Eclectic electric!

Electric vehicles seem to be all the rage.
Here's the latest offering at the 2006 Paris auto show by the electric car specialists at Venturi, a tiny company located in Monaco. It's called the Eclectic and is something akin to a golf cart with open sides but with greater range and velocity.

It doesn't come cheap at around $30,000, and if you want one you better move fast as only 200 are being manufactured. Venturi could probably sell the entire lot to my well-heeled neighbors in Key Biscayne where anybody who's anybody has a golf-cart.

Venturi, which describes itself as a 'carbon neutral company,' claims the Eclectic as the world's "first autonomous vehicle in the history of the automobile." It seats three, has a top speed of 31 mph and a range of 31 miles. Its Ni-MH (nickel metal hydride) battery packs takes five hours to charge.  A regenerative braking system also adds to the vehicle's energy efficiency.

It also has solar panels in the roof that can add up to 4 miles (sunny skies permitting).
And, get this, a small wind turbine can be attached to the roof when the car is parked (NO KIDDING!), potentially adding another 9 miles to its range.

If you are willing to part with $664,000, Venturi also make a nifty thing called the Fetish, touted to be the world's first electric sports car. The Fetish has a top speed of 105 mph and has a remarkable 220 miles range.
Click here to check out the company's cool website.

- David Adams