17 August 2023, 18:05
PiataAuto.md editors
We often hear it being said that electric cars are of the future, already of the present, as many are being launched these days. But the truth is that these are also cars of our distant past, they were more popular than gasoline ones at the turn of the 19th to the 20th century, even in many cities there were electric taxis, which recharged their batteries and managed their autonomy so to be able to fulfill their city missions. One of the most curious cars from that period is the Electric Viktoria, a car created by Siemens 118 years ago, in 1905!
The car was designed with comfort and reliability in mind, so that it is pleasant to use, the worries of autonomy are reduced to a minimum, and it functions flawlessly, without mistakes. Because electric taxis were popular, but still imperfect, the Siemens Electric Viktoria was designed primarily as a luxury electric taxi for Berlin, also being manufactured at the Siemens factory in Berlin. However, the car was so successful that there were also privately owned copies.
The car had an electric motor that operated at 88 volts, and produced 3.52 kW, or 4.8 hp. It powered the rear axle and was powered by a lead-acid battery. Even in those times, Siemens designed two battery sizes for it, a smaller one, which ensured an autonomy of 60 km, and a larger one, for an autonomy of 80 km! The larger battery weighed 480 kg, and the whole car weighed about 1,500 kg. The maximum speed was only 30 km/h.
Charging the battery was done from a standard power outlet, but not necessarily from home, because in some cities there were already public outlets, where you could plug in your car to charge your battery. The smaller battery was charged in 5 hours, and the larger one in 6 hours. But Siemens had a solution to not wait so long — replacing the battery, with the help of a small wheeled machine. Thus, after traveling 60 or 80 km in the city and returning to the hotel, for example, the battery could be replaced, and the exhausted one charged in the meantime.
Photo: This is what a public charging station looked like in those years
Because Siemens had invented the electric generator 30 years earlier as we know it today, the car already had a kinetic energy recovery system when coasting and braking, putting the energy into the battery! And this was happening 118 years ago!
Photo: This is what the driving position of a Siemens Electric Viktoria looked like
Because it was conceived as a luxury product, with more advanced engineering than other electric cars, the price of the Simenes Electric Viktoria was as high as possible, amounting to 11,000 to 17,000 German marks, while the monthly salary of a factory worker was between 60 and 150 marks.
The high price was also the element that limited the number of copies produced to only about 50, between the years 1905 and 1909. Until today, no copy has survived, but in 2010 Siemens created a replica, according to the original specifications. A few months after the replica was presented, a teacher and 4 students who were driving it to study it ended up in an accident, the teacher died and the students were injured. After that, the replica disappeared from the public eye, but much more fascinating is the original creation from over 100 years ago, which shows how advanced, somehow, electric cars could be more than a century ago!
Photo: The electric motor on the replica car from 2010, created according to the original parameters
Photo: Location of the batteries. In the picture is the replica from 2010
Photo: This is what the voltmeter and ammeter on the Electric Viktoria look like
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2023-08-17 15:07:45
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