalists but also car manufacturers.

The Fetish sells for around 300,000 euros ($435,000), and Venturi only builds one to two of the cars per month, Pallanca Pastor said. Customers are often "visionaries" involved in high-tech industries or the car sector itself. The company is launching a new version next year that will be "more sporty than ever."

AMERICAN AMBITION

Pallanca Pastor said he wanted to target the U.S., and has started some initial talks with carmakers about possible partnerships for that market.

"We're working on many different models right now and I hope some will be in the U.S. too.

Meanwhile, electric car acceptance is further along in Europe: "European people are ready to switch, but it will need time to change. Conventional cars have been around for more than a century -- it's not going to change in five minutes," Pallanca Pastor said, adding that a mix of technologies, including EVs, hybrid cars and conventional engines would dominate for some time.

"I guess that 100 years ago in Detroit they stopped using horses in five minutes and said cars were much better. It's not such a major step. It's an important step but we're not passing from horses to cars."