P1, the unlikely Porsche pioneer (BBC) {electric car, 1898}
By Dan Carney
Evidence of a young Ferdinand Porsche sowing wild oats has emerged. His previously unknown automotive creation was discovered in an Austrian warehouse – 111 years after he stored it there.
This new prologue to the German carmaker’s illustrious history stars an ancient protagonist found in staggeringly good condition, a testament to how well Porsche packed away this, his first-ever car, for posterity’s sake.
Porsche built the car – really an electrically powered wagon – in 1898 at the request of Ludwig Lohner, then Austria’s leading coach builder. “He could already see the age of the horse soon would be over,” explained Dieter Landenberger, head of historical archives for the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart, Germany.
Lohner approached Porsche, an engineer for Austria’s Edison electric power subsidiary, and asked him to convert a Lohner carriage to electric power. The 22-year-old produced the P1, so-called because Porsche stamped his initial and the numeral on all the major components, to indicate this was his first car.
The P1 is propelled by a 287lb electric motor producing a nominal three horsepower. In “overboost” mode it can crank up the power to five steeds. The car’s gearbox features 12 ratios, including a reverse gear, and under full chatter Porsche estimates the P1 would have attained a top speed of 21mph.
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more: http://www.bbc.com/autos/story/20140227-porsches-electric-relic
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