It’s strange the way things go around in circles. The Poet T.S. Eliot wrote in 1941 that “we shall not cease from exploration. And the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started. And know the place for the first time.” The Porsche motor company is rolling out its ‘first electric car’. Did you know their founder Dr Ferdinand Porsche beat them by 120 years?
How Dr Ferdinand Porsche Became Involved in Electric Cars
Lohner-Werke Coach: Unknown Author: Public Domain
Ferdinand Porsche’s father was a ‘master panel beater’ meaning he repaired accident damage to auto bodies. He found a job at Béla Egger Electrical in Vienna in 1893, where he invented the electric hub motor. Electric hub motors are incorporated in wheels and so drive them directly.
Dr Ferdinand Porsche proved his talents while still young, although he never studied again after finishing technical high school. Instead, he joined the prestigious Jakob Lohner & Company in 1898. The Vienna factory produced coaches for Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria, as well as for the monarchs of the UK, Sweden, and Romania. So he was definitely doing well when it came to technology.
The Day Porsche 1 Drove Out of the Door
Lohner-Porsche Hybrid: Unknown Author: Public Domain
Ferdinand Porsche worked with Jakob Lohner to produce the company’s first electric car in 1898. He engraved the symbol ‘P1’ on all the key components, signifying he had made them. The motive power for the ‘Porsche 1’ comprised hub electric motors on the front wheels under battery power.
The carriage-like vehicle ‘showed wonderful speed when allowed to sprint’. However, the 4,000 lb of lead acid batteries made it weak on hills and it had a limited range. Therefore, Dr Ferdinand Porsche, as they called him later, introduced the ‘Lohner-Porsche Mixte Hybrid’ in 1901.
This used a Daimler combustion engine linked to a generator driving the electric hub wheels, with a small battery back up. The vehicle broke the Austrian speed record by reaching 35 mph in 1901. Lohner-Porsche sold over 300 chassis that found their way into fire engines, trucks, and buses.
Related
Porsche Takes on Tesla with 600 Horses
The First (Model) Electric Car: Anyos Jedlik 1828
Preview Image: 1900 Lohner Porsche Electric Wheel Hub Motor
