Not The Porsche Taycan, Porsche’s First Electric Car Was Made In 1898

Innovator Ferdinand Porsche, Porsche Cars’ founder, was always ahead of his time. As the Porsche Taycan, Porche’s supposed first electric car finally hits the market. But not the Taycan, the first electric car of Porche was actually made in 1898.

As a young boy, Ferdinand Porche was always having an interest in electricity. Following his dream, in 1893, he left his small town to move to Vienna. He was only 18 years old at that time. After arriving at the city, Ferdinand worked as an apprentice at Bela Egger & Co, an electrical firm. At the same time, he enrolled at the Imperial Technical University.

After working at the firm for a few years, he was promoted to a management position. In 1897, he was assigned to be the testing department’s head. It was during this time that he developed an electric wheel-hub motor. He worked with Jacob Lohner & co, a carriage builder, to start building an electric car. Following this partnership between the two firms, Jacob Lohner & Co believed that electric cars had viable market potential because of their lack of fumes and noise.

So, Ferdinan Porche’s task was to design as well as creating the electric drivetrain while Lohner was in charge of the car’s bodywork.

The P1 appeared on the streets of Vienna on June 26, 1898. Ferdinand was ambitious and confident enough to name the car the P1 since he knew that there would be more cars made by him. The P1 was Porche’s first car was the first one to get its registration in Austria in 1898.

The drive unit of the Porche P1 is located at its rear. The drive unit had the new wheel-hub motor which was designed by Porsche. Because of its shape, the motor was called “octagonal electric motor.” It weighed 130kg and could produce a power of 2.2kW.

Since it had low power, the P1 weighed around 1,359kg. Its batteries were 500kg and its body was around 860kg. Its top speed was 34km/h. With its “over-boost” function, the car could reach the full power of 3.7kW, similar to the upcoming Taycan.

Another similarity between the two cars is that the P1 didn’t come with a single-gear mechanism. Instead, it had a 12-speed controller providing power to the wheels. Among these controllers, six of them were used for forwarding movement while two were for reverse. Braking used four controllers. The P1’s maximum range was 80km, which, at that time, could beat any other gasoline vehicles.

In September 1899, in an international exhibition with the participation of 19 EV manufacturers in Berlin, the P1 won its first race. As other vehicles struggled to complete the race, Ferdinand drove his car to the finish line. After Ferdinand became a chief designer at Lohner & Co, only four P1s were manufactured.

Now you can rent Porsche Cayenne in NYC with RealCar. RealCar delivers and picks up your vehicle wherever you are, on your schedule.