Venturi Volage wins 3 awards @ the Challenge Bibendum

The 11th edition of the Michelin Challenge Bibendum was held from May 18th to 22nd at the Berlin Tempelhof Airport.

On this occasion, the Venturi Volage has won the Design Award. Fitted with "Michelin Active Wheels", the very architecture of the vehicle has been completely reconfigured by designer Sacha Lakic : "Active suspension and engines incorporated into the wheels, flat bottom, aerodynamic tunnels : these choices and technological advances have allowed me to "design the void" usually occupied by the engine and suspensions, and thus explore bold new styling possibilities."

The Venturi also participated in the “Battery Electric Vehicles” Rally held on May 17th and 18th. Volage won the Best Acceleration Prize (0 to 50 km/hr in 2.2 seconds) and the CO2 Emissions Prize.

With 4-wheel drive and active suspension, the Venturi Volage has no equivalent. "Active Wheel" technology in fact incorporates 2 electric motors per wheel (1 for suspension and 1 for drive), ie. a total of 8 electric motors driven in real time by sophisticated electronics. The active electric shock absorber system allows for total adaptation to road surface and driving types. Thanks to its road holding, manoeuverability and silent running, the Venturi Volage represents the ultimate in present-day automotive technology.

Japanese electric car 'goes 300km' on single charge

Japanese developers have unveiled an electric car they said Wednesday can travel more than 300 kilometres before its battery runs flat.

Electric vehicle specialist SIM-Drive, have relaunched the car they hope to take to market by 2013. The four-seater "SIM-LEI" has electric motors inside each wheel and a super-light steel body shell, allowing for 333 kilometres (207 miles) of motoring on one charge in a JC-08 mode test, which represents general urban traffic condition in Japan.

The cars battery capacity is 24.5 kWh which is approx the same as the Nissan Leaf. Electrical power consumption during the JC-08 test was 77Wh/km. (for comparison, a Nissan LEAF consumes 173Wh/km) The test results prove the SIM-LEI with it's 4 direct drive in-wheel electric motors achieved double the range of the Nissan Leaf using the same capacity battery pack. This has enormous implications for the global EV market.

Its designers say they hope the prototype, a joint project among 34 organisations including Mitsubishi Motors and engineering firm IHI, will be sold to car manufacturers for mass production.

The previous launch date for this car in March of this year had the unfortunate coincidence of being at the same time the earth quakes hit Japan so the launch was scaled down as a mark of respect.

The CEO of SIM-Drive is Hiroshi Shimizu, a Keio University Professor who also developed the Eliica Electric Supercar.