Venturi says it has 300-horsepower electric motor for next-generation Fetish.

By Nick Kurczewski, Contributor

An alternative energy system that was supposed to save the world via left brained logic and efficiency is being reinvigorated by a good old-fashioned horsepower war.

Boutique companies building electric sports cars are grabbing the EV world's limelight as they up the power, reliability and range of their vehicles at breakneck speed.

Unlike major car manufacturers that quake at the huge initial development costs needed to build an electric vehicle, these smaller outfits have no qualms about passing costs on to the consumer.

Limited production, outrageous looks and massive performance give this new breed of electric sports car the market cache needed to justify nosebleed prices.

Set to arrive in early 2009, the British-built Lightning GT will reportedly offer more than 700 horsepower thanks to its four 120 kW motors, one located at each wheel.

If you want to get on the waiting list, get ready to fork over a deposit of $30,000 – a mere fraction of the car’s $300,000 price-tag.

In comparison, the American-made Tesla Roadster seems a steal at only about $100,000. The Tesla is on sale right now, but high demand and limited production means that 2009 is likely the earliest you can put one in your garage.

Compared to the Lightning, the Tesla offers a relatively mild 280 hp. However, this is more than enough to propel the car to 60 miles per hour in under 4 seconds.

Monaco-based Venturi Automobiles is the latest company to lob a high-powered salvo into this tiny automotive niche.

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Volkswagen's Jetta BlueTDI was developed specifically for North America.

Just weeks after shelving plans for a production version of its 69-mpg Golf TDI Hybrid concept, Volkswagen says that a diesel-powered Jetta capable of 60 mpg on the highway is coming.

At the International Vienna Motor Symposium, which started today, Volkswagen announced that it will introduce the production version of BlueTDI – the automaker's next-generation turbo diesel engine – and that it will initially be available in the U.S. version of the Jetta before being used in other models globally.

The Jetta BlueTDI will come to North America sometime in the middle of this year, the company said, followed at some point by the Touareg BlueTDI.

The four-cylinder BlueTDI engine displaces 2.0 liters and generates 140 horsepower. It will also be 50-state legal as it meets California's toughest emissions standards, the company said.

Scott Doggett, Contributor

Our Euro-correspondent finally runs out of interesting green and greenish vehicles at Monaco's eco-fest -- but not before stumbling across a Ferrari converted to run on E85, and a racing series dedicated to the stuff. 

Note: If you are seeing this first, remember that blog sites are last in, first up. Drop down four more pieces to Nick's look at Venturi Automobiles and you can read his dispatches back up to here, in order. 

Enjoy!

John O'Dell, Senior Editor.

By Nick Kurczewski, Contributor

Monte Carlo is one of the few places where you don’t need to set an alarm clock to get an early start to the morning. Simply leave your window open and let the cacophony of shrieking supercars rolling through early-morning traffic be your wake-up call.

Of course, you do run the risk of having the occasional moron redline his brand new Ferrari 599 GTB outside your hotel window at 3:00 a.m. We learned this lesson the hard way.

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By Nick Kurczewski, Contributor

MONTE CARLO, Monaco -- Kazuhiro Doi laughs when we ask why Nissan chose to give its electric-powered concept car, the Mixim, such a strong performance streak.

"If a customer wants a slow electric vehicle, we can provide that," Doi says, chuckling. "But I don’t think he will."

As Nissan's general manager and technology chief, Doi has the inside line on the Japanese company’s work in everything from electric vehicles, to hybrids and highly advanced safety features – it was under his direction that Nissan developed a car capable of detecting when a driver is too drunk to drive.

One of Doi's latest projects is the Nissan Mixim, a futuristic wedge-shaped hatchback of diminutive proportions – at just 145 inches in length it's the same size as the Mini Cooper.

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Here's another of correspondent Nick Kurczewski's delayed dispatches from Monaco.

MONTE CARLO, Monaco --The REVA 2.0 electric car proves that not every green-machine glittered on the floor of last weeek's  EVER Monaco ecological car show. 

From a distance, you’d be hard pressed to tell the difference between the two-seat REVA 2.0 and a Smart Fortwo city-car. The bright-yellow REVA certainly drew our attention as we walked amongst the rows of alternative vehicles lined up in the Grimaldi Forum. 

However, any similarities to the chirpy Smart end when you take a closer look. Huge panel gaps, wavy window-seals and a shoddy interior separate the REVA 2.0 from the vastly more refined two-seater from Daimler. So does function. the REVa is a low-speed neighborhood car, the Sm art a full-function, freeway-legal automobile.

Based in Wernau, Germany, REVA Gmbh is a manufacturer of battery technology and distributor of Sanyo electronics. The Monaco show marks the company’s first foray into the automotive world.

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Venturi teamed with Peugeot to electrify van for French postal service test.

By Nick Kurczewski, Contributor

MONTE CARLO, Monaco -- The little white utility-van didn’t turn any heads or get any thumbs-up on the streets here, but our ride in Venturi’s newest creation certainly made us the envy of every French postal worker. 

This humble looking Citroën Berlingo is the prototype for a joint effort between Venturi Automobiles and PSA Peugeot Citroën to develop electric delivery vans for the French Post Office, La Poste.

It’s a huge step for Venturi, as it seeks to break out of its niche of glamorous electric-powered sports cars and enter the elecgtric vehicled mainstream – albeit with all the glamour and attitude you’d expect of an automobile company based in Monte Carlo.

We caught up with Venturi’s charismatic CEO, Gildo Pastor, to discuss his company’s current projects and what lays ahead regarding Venturi’s move into the American market.

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Ah, the perils of the foreign correspondent.

Our European contributor, Nick Kurczewski, went missing in action late last week while covering the annual EVER Monaco eco-auto show (the acronym stands for  Environmental Vehicles and Renewable Energy and we don't know why they reversed the ladstr two letters).

Turns out his computer picked up a nasty bug and crashed, devouring files and art and preventing Nick from reporting on the show in real time.

Well, the carrier pigeons are finally showing up on this side of the pond, laden with Nick's copy, so we're devoting a day to bringing you up to date on the show.

First up, Nick takes an electric postal van for a spin and talks to Venturi Automobiles owner Gildo Pastor.

John O'Dell, Senior Editor

By Nick Kurczewski, Contributor

MONTE CARLO, Monaco --The BMW Hydrogen 7 sedan is loaded with luxury touches and powered by a state-of-the-art emissions-free engine.  Unfortunately, it also requires its own tanker truck when it comes time for a fill-up.  

But Prince Albert II of Monaco didn’t seem overly concerned about trivial matters like finding the closest hydrogen fueling station – there isn't one, hence the tanker -- when BMW handed him the keys to a Hydrogen 7-Series at this week’s EVER Monaco ecological car show.

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EVs from Monaco's own Venturi will be on display at annual eco-car event .

By Nick Kurczewski, Contributor
 
MONTE CARLO, Monaco – A convention hall filled with electric, hydrogen, biofuel and hybrid-powered vehicles is a strange site in any town, much less the world’s most famous principality and one of James Bond’s favorite holiday hideaways.

A haven for the rich and powerful -- where champagne glasses are never empty, every parking lot is overflowing with Ferraris and Aston Martins and Formula 1 takes over the town once a year -- Monte Carlo is the most unlikely setting in which to find a show dedicated to green-car technology.

The EVER Monaco ecological car show, here from Thursday through Sunday, is dedicated to all forms of transport powered by fuels offering environmental benefits. Now in its third year, the annual Ecological Vehicles and Renewable Energies (EVER) exhibition is a showcase for vehicles powered by alternative fuels or technology.

We’ll be attending the show, and making our way through the Grimaldi Forum to see what progress is being made and what technology looks promising – not to mention what looks far-fetched and totally unfeasible.

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By Robert E. Calem, Contributor

New York -- Mercedes-Benz is preparing to transform its flagship S-Class sedan into an "economy" car offering gas mileage comparable to that of the Honda Accord, and that will be only the beginning of the car's fuel consumption makeover, the company promises.

The key change: incorporating a new lithium-ion battery that Mercedes-Benz parent Daimler AG has been developing since the early 1990s.

Due largely to technology advances achieved in the last six years, Mercedes-Benz engineers say, the battery is now ready for mass production and will be used first in the S400 BlueHybrid , a new gasoline-electric S-Class sedan slated to go on sale after the summer of 2009.

The following year, the battery is to be used in a diesel-electric hybrid version, the S300 BlueTec Hybrid, and after 2010 in the more powerful S400 BlueTec Hybrid.

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