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Porsche 1898 P1 Electric Car
Porsche is one among those early automobile companies with a rich racing heritage with several wins to its credit throughout history. A habit that continues to this day. Turns out this is a habit that started very early. As early as the very first Porsche.
We are not referring to the 1948 Type 356, which was the first model to wear the Porsche badge. The car we are talking about is THE very first Porsche that was built by Ferdinand Porsche himself and this comes from the year 1898.
The very first Porsche did not wear the brand logo but it has an interesting history and exhibited the characteristic race winning habit from the beginning. Simply called the P1, its full name was Egger-Lohner electric vehicle, C.2 Phaeton model.
That's right an electric vehicle. The P1, designed and built by the a 22 year old Ferdinand Porsche, got its first taste of the road on June 26 the same year in Vienna, Austria. What's more, the P1 even won a race the very next year. The car was last driven in 1902.
The P1 participated in a 39 km race in the streets of Berlin in September 1899, with three passengers on board. The car came first, a full 18 minutes ahead of second runner up.
Like a typical Porsche the P1 had its powerplant at the rear, an electric motor that weighed 130 kg. The motor produced an impressive (for those days) 3 HP, which could go up to 5 HP briefly during overdrive.
Powering the motor was a a battery that tipped the scales at a full 500 kilograms. Over all, the P1 weighed a hefty 1350 kg, but it could still reach a top speed of nearly 34 km/h and the speed was controlled using a 12 speed control unit. But the surprising bit is this. The P1 had a range of 79 km, which is not too bad even by today's standards.
The 116 year old piece of history was recovered by Porsche in a warehouse where it had stayed unused for the last 112 years. The P1 is now the centerpiece at the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart, Germany.
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