PARIS

THE 2008 Paris Motor Show was a showcase for a new generation of electric cars like the Chevrolet Volt and gasoline-electric hybrids like the 2009 Honda Insight. But perhaps the most technologically advanced model introduced in Paris was the 2012 Volage electric car, by Venturi, Monaco’s only automaker. In the context of developing automobiles, 2012 is not far off.

One the one hand, the Venturi has already developed a viable electric car, the Fetish, which it first displayed in 2004 and billed as the world’s first two-seat electric sports car. On the other, the Fetish is still not available. Sales were scheduled to begin this year, but were delayed for undisclosed reasons until 2009. Venturi has said it will make only 25, to be sold at $400,000 each.

Although the price of the Volage has yet to be announced, the company said it would cost more than the Fetish, probably around $500,000. Venturi said each of its cars, which are custom built, would take about four months to complete at its Monaco production facility. A very limited production run is planned for the Volage, the company said.

The Volage generates power much differently than the Fetish, which relies on an electric traction motor. The Volage, a joint venture with Michelin, uses Michelin’s Active Wheel technology, in which the propulsion system, suspension and other components are housed in the wheels.