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Last October, the Engineer's Day was celebrated where the V Award "Innovation and Sustainability" was awarded to the company FERVE, for its dedication to the manufacture of chargers and testers batteries and other accessories for the automotive battery service. In 1980 they achieved the first solar electric car manufactured in the State. This hundred-year-old family company, absolute benchmarks in the electrics of motor cars, received this distinction for its capacity for innovation and inventiveness.
It all started in 1924, when Benvingut Ferret created an automotive-related business in Vendrell. A little later he opened an electromechanical workshop, which for a hundred years continues with the FERVE company, which today has Joan Ferret Piñol as manager and continues with the fourth family generation.
The electrical workshop opened at Carrer de Santa Anna, 21, del Vendrell. As the activity grew and required more space, Benvingut Ferret moved to a new premises at Doctor Robert road, 48.
In the 1940s the range of devices, which are more complex and versatile, is getting bigger. The commercialization of panels for electrical tests (cars and motorcycles) and of a controller to determine the state of charge of the batteries then begins.
Manufacturing takes an increasingly prominent place and the repair shop becomes smaller. Demand is increasing at such an intense rate that it has to evolve from an almost artisanal production to chain work.
From the first device in the 1950s, marketed as a 'rectifier', to the chargers listed in the latest catalogue, the company has created dozens of models and sold thousands of units worldwide.
On April 18, 1956, Joan Ferret Carbonell, son of Benvingut Ferret, moved to Carrer de Santa Anna to create new electronic devices. It is the birth of FERVE, a word made up of the first letters of the family surname, FER de Ferret, and VEU del Vendrell. An increasing number of items are developed there to respond to the different needs of customers.
In 1967, Joan Ferret Carbonell builds a vehicle that will be one of Ferve's best business cards throughout its history: the Fervelectric, a car powered by electricity. The Fervelectric was prominent news in newspapers, radio and television. Two years later, Joan Ferret managed to register it, so that it could circulate as another vehicle. In 1980, thanks to photovoltaic panels installed on the roof, the Fervelectric became solar. Again the car is in the news and is being talked about even in media from countries as far away as China. here
In 1960, Joan Ferret Carbonell and the company's export director traveled around the five continents to visit potential distributors and participate in the most relevant sector fairs in the world, they were convinced of their creations and the needs of the market Little by little, customers from all over the world valued those chargers and testers made in Vendrell. In fact, the star product that has made the company's name famous is the battery charger. This experimental vehicle, considered the first solar car manufactured in Spain, has been driven by famous people such as Joan Manuel Fangio, five-time world champion motoring, or the clown Charlie Rivel.
FERVE did not stop growing and in 1969 it laid the foundation stone of the current factory on the Calafell road and where it was established in 1970. The factory and FERVE headquarters occupy about 5,000 m² on two floors and where each orders go out every day destined for the five continents.
In 1986 Joan Ferret Piñol took over the management of the company's commercial department.
FERVE has been awarded with various recognitions obtained in the field of innovation, such as in 1982 the "Best Business Initiatives" Award, awarded by El Periódico de Catalunya, the Industrial Design Award of the Council of Chambers of Catalonia in the year 1989, the Francesc Macià Medal in recognition of the professional career of Joan Ferret Carbonell, awarded by the Generalitat of Catalonia in 1998, or the Innovation Award for his work in R&D+I in 2009.
As in its beginnings, FERVE continues to bet on innovation and present high-tech products at the service of the automotive battery, with the constant improvement of our chargers and the incorporation of the most advanced tools on the market.