The motorcycle brand Voxan saw new life in 2010, when it was bought by Venturi Automobiles, and transformed into an electric motorcycle company. A pet project of billionaire Gildo Pallanca Pastor, Voxan debuted its first motorcycle, the Voxan Wattman, in 2013. You either loved it, or hated it…we were of the latter opinion.
Production details on the Voxan Wattman were sketchy at the time of the bike’s release, and Pastor has a reputation of not seeing project through to their finish. Therefore, it is not surprising that reports out of France say that Venturi has pulled the plug on Voxan, and the Wattman.
According to reports, the main reason for Voxan’s demise are the health problems being faced by Pastor, as well as the assassination of his mother (the richest woman in Monaco) after she visited him in the hospital.
As such, Pastor is taking a step back from some of his ventures, and instead will be focusing on his land speed records (Venturi is a partner with The Ohio State University’s Buckeye Bullet race team) and his electric car racing (Venturi races in the newly formed Formula E series).
Regardless of the reasons speculated, Venturi’s absence in the electric motorcycle market will likely not change much in terms of product development, but one has to admit that it certainly helped to have a billionaire dreamer at the helm of an electric motorcycle brand, dreaming things outside of the status quo found in the motorcycle industry.
Source: Le Repaire Des Motards via Bikes in the Fast Lane
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