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The Tesla Roadster may be rolling off the production line already, but France's Fetish and the UK's own Lightning GTS promise to be two of the fastest electric cars on the market. That is, as soon as the companies can get them out of the factory.
The Fetish, an all-electric sports car touted by France's Venturi for the last several years, won't be hitting the market until 2009, according to Autoblog Green. It was supposed to come out this month, and before that there were rumours that it would come out in 2005. Venturi first showed off the concept -- the "first desirable electric vehicle" according to the company -- at the Paris Auto Show in 2004 and has been trotting a prototype around the globe.
The car will go from zero to 60 in 3.5 seconds and cost roughly £226,900. Although you can't buy it now, you can buy a toy replica on the company's website for €32 (£25). The company is also selling a limited edition carbon fibre longboard skateboard for €480 (£378).
Venturi's situation is a common one for electric car-makers. Getting a car to market -- considering all of the testing, design issues and battery breakthroughs required -- isn't easy. Tesla Motors experienced delays and it was one of the largest, best-organised and best-funded start-ups. Compared to these other guys, Tesla is like GM.
Meanwhile, over here in Blighty, Lightning (above) is taking deposits for its all-electric Lightning GTS for commercial delivery in 2009. Earlier, delivery was slated for 2008. The car uses batteries from Altair Nanotechnologies, which recently swapped out its CEO. The Lightning will have a hub motor, which is a great idea on paper and which engineers have struggled to make a reality.
The company claims that the car will go 250 miles on a charge, hit 130 miles an hour, and can be recharged in ten minutes. It won't be easy to hit 250 miles, but the ten-minute charge time could be even tougher, judging by comments from battery experts and what other electric car-makers say.
But apparently you can get a Union Jack license plate, which makes it all worth it.
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Discover the brilliant experienced people who are helping SmartPlanet through the green and ethical minefield.
