Venucia VIWA… remember the name – for it might just be one of the most significant cars unveiled at the recent Shanghai Motor Show in China.
VIWA is a distinctively styled four-door city car concept with a mission. Thanks to its advanced zero-emission all-electric powertrain, VIWA is designed to help China improve the poor air quality in its towns and cities.
China has been pushing drivers to switch to electric vehicles but take up has been slow to date. But with its funky looks – especially in eye grabbing orange – VIWA could be just the car to change attitudes.
Venucia – the word is derived from ‘Venus’ – is the brand name of cars produced by the Dongfeng Nissan Passenger Vehicle Company (DFL-PV), Nissan’s joint venture in China.
VIWA uses globally proven EV technologies developed by Nissan in a compact body designed for busy cities and has a range that will meet the daily needs of a typical Chinese customer.
“Environmental protection is the key to future success for every car company,” said Ren Yong, deputy-managing director of DFL-PV. “We will continue our efforts to improve the economy of our gasoline engines and promote new energy vehicles.”
VIWA isn’t the first pure electric vehicle from Venucia. Its first-ever mass produced EV, the e30, was unveiled last November at the China International Automobile Exhibition and will be at the centre of a pilot programme in Guangzhou and Dalian later this year.
There are as many as 25 EV pilot programmes in China and the government hopes to have 500,000 EVs on its roads by 2015… and a remarkable 5 million by 2020. The stakes are high in this, the world’s largest auto market: DFL-PV aims to make Venucia the number one EV brand in China.