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Victorian electrical vehicles

Started by Sorontar, February 20, 2022, 08:04:47 AM

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Sorontar

Electrical vehicles may not be steam-powered, but they were innovative for the time, and quickly became an unconventional approach to transport.

https://www.drive.com.au/news/124-year-old-electric-porsche-restored-in-germany/

"An electric wooden buggy designed and built by Ferdinand Porsche more than 120 years ago has been restored for public display in Germany.
The 1898 Egger-Lohner C.2 Phaeton – also dubbed the 'Porsche P1' retrospectively, despite preceding the official Porsche marque by more than three decades – was penned by the prolific engineer when he was just 23 years old."





Sorontar, Captain of 'The Aethereal Dancer'
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Lazaras

Wonder if anyone's tried making an authentic replica to do benchmarks.  I know it'll be slow by modern standards but it honestly looks fun.
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Spare Goggles
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Miranda.T

The speed might have been comparable to the petrol or steam cars of the era, but with no fancy lithium batteries there, just good old lead acid, I would imagine the range would be measured in the (low) 10s of miles.

Yours,
Miranda.

Sorontar

Bear in mind the rules of the day might have required someone walking in front of the vehicle with a flag.
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Lazaras

Whyfor? Even without the noise of a motor it isn't exactly whisper quiet.
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Sorontar

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_flag_traffic_laws

"Red flag laws were laws in the United Kingdom and the United States enacted in the late 19th century, requiring drivers of early automobiles to take certain safety precautions, including waving a red flag in front of the vehicle as a warning."
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Lazaras

I'm confused on how that would help anyone at all but...

Okie?
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von Corax

Quote from: Lazaras on February 21, 2022, 05:25:35 AM
I'm confused on how that would help anyone at all but...

Okie?
It would help the horse carriage makers by making it inconvenient to drive a horseless carriage...
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Lazaras

Ahhh there it is... Industry trying to legislate its replacement out of existence.
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RJBowman


RJBowman

There's an image I'm trying to find that illustrates an odd feature of some of the early baker electrics. The early cars were based on a carriage design where passengers sat inside the carriage and faces each other while a driver sat out front, except that the outer driver has been eliminated so that driving is done from the back seat with the front seat passengers facing backward toward the driver.

I've seen an old advertisement showing a convertible version of this car, but I just went to look for it and couldn't find it. Can someone please link to it?

gojim

Quote from: RJBowman on February 21, 2022, 06:00:36 PM
102 mile per hour Baker Electric racer from 1902:


Article:
https://www.macsmotorcitygarage.com/this-car-went-100-mph-in-1902-and-it-was-electric/

Inner workings:


Really impressive. Didn't know about that. Electric car with a speed of 102 miles per hour was demonstrated 120 years ago. So why are we still using gasoline-powered vehicles? Since it destroys the ecology of the planet, it's funny ;D

RJBowman

Quote from: gojim on March 03, 2022, 11:58:47 AM
Really impressive. Didn't know about that. Electric car with a speed of 102 miles per hour was demonstrated 120 years ago. So why are we still using gasoline-powered vehicles? Since it destroys the ecology of the planet, it's funny ;D

It went up to 102 mph, but not for long. Lead acid storage batteries have a low capacity compared to what you need for long road trips.

John Zybourne

This is a bit of a tangent, but if I recall correctly nickel-iron batteries were originally developed for electric cars in the late 19th century. Much more durable than lead acid in that they essentially have unlimited discharge cycles. Unfortunately, they faded out because unlike lead-acid they don't work as well as a starter battery for petrol cars. Also, I love that in the 19th century, rechargeable batteries were called 'electrical accumulators'.

von Corax

Quote from: John Zybourne on March 07, 2022, 10:49:02 AM
This is a bit of a tangent, but if I recall correctly nickel-iron batteries were originally developed for electric cars in the late 19th century. Much more durable than lead acid in that they essentially have unlimited discharge cycles. Unfortunately, they faded out because unlike lead-acid they don't work as well as a starter battery for petrol cars. Also, I love that in the 19th century, rechargeable batteries were called 'electrical accumulators'.
You do recall correctly. As I understand it, there are nickel-iron batteries over a century old still in service.
By the power of caffeine do I set my mind in motion
By the Beans of Life do my thoughts acquire speed
My hands acquire a shaking
The shaking becomes a warning
By the power of caffeine do I set my mind in motion
The Leverkusen Institute of Paleocybernetics is 5842 km from Reading

RJBowman

Quote from: John Zybourne on March 07, 2022, 10:49:02 AM
I love that in the 19th century, rechargeable batteries were called 'electrical accumulators'.

Accumulator is a word that seems to have gotten a lot of use in engineering. It's the name of the part of a computer's processor where arithmetic computations are performed, and it's also the mechanical part of a juke box that keeps track of which records have been requested and need to be played.