Photo: Venturi
It's really a no-brainer that Antarctica is one of the most hostile environments on Earth, but what if you need a ride there? You call Venturi, and they provide an adequate EV.
The Monaco-based company also known from Formula E has even named the EV "Antarctica", so potential customers won't have any problems in guessing its purpose. But there's more than a set of tracks when it comes to Venturi's all-electric polar explorer.
It was designed to meet requirements of the French Polar Institute, and engineers tested the vehicle in the French Alps. Which is a wise thing to do, since the vehicle has to be functional in temperatures of -40 degrees Celsius/Fahrenheit. Not to mention it has to fight tons of snow and steep icy slopes.
We don't get much from Venturi in terms of specs for the Antarctica EV, but their website says the vehicle uses two electric motors (20 kW continuous, 30 kW peak). Furthermore, it can be driven and controlled by simply using a joystick, using Drive by Wire technology.
Each motor is tasked with spinning one track to propel the Antarctica to a maximum speed of 25 km/h (16 mph). When the situation demands it, the EV can operate as an eight-wheel drive vehicle if fitted with special tires. In this configuration, the Antarctica can go as fast as 45 km/h (28 mph) while its maximum range is estimated at 20 km (13 miles). That's a bit short if you ask me. I mean, in such challenging conditions, the last thing you need to worry about is range anxiety.
While we can't help imagining the EV drifting in the huge, white polar background, it will most likely serve more down-to-Earth purposes as scientific research or search and rescue when necessary. On that ending note, here's what the vehicle's designer, Sacha Lakic, has to say: "more than just an electric Ratrack, Antarctica is a representation of a robot car of the future". Now we're all eyes and ears!
It was designed to meet requirements of the French Polar Institute, and engineers tested the vehicle in the French Alps. Which is a wise thing to do, since the vehicle has to be functional in temperatures of -40 degrees Celsius/Fahrenheit. Not to mention it has to fight tons of snow and steep icy slopes.
We don't get much from Venturi in terms of specs for the Antarctica EV, but their website says the vehicle uses two electric motors (20 kW continuous, 30 kW peak). Furthermore, it can be driven and controlled by simply using a joystick, using Drive by Wire technology.
Each motor is tasked with spinning one track to propel the Antarctica to a maximum speed of 25 km/h (16 mph). When the situation demands it, the EV can operate as an eight-wheel drive vehicle if fitted with special tires. In this configuration, the Antarctica can go as fast as 45 km/h (28 mph) while its maximum range is estimated at 20 km (13 miles). That's a bit short if you ask me. I mean, in such challenging conditions, the last thing you need to worry about is range anxiety.
While we can't help imagining the EV drifting in the huge, white polar background, it will most likely serve more down-to-Earth purposes as scientific research or search and rescue when necessary. On that ending note, here's what the vehicle's designer, Sacha Lakic, has to say: "more than just an electric Ratrack, Antarctica is a representation of a robot car of the future". Now we're all eyes and ears!
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