Meet the Electric Porsche From 1898 143
cartechboy writes "We all talk about the Tesla Model S and Nissan Leaf as if electric cars are brand-new. In fact, electric cars were around long before you were alive, or your father, or maybe even your grandfather. It turns out that the very first Porsche ever built was an electric car--way back in 1898. It wasn't called a Porsche, but an 'Egger-Lohner electric vehicle, C.2 Phaeton model'--or P1 for short. Designed by Ferdinand Porsche when he was just 22 years old, it has a rear electric drive unit producing all of 3 horsepower--and an overdrive mode to boost that to a frightening 5 hp! It had an impressive range of 49 miles, not that much less than many of today's plug-in cars. Porsche recently recovered the P1 from a warehouse--where it has supposedly sat untouched since 1902--and plans to display it in original, unrestored condition at the Porsche Museum in Zuffenhausen, Germany."
Re:Um... (Score:4, Informative)
In a country where the chief executive makes claims that the US invented the automobile....yest, it is appropriate to assume we are all ignorant.
Jay Leno has a 1909 Baker Electric (Score:5, Informative)
And there's a great summary of electric vehicles in the US 100+ years ago on his page.
http://www.jaylenosgarage.com/... [jaylenosgarage.com]
Re:Generalizing much? (Score:5, Informative)
That's because modern ICE cars have been under continuous development for over a century. Electric cars had a few early models, then languished undeveloped for a hundred years, before we recently started up development of them again.