Porsche P1

Porsche P1
Overview
Manufacturer	Porsche Automotive
Production	1898
Model years	1898
Assembly	Austria
Body and chassis
Class	Electric car
Powertrain
Transmission	single-speed
Battery	Tudor batteries

The Porsche P1, otherwise known as the Egger-Lohner electric vehicle, C.2 Phaeton model, is the world's first Porsche. It is designed by Ferdinand Porsche and is considered to be the first stepping stone for him before he and his son created the company, Porsche. The vehicle resembles a wooden crate or an old horse-drawn carriage but it is actually an electrically motored vehicle.^[1]

Powertrain

The C.2 Phaeton model is in fact a four seat vehicle which is powered by the "octagon" electric motor, which took its name from the eight-sided design of the motor housing. The electric motor can produce an output of 3 hp at 350rpm and for short periods of time, up to 5 hp with a top speed of 35 km/h by overcharging it. The car could be driven for three to five hours with a range of approximately 49 miles. The car uses a complicated series of gears where it is driven by using a 12-speed controller where six are dedicated to forward gears, two for reverse and four to brake the car.

Body

The vehicle can also be styled as an open-air chassis or a coupe and because of its alternating vehicle body, it could be used during the summer and winter or sunny and rainy days. The vehicle is mainly made out of wood and weighs 2977 pounds with the battery itself weighing over 1103 pounds. The wheels are also made out of wood and are surrounded with pneumatic tires.

Discovery

The car have disappeared for 112 years and have only recently been found in a warehouse in Austria, where it had remained untouched since 1902.^[2] The car remains to be in a clean and good condition where the motor still functions, however the batteries and seats have gone missing. It is currently on display at the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart, Germany.

History

In the year 1898, Ferdinand Porsche designed his first ever car and named it the Egger-Lohner electric vehicle, C.2 Phaeton model or "P1" for short. The short form of the car "P1" came from Ferdinand Porsche who made sure that he would be credited for his design and work of the vehicle, hence he engraved the code "P1" which stood for Porsche number 1, onto all of the key components of the vehicle. The P1 was originally created for a car maker company by the name of Jacob Lohner. Ludwig Lohner, the owner of Jacob Lohner became convinced after seeing Ferdinand Porsche that the age of horse and carriage was over, requested Ferdinand Porsche to create an electric drive train. On June 26, 1898, the P1 officially rolled out to the streets of Vienna, Austria. On September 28, 1899, Ferdinand Porsche entered the Berlin road race with the P1, where it won the gold medal and crossed the finish line 18 minutes before the second car did. With such shocking results from the P1, it had also won another title where the P1 came out on top in the efficiency test, where it is recorded as the lowest energy consumption vehicle in urban traffic.^[3]

See also

• CTS Car Top Systems
• List of German cars
• List of Porsche engines
• Porsche Club of America
• Porsche Museum, Stuttgart

References

1. Turvill, William (January 28, 2014). "Not quite a 918 Spyder, is it? First ever Porsche is revealed as a wooden crate on wheels that had an ELECTRIC engine and a top speed of just 21mph". dailymail. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
2. "First Porsche revealed to be an electric car from 1898". BBC. January 28, 2014. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
3. "The First Porsche in the World - the Return of the "P1"". Retrieved 3 April 2014.

External links

Article

• Porsche milestones
• P1, the unlikely Porsche pioneer