Snap shot -VV Updates from the VV Official site 9/25/07

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Vv Update 09/25 (http://flytheroad.com/blog/forums/topic.php?id=382&replies=60)
IanBruce
Administrator
Hi guys,
I'm sorry (again) for the delay. We been extremely busy meeting with our strategic partners on key design & engineering elements. In fact, we were in London last week, meeting with a potential supplier for our propulsion system.
The short version's that's it's all good, and we’re very much on course. Now that we’re a venture-backed company, there’s much more attention being (and time) paid to just how we communicate and shape our message. We commit to you that we’ll be posting an update every other Friday, beginning this week, even if we don't have a lot new to report.
To bring you up to date, most of our work over the past month and over the next 2 months will be focused on finalizing the vehicle design, the engineering specifications, as well as discussions with potential parts & component suppliers. Our goal is to have final design freeze by the end of this year, then we’ll shift our focus to things like manufacturing & assembly, logistics and retail distribution.
In addition, in upcoming postings, we want to introduce you to the key members of the Vv team. In our next posting, we’ll include a short video interview of, well... me. In subsequent postings, we’ll talk with my partner Howard Levine and other members of Team Venture. We think it's about time you got a better idea of who we are, our backgrounds, and why we’re so committed to this project. We're also making similar arrangements for promised video diary on the vehicle's development.
We can’t thank you enough for your passion, commitment, and your patience. We also want to thank you for your invariably frank and honest feedback, and we look forward to continuing the dialogue as we continue this exciting journey together.
Speaking of... I'm packing for a trip right now. I'm speaking at a workshop of future transportation systems on the east coast tomorrow. Roundtrip, it's 17 hours of travel time, with 5 flight connections -- all for about 45 minutes on stage. Sheesh...
Cheers,
-- Ian

Posted on official VV site: 2007-09-25 10:20:30 #
· negGA
Member
Thanks for the update Ian. Will it be possible to update us with a list of features that will be included in the design between now and the end of the year?

Posted on official VV site: 2007-09-25 10:37:51 #
· IanBruce
Administrator
We working on that right now -- I kid you not. A good deal of the master list are the suggestions right here in the forums. Once we're sure of what we're including in the Gen 1 vehicle, we'll post them here.
PHEVadvocate
Member
The Aptera is supposed to start shipping in about 12 months and they already have a working prototype. It seems like this wingless bird may be “Flying the Road” before the Venture One. Ian, I think you have them beat on the cost and the fun factor, but they seem to have done very well on the energy efficiency side of things. They could be a very serious competitor, if their price goes down. Apteramotors comes across as a bit geeky, their website is weird, and their specifications are sparse. Ian, please give us a sign that things are really flying along at Venture Vehicles and real progress is being made!

Posted on official VV site: 2007-10-02 15:26:20 #
· IanBruce
Administrator
"PHEVadvocate:" At this very moment, I'm at a Starbucks reading through a 1-inch spiral bound document prepared by California Motors entitled "Venture Vehicles Inc. - Phase One Performance Requirements & Propulsion Envelope". Gripping stuff -- and about as close as I get to recreational reading these days. ;)
We have nearly every possible component configuration broken down by risk factors, availability, performance and cost. If Aptera has this level of visibility on their propulsion system, I'd be very impressed.

Posted on official VV site: 2007-10-02 19:01:06 #

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Vv Update 10/05 (http://flytheroad.com/blog/forums/topic.php?id=393&replies=33)
· IanBruce (http://www.flytheroad.com/)
Administrator (http://flytheroad.com/blog/forums/profile.php?id=128)
Hi people,
It’s been another extremely busy and hectic couple of weeks but fortunately, the news is all very positive.
As I mentioned last time, the majority of our time and energies have been in finalizing the engineering, performance and vehicle design specs California Motors and Swift Engineering -- as well as creating and building relationships with a multitude of parts and components suppliers. We've also finalized the propulsion system set-up — we can't give out the specifics at this time — but it will give us the desired performance specs we want; the proven technology we require; and will be cost-effective in terms of maintaining our target MSRP.
Bottom line: we continue to make tremendous progress. Sure, there are a lot of “moving parts” (more figuratively than literally of course), but we’ve had incredible support from our strategic partners who are helping us get there.
On the design front, we actually looked at a number of different design directions last week as part of our regular update meeting and we’ve at least narrowed it down to 3 or 4 that look really amazing. Much more work will be done now, refining the design direction. We’ll be having another design review meeting in about 3 weeks, and are still on track for design freeze by the end of the year.
At the same time, we are making great progress on the whole brand development piece, which will help shape and create the Venture Vehicles personality and communications strategy that we’ll begin building early next year. We have taken great pains to make sure the brand development and the vehicle design activities and processes are tightly integrated mutually supportive.
Finally, we are taking advantage of an upcoming executive team meeting next week to video each member of the senior team so you’ll have an opportunity to put some faces with names, and get to know us a little better. We’ll get those posted for you as soon as they’re shot and ready to go.
Thanks again for your interest, passion and support! See you on the Forum!
-- Ian
Posted: 2007-10-05 22:30:53 # (http://flytheroad.com/blog/forums/topic.php?id=393&replies=33#post-6456)

· IanBruce (http://www.flytheroad.com/)
Administrator (http://flytheroad.com/blog/forums/profile.php?id=128)
“Heh heh Ian got so excited he posted twice. ...”
A little trouble with Time Warner Cable... I wasn't even sure it posted at all.
Donald1800: It's cool. We're looking at a hitch -- the big question is how well it'll work. I'll keep you in the loop.
Posted: 2007-10-05 23:43:13 # (http://flytheroad.com/blog/forums/topic.php?id=393&replies=33#post-6461)

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Vv Update 10/19 (http://flytheroad.com/blog/forums/topic.php?id=393&replies=33)

IanBruce
Administrator
Greetings from Venture Vehicles!
Well, it’s been another VERY busy, but VERY productive couple of weeks for the team. We have spent countless hours in meetings, and on conference calls -- much of it focused on drilling down and finalizing critical technical issues including the vehicle propulsion system. While I’m not free to report anything specific at this moment, the good news is that things are still very much on track.
On the vehicle design front, the Vv executive team had a phenomenal meeting with our design partners this past Tuesday. We'd been looking at a number of different design directions that had been created from my original sketches (God... that seems like such a long time ago). The meeting this week was actually a de-selection meeting where we moved from four more developed design directions down to two. Everyone was extremely excited about what we saw -- huge smiles all around!
The designers will now focus on further refining the two directions we all agreed to pursue. They've now gone back to further refine these for presentation, and we’ll have another look in a couple of weeks -- at which point, we'll share them with you here. Please be patient.
FYI: we got a great plug in an article recently published by BusinessGreen, a British Website. The article was written by Doug Richards, a renowned entrepreneur and chairman of investment research firm Library House and was focused on cleantech and innovation and how Europe may be missing the boat.
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/comment/2201047/cleantech-innovation-lesson
In the article he said, “In almost every sector of cleantech, the key start-up and venture backed companies are in the US. In hybrid or electric vehicle development, Tesla Motors, Phoenix Motorcars and Venture Vehicles lead the way in the US. It is hard to find companies at such an advanced stage in Europe.” Nice.
It looks like we’ll also have another great potential press opportunity coming up. I’ll be able to tell you more in a couple of weeks but it should provide some tremendous visibility for Venture Vehicles and help us continue to get the word out.
As I also mentioned last time, we will be bringing you some very informal videos of the Vv executive team. Hopefully, it will help you get to know us a little better, and put some faces with the names. In this posting, you’ll meet my friend, Venture Vehicles' co-founder and CEO, Howard Levine:
http://www.flytheroad.com/video/VV_Howard2.mp4
That’s it for now. Thanks again for your continued interest and support and we’ll give you another update in two weeks!
-- Ian

Posted: 2007-10-20 14:53:38 #

IanBruce
Administrator
We have a major story appearing in a major newspaper in about 3 weeks -- some might call it the most influential and respected source of news on the planet. We promised them an exclusive on this, and the second the paper hits the streets, I'll post all of the design directions for you here -- including any updates to the down-selected versions.
Sorry I can't do more for you now, but I promise it'll be worth the wait.
-- Ian

Posted: 2007-10-22 14:45:49 #

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Vv Update 10/19

IanBruce
Administrator

Hi Guys,

It’s hard to believe, but another two weeks have gone by (*sorry I'm late with this, but there's a lot going on).

I’m happy to report that everything is still moving forward and on track. As I mentioned last time, we’re still focused on the vehicle design, and finalizing the engineering & performance specs. As you might guess, it’s very intensive and time-consuming given the many critical pieces to the process.

We had a tremendous meeting with one of our marketing partners who is working with us in creating and defining our overall brand positioning. It’s critically important for companies to truly understand who they are, what they stand for, and what values are important to them, since these things drive literally everything a company does -- product design, communications, retail processes... everything. This branding process is taking place in parallel with the vehicle design process so that we can make certain everything is integrated, and totally in synch. I'm very excited about where we are right now, and can't wait for our next review meeting is later this month.

We have our next regularly scheduled vehicle design review late next week. Each time we meet, it gets more and more exciting -- getting closer and closer to creating this incredibly unique vehicle.

Another piece of cool news is that Venture Vehicles was invited to present at the Dow Jones conference on Alternative Energy Innovations in Silicon Valley on November 6th. My partner and CEO, Howard Levine, and I presented the Vv story to dozens of members of the investment community as well as press. We were able to have a CarverOne there so they could actually see, and in some cases drive, the Carver to really appreciate this unique vehicle. Howard was interviewed on CBS MarketWatch, and here’s a link so you can have a look yourself:

PUeEW5yvYfY

Finally, a couple of the very few recent pictures I can share with you at this time:

http://www.flytheroad.com/images/IMG_2645.jpg
http://www.flytheroad.com/images/IMG_2645.jpg
http://www.flytheroad.com/images/IMG_2611.jpg
http://www.flytheroad.com/images/IMG_2611.jpg

#2645 is me with a couple of our Carver One's. The one in the foreground is drivable, while the other will be used for testing the updated tilt system and the Alpha hybrid propulsion system.

In #2611, I'm in the seating buck for the new, roomier interior layout. No, I'm not heavily into woodgrain trim -- this is just the frame prior to mocking up the interior and instrument elements.

That’s it for now. Thanks again for your interest, your passion and your support. We see it and feel it every day from the emails we receive as well as your discussions on the Forum. It’s greatly appreciated. Have a great day and we’ll talk with you in two weeks!

-- Ian
Posted on official VV site: 2007-11-04 08:09:21 #


IanBruce
Administrator


I have a funny feeling that since it is a plywood mock-up that that actual legroom will change.

For the better, if we can. The mock-up takes our longer wheelbase and rear bulkhead shift into account. The CarverOne has the passengers legs on either side of the driver -- not the best position for extended comfort or worse, a side impact.
--Ian
Posted on Official site: 2007-11-04 15:23:22 #