Battery storage for electric automobiles was proceeding apace, as more manufacturers began making lead-acid cells. During this period, young Ferdinand Porsche was stretching his wings through a variety of roles. Then he joined the Lohner-Werke coach building company in Vienna, Austria and his career took off. This was after his System Lohner–Porsche hybrid electric vehicle created a so-called ‘press whirlwind’ across Europe in 1898.
Radical Thinking Behind the Hybrid Electric Lohner–Porsche
The thinking behind this imaginative innovation appears to have followed two ground-breaking ideas:
- What would happen Porsche applied battery energy in tandem with gasoline power?
- Would it be possible for him to connect compact electric motors directly to each wheel?
This is hardly revolutionary thinking in 2022. However, back in 1898 a century-and-a-quarter earlier the Lohner–Porsche was radical. Solid, reliable lead-acid batteries were the obvious choice for energy storage, but the drive train was something else!
Remarkable New Technology for Lead-Acid Batteries
Ferdinand Porsche certainly made the most of the solid reliability of the latest lead-acid batteries. That’s because his subsequent Lohner–Porsche autos incorporated two operating modes:
- His octagonal electric motors could take their power from a combustion generator.
- Or they could purr away from the silent energy directly off lead-acid batteries
The internal-pole electric motors delivered 2.5 to 3.5 horsepower, peaking at 7.0 horsepower for short bursts. And as a result the hybrid auto could hit a top speed of 21 mph, and achieve a driving range of around 50 miles on its batteries alone.
Wikipedia reveals a ‘custom coach version’ (not the one in our photo) with four electric wheels was on show at the December 1900 Paris Exhibition. This ‘monster’ boasted a 44-cell, 80-volt lead-acid battery suspended on springs, and weighing 1.8 tons. This combination delivered around 270 amp-hours at 56 horsepower, through a four-speed energy regulator.
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