Paris - Venturi Ultimate GT All electric

EVs for the rich

There are a number or electric vehicles on display at the Paris Auto Show. This Venturi Voltage is a little more realistic than the Venturi Astrolab, but it looks too conceptual. Still, I think I live the Astrolab better.

Will Google help produce the Astrolab?

My dream car: A solar powered plug-in hybrid vehicle

O.K. The Venturi Astrolab solar powered plug-in hybrid is not exactly ready for primetime, but the fact that it is almost production-ready is extremely exciting.

Hybrid technology, plug-in technology, solar technology! Damn, had they just added biofuels and a small wind generator, it would be alternative energy perfection.

I was able to check out the Astrolab at Wired's NextFest, and if you live in California, you just might have seen the Astrolab on a freeway near your, as did the President of Google, according to Edmunds.

Google is now heavily invested in solar power and electric cars, and it has been pushing plug-in hybrid technology. Would't helping Venturi set up a factory in California to build Astrolabs be the perfect fit? The perfect convergence of technologies?

I hope so. Those guys at Google are money, baby.

First solar plug-in hybrid ready for sale?

To be built and sold in America by next year?

The Venturi Astrolab solar powered plug-in hybrid vehicle was displayed in Los Angeles today. It was also announced that the solar powered hybrid will be produced in America and that it could be ready for sale by next year.

According to reports on CNBC, the Astrolab, which travels around 70 miles per charge with a top speed of 74 mph, is not just powered by solar panels, it can also be plugged into a standard outlet just as a conventional electric car.

The company plans to develop numerous cars in a wide range of prices for the American market. Ultimately, final prices will be significantly dependant upon the scale of production.