Lohner-Porsche

Lohner - Porsche is the collective term for vehicles with an electric drive of the Lohner -Werke. The vehicles are called Lohner-Porsche Semper Vivus and Mixte cars, but are often referred to as the Lohner - Porsche electric car or just as Lohner - Porsche. The vehicles were developed by Ludwig Lohner and Ferdinand Porsche. The cars were equipped with a gasoline engine and electric motor. The Mixte car was a vehicle with hybrid drive. Was also built a special model with four-wheel drive. This can be seen as the first automobile with four-wheel drive in the history of the automobile. The vehicle was built in 1899 for the first time in 1900 and presented at the Paris World Exhibition of the public.

Ferdinand Porsche

Ferdinand Porsche developed under a mandate from the Hofwagenfabrik " Jacob Lohner & Co., Vienna " hub motor, with which he joined Lohner 1897. 1899 scooter "System Lohner - Porsche " was built and launched at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1900 as the first transmission -less cars and epoch-making technological novelty. That same year, Ferdinand Porsche developed at Lohner a hybrid vehicle with mixed petrol -electric drive which fixed the disadvantage of the lack of range of the battery-powered scooter and were produced as passenger and commercial vehicles.

Developments

The Lohner -Werke in Vienna's Danube city were the purveyor to the imperial Monarchy of Austria -Hungary. After Ludwig Lohner had taken over the business from his father Jacob Lohner in 1897, came shortly after Ferdinand Porsche one. This began with Lohner with the development of the electric vehicle. The end of the era, " Lohner - Porsche " was in 1906. Production of the Lohner - Porsche vehicles was abandoned due to a legal dispute about the patent and high development costs. Ferdinand Porsche has made through the Lohner - Porsche design a solid reputation as a design engineer and inventor. He left the company by Lohner and took a job as technical director and chief engineer at Austro -Daimler. Lohner reason for a vehicle with an electric motor was that the air of the " occurring in large numbers gasoline engines mercilessly spoiled [his ] would ." The Porsche Museum in Stuttgart has the Semper Vivus carefully recreated in a four -year project and was first presented in March 2011 at the Geneva Motor Show. Today, the replica is part of the collection of the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart.

Car with a purely electric motor

In 1899 has an electric vehicle was built as the Porsche "Semper Vivus " ( " always alive " or " always alive " ) at the Paris World Fair in 1900 presents. Also known as " Lohner - Porsche " presented car was presented under the number 19645 with the Austrian Patent Office. In the patent, a " steering wheel drive with electric motor " was entered. It featured a in the form exactly worked out, of effects on the steering free drive the front wheels. In motor vehicles with internal combustion engines This was only a few decades later possible. The vehicle had a top speed of about 50 km / h and a range of 50 km with 410 kg lead battery.

One of the first all-wheel drive vehicles

In the same year, ie in 1900, was named for a British EW Hart designed a special production and built. Porsche mounted on the rear wheels of the vehicle at a hub motor. Thus, it was one of the first all-wheel drive cars in the world. As batteries at that time could not save much energy, to create a long range, the weight of the batteries has been increased from 410 to 1800 kg. The vehicle reached a speed of 60 km / h and had an efficiency of 83%. Combustion engines, however, have an efficiency of about 10 to 55%.

One of the first hybrid vehicles

1902, the greatest weakness of the vehicles has been detected. They were too heavy and thus had enough range. Porsche designed so the vehicle to again. The result was a hybrid electric vehicle. Porsche named the vehicle Mixte car because the battery is charged by means of an internal combustion engine by Daimler. The vehicle had only one driving the front wheels.

Use and known owner

The Vienna Fire Department had 40 vehicles that were driven by the Lohner - Porsche principle. In Berlin and other cities drove Lohner - Porsche cars as taxis. Since the vehicles cost about 10000-35000 Austrian crowns, which in comparison to vehicles with internal combustion engines was quite a lot for that time, only wealthy people could afford a Lohner - Porsche. Thus, a total of only 300 cars were produced. Well-known owners were the dealer Julius Meinl, Margrave Pallavicini Sandor, Prince Egon of Fürstenberg, chocolate manufacturer Ludwig Stollwerck and Baron Nathan Rothschild. The Lohner - Porsche vehicles could not prevail because of the low range.