MADE IN MONACO
The decision in favour of the buyout was, eventually, motivated by my desire to do something important in the electric domain. eng
The Company
The metamorphosis of Venturi started after its emergence as a French luxury sports car, which had intermittent success in the 1980’ s. But in the year 2000, Monegasque Gildo Pallanca Pastor bought the failing company and moved it to Monaco. He had radical changes in mind— going electric! That was the perfect solution to revive the image of the bankrupt Venturi. Within four years, he introduced Fétish, the company’ s breakthrough electric sports car model. Fétish was the first publically sold sports cars in the world to be entirely fuelled by electricity. Sacha Lakic, the French designer, created the design of the car, which housed a 300 horsepower engine that could do 0-100 KM / H in four seconds. Venturi has also positioned itself as a respected cleanengine supplier, participating in France’ s 2007 postal service tender for the supply of 250 electric engines for their delivery vehicles. In 2011, they also participated in Nice’ s Côte d’ Azur Auto-Bleue program, partnering with Citroën and Peugeot for the first 100 % electric carsharing service.
Truly one of the most innovative electric vehicle producers, Venturi developed Antarctica, the first electric transport vehicle that can both support scientific research and at the same time operate in extreme Antarctic conditions. With this project, Venturi is making an important contribution to global environmental projects.
The Electric Grand Prix
Another significant‘ first’ was realized in December 2013, with the creation of the Venturi Grand Prix Formula-E team, which is partly owned by the actor Leonadro DiCaprio. HSH Albert II fervently supports the Formula-E race, showing his interest in their latest projects and in the results achieved by the Venturi team. Today, the success of the company sees no limits. They see « challenges » in pushing the limits of electric vehicle capabilities. Antarctica, Africa and land speed are all challenges that Venturi is marking off their list. In 2013, Prince Albert II was in attendance for the Buckeye Bullet 3( VBB-3) presentation at the Bonneville Salt Flats in the United States of America. In 2015, the VBB-3 won the world land speed record at 386.757 kilometres per hour( 240.320 miles per hour). The following year, they did it again, setting the world speed record at 341 MPH with the American driver Roger Schroer. What stands behind the fastest electric vehicle in the world? And what is the recipe for its success today? Read on for our exclusive interview with the founder, Gildo Pallanca Pastor.
I would like to keep the concept of flying cars for science fiction.
Hello Monaco – Winter 2018 / 109