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Lohner–Porsche

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Motor vehicle

Lohner-Porsche<br>1900 Lohner-Porsche "Mixte" four-wheel-hub-motor gasoline-electric racecar[1]

1900 Lohner-Porsche "Chaise" two front-wheel-hub-motor BEV[1]

OverviewAlso calledLohner–Porsche ElectromobileProduction1900–1920s[2]DesignerFerdinand PorscheBody and chassisClassHorseless CarriageBody style2-seater convertible<br>4-seaterPowertrainEngine10–80 hp[2] two or four hub-mounted electric motors, driven by battery-electric motors or petrol-electric motors.DimensionsCurb weight1,500 kg (3,307 lb)<br>Lohner-Porsche (1902).<br>Lohner–Porsche is a term encompassing several electric vehicles designed by Ferdinand Porsche and manufactured at Lohner-Werke in the early 1900s. They include the first hybrid electric vehicle and the first commercial hub motor car. The hybrid "Mixed" or "Mixte" racecars are powered by a gasoline engine which drives four electric motors, one in each wheel hub. The battery-powered "Touring" or "Chaise" commercial cars utilize only two front-wheel hub motors.[2][1]

Ferdinand Porsche's education and prior work<br>[edit]

Ferdinand Porsche's father was a professional panel-beater.[3] From a young age, Ferdinand showed a great interest in technology, and was especially intrigued by electricity. He was already attending classes at the Imperial Polytechnical College in Reichenberg (Czech: Liberec, some 5 km (3 mi) from his home)[4] at night, while still helping his father in his workshop by day.

In 1893, thanks to a referral, Porsche landed a job with the Béla Egger & Co. Electrical company in Vienna (later Brown Boveri,[4] now ABB), and moved there, at the young age of 18.[5] While working in Vienna, he enrolled as a part-time student at what is now the Vienna University of Technology,[4] and went there whenever he could after work. Other than attending classes there, Porsche did not complete any formal engineering education. During his five years with Béla Egger, he built their first electric wheel-hub motor, the concept for which had been developed by American inventor Wellington Adams, and Porsche also raced it, in 1897.[4]

Development<br>[edit]

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At the age of 23, Porsche was employed at the Jacob Lohner factory. Despite Porsche having had mostly on-the-job learning, and very limited formal engineering education, Jacob Lohner employed him to develop an electric powertrain for his coaches.[4] The first prototypes designed by Porsche were two-wheel drive, battery-powered electric vehicles with two front-wheel hub-mounted motors.[6][7] Porsche's prototype car boasted a low-friction drivetrain, due to the hub-mounted electric motors directly driving the wheels. Each internal-pole electric motor was capable of outputting 2.5 to 3.5 hp (1.9 to 2.6 kW), peaking to 7 hp (5.2 kW) for short bursts.[8]

The 1898 "System Lohner–Porsche" created a press whirlwind across Europe. Lohner received his first order from E.W. Hart, himself a coachbuilder based in Luton in the UK. Hart asked for significant modifications; his vehicle was to be capable of running on petrol as well as electricity, of carrying four passengers, and of employing four-wheel drive. The custom coach was a monster dubbed La Toujours Contente ('always satisfied' in French), a jab at record-holder Camille Jenatzy's electric La Jamais Contente, and was exhibited at the December 1900 Paris Exhibition. The enormous Lohner required 1.8 tonnes of batteries consisting of a 44-cell 80-volt lead-acid battery, all housed in a spring-suspended battery container to protect the fragile cells. The four electric motors weighed a total of 1,280 pounds, contributing to a total vehicle weight of over four tonnes on its Continental pneumatic tires. With a battery capacity around 270 amp-hours and four forward speeds, the 56-horsepower coach ran in several expositions and competitions. It cost 15,000 Austrian crowns.

Despite such ambitious engineering, the car was completed on time and was delivered personally by Porsche. Hart was so impressed, he purchased another, two-wheel drive example at a relative bargain of 7,950 Austrian crowns.

On November 6–9, 1900, the Automobile Club of Great Britain and Ireland sponsored an electric vehicle endurance trial, in which the four-wheel drive Lohner–Porsche was one of 11 entrants—one of three entrants Hart brought to the Chislehurst starting line. The first-place winner of the trial was a Louis-Krieger car dubbed the 'Powerful'. Thanks largely to its lighter weight and...