Venturi Automobiles History

Claude Poiraud (engineer) and Gérard Godfroy (designer) presented the first VENTURI at the 1984 Paris Motor Show.

It was a 2-seater prototype weighing 850 kg, fitted with a 2-litre VW Golf GTI engine. It was the brand’s first vehicle which was to produce almost a dozen Grand Tourisme references and close on 700 cars in about twenty years. VENTURI was competing with major German and Italian sports cars. Acknowledged for its cars’ exemplary road holding, the French manufacturer, equally renowned for the high performance of its vehicles, also left its mark on the automobile industry by fitting a road vehicle (400 GT) with standard carbon brakes.

Gildo Pallanca Pastor acquired the firm, which was facing real difficulties.
In a very masculine industry and a market characterized by power and esthetics but reluctant to pursue any development, especially of a radical kind, the visionary Gildo Pallanca Pastor took up the bold and decisive challenge of renewable energies and, in particular, electric power. Well aware of the problems arising from the cost of use, public health, environmental issues, he re-oriented the design of the brand’s vehicles through sheer conviction.

Henceforth, technological innovation in a sector just taking off, efficient performances, the unexpected and appealing design of Sacha Lakic, and the ability to impose electric power under all conditions set the way for the brand’s rebirth.

Launch of the world’s first sports car powered solely by electricity. Fétish became the brand’s icon and a kind of showcase, VENTURI’s first act of demonstration: electric power as a technology which can be applied to all types of vehicles offering high-level performances.

Presentation of the Astrolab, the world’s first solar-electric hybrid car, at the 2006 Paris Motor Show.

Presentation of the Eclectic, the world’s first autonomous electric vehicle, at the 2006 Paris Motor Show. In 2007, it was awarded “Best Innovation of the Year” after the iPhone by Time Magazine.

Presentation of the Volage concept car benefiting from Michelin technologies (“Michelin Active Wheel”: 4 wheel drive incorporating two electric motors in each).

The goal of the VENTURI Global Challenges is to demonstrate the capacity of electric power to stand up to all kinds of circumstances, even under conditions which it is not supposed to handle.

The VBB (VENTURI Buckeye Bullet, also called the VENTURI “Jamais Contente” program, referring to the first electric vehicle to top 100 km/h) is the first opus in the VENTURI Global Challenges. On 25 September 2009, the VBB-2, developed in partnership with the Ohio State University, set international land speed record at 487 km/h (303 mph) on the salt-flats of Bonneville (Utah, USA).

Acquisition of the French motorbike manufacturer VOXAN, complemented VENTURI’s strategy in the field of electric mobility.

The VENTURI Global Challenges Mission 02 “Shanghai to Paris” is the first unassisted distance record with an electric vehicle. It covered approximately 8,300 miles (14,000 km) through China, Kazakhstan, Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Czech Republic, Germany and finally France.

The VENTURI Buckeye Bullet 2.5 beat VBB-2’s previous record, with an average speed of 495 km/h (307.7 mph) on Utah’s Bonneville Salt Flats.

Presentation of the VENTURI America, a high-voltage electric buggy, at the 2010 Paris Motor Show.

Participation in the international tender launched by the French postal service for the supply of 250 utilitarian electric mail delivery vehicles. Between 2010 and 2011, Venturi produced 1,000 more electric Citroen Berlingo and Peugeot Partner. It was the first electric car mass production in the 2000’s in Europe.

With its Citroën Berlingo, VENTURI participated in the Autobleue program in Nice, the first collectivity in France to put 100% electric car sharing into service.

Development of the Antarctica (VENTURI Global Challenges Mission 03), first EV designed to operate in the extreme conditions of the Antarctic and give scientists access to research zones that are off limits to combustion vehicles.

VENTURI Global Challenge 04, Mission Africa is the first unassisted crossing of the southern part of Africa with an electric vehicle, covering 5,800 km.

Presentation of the first ever electric motorcycle “made in Monaco” at the 2013 Paris Motor Show.

Creation of the VENTURI Formula E Team, which has been a constant participant in the FIA Formula E world championship since the first season in 2014.

In 2015, VENTURI became a Formula E FIA-approved manufacturer.

VENTURI and its partner the Center For Automotive Research (Ohio State University) pushed new electric limits, with the best speed ever set with an electric vehicle: 549 km/h (341 mph).

VENTURI Formula E Team celebrated their first race win as Edoardo MORTARA took first place at the fifth round of the 2018/19 Formula E Season in Hong Kong.

On the eve of the Formula E Season 6 opener in Diriyah, Venturi announced a three-year relationship with global telecommunications company ROKiT. With a new name in ROKiT Venturi Racing, a striking new red and black livery and a new powertrain supplier in Mercedes-Benz, Season 6 signals the start of an exciting new era for the world’s only Monegasque racing team.