More Speed Bumps for Electric Cars?

Venturi pushes back the production date for its eagerly awaited Fetish, while Fisker Automotive calls Tesla's lawsuit against Fisker "nonsense."

Eco-auto enthusiasts who have eagerly anticipated Monaco-based Venturi’s first electric sports car, called the Fetish, will have to wait a little longer.

The company, which had previously told Greentech Media it would deliver its first Fetish in September, now expects to start delivery of its speedy €450,000 ($612,225) car in June of 2009, according to an AutoblogGreen.com post this week.

AutoblogGreen.com had previously said the car was expected to hit the streets sometime this month.

The Fetish is not the first electric car to see production delays, of course.

Competitor Tesla Motors experienced transmission problems with its Roadster, resulting in several delays to the vehicle. In February, the San Carlos, Calif.-based company finally made good, delivering its first production Roadster to its chairman, PayPal co-founder Elon Musk (see First Tesla Production Roadster Arrives).

According to AutoblogGreen.com and its French translation of a Le Blog Auto posting, Venturi is blaming the pushback on its own set of upgrades, such as tweaking the engine for more horsepower and reducing the weight of the car.

In spite of the delays, electric cars have been making steady, if slow, progress (see Green Cars Cruise Forward, Ford to Cut Emissions, Make More Soy Seats and Who’s Reviving the Electric Car?). But they still face a number of challenges, including the cost and efficiency of their batteries, which led Eric Fedewa, vice president for global powertrain forecasts at CSM Worldwide, to say earlier this month that the cars could still be years away.

As if bringing electric cars to market wasn’t hard enough, a new problem is arising in the sector – infighting.

On Thursday, Fisker Automotive responded to a lawsuit Tesla filed earlier this month that accuses Fisker of stealing Tesla’s design and trade secrets.

"The lawsuit is nonsense," Henrik Fisker, CEO of the Irvine, Calif.-based company, said in a statement.

Fisker Automotive struck back, alleging that Tesla had breached an arbitration agreement between the two companies when it filed the "meritless claims."

Fisker Automotive said it’s still on track to deliver the Fisker Karma, a plug-in hybrid with a solar panel, which it unveiled in January.

Could such a quarrel distract the companies, potentially slowing the small, burgeoning electric-car industry’s progress?

"No," says David Bodde, a professor at Clemson University's Spiro Institute for Entrepreneurial Leadership.

Bodde said observers should contrast the dispute with the stronger market influence of the rising price of oil and petroleum-based motor fuels.

"If there is a great need in the market place, then one competitor suing another is of secondary importance," he said.

Comments [2]

  • JL Mealer 04/27/08 7:35 PM

    Silly EV builders… MAMC has a non petro, non EV that is full sized and full powered. We do what others cannot do and as our funding comes through we are going to show the world what alternative powered vehicles are all about!
    http://www.betterconstructed.com
    John Lewis Mealer

    Reply
  • Barry Bernsten 07/24/08 8:40 AM

    America needs to stay FOCUSED, AWARE and EDUCATED.

    History reminds us that every time oil prices peak and the North American market/consumers start to discuss alternative energy sources, the oil exporting countries start to trim down their prices. History also tells us that the oil exporting nations have been very successful in the past and in fact, we have lost our enthusiasm and dropped many of our alternative energy initiatives after oil prices are reduced.

    WE need to stay focused this time.

    1) Al Gore and his energy initiative is on course.
    2) T. Boone Pickens and his wind power initiative is on course.
    3) BG Automotive Group?s mass production electric vehicle program is on
      course.
    4) Richard Branson from the UK is on course.
    5) The Gas Reduction Act of 2008 might not be the most environmentally sound
        solution, but yet it shows that Congress has finally realized that we have an
        energy crisis (again), and a real threat to our national security.

    The continued dependence on foreign oil is a threat to our long term democratic values. We must become an energy independent nation, and with this, some sacrifices will have to be made by the American consumer.

    Be aware!!
    We are exporting approximately USD $700 Billion dollars per year of U.S. currency. The majority of this money is being transferred to the Trillion dollar ?sovereign wealth funds?. This is USD $700 Billion not being spent on America?s educational system, health care and security.

    The ?sovereign wealth funds? are directly buying major interests (large blocks of stock) in U.S. companies, including most of the major banks. Also, billions of dollars of ?sovereign wealth fund? money is being invested in our hedge funds, private equity firms, and the investment banking industry. A few of these firms are directly and indirectly investing large sums of money into our ?gas combustion? automobile industry. Do we want our auto industry in the direct or indirect control of the firms that are supplying us oil?  This is an interesting topic for an investigative reporter. 

    There are automotive consulting companies in Michigan (heart of our auto industry), lobbying States and our Federal Government, NOT to subsidize the Electric Vehicle industry. The latter seems to be contradictory to what the American public would like to see from our automobile industry. After the billions (excess of $20 billion) the automotive companies have lost in the past 6 months producing gas combustion vehicles, you would think they too would change course. Changing course is not adding 2-4 miles per gallon w/Hybrids. Drastic measures in our auto industry must take place and NOW!

    Do not let the temporary reduction in oil prices push us off course?.AGAIN.

    Read, Read, Read- Stay on top of the issues. Let?s not be fooled again.

    STAY FOCUSED, AWARE and EDUCATED! 

    Reply
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