Origin of the Future

Electric vehicles are not an invention of the recent automobile era; they already existed in about 1899/1900. Ferdinand Porsche, who later became very famous, was the driving force as the first electric driven four-wheel vehicle was created by the Austrian company Lohner & Co. A patent was granted to the only 24-years-old Porsche and the 40-years-old Ludwig Lohner for wheel hub motors which were assembled directly on the steerable axles.
Their presentation of the vehicle on the world exhibition in Paris in 1900 made the Lohner electric vehicle widely known, but when the combustion engine started its triumphal procession, it became extremely difficult for the electric drive to compete on the automobile market. Arguments, which are partly still right, still counted at that time. So the accumulators und hub motors were very heavy, the maintenance of the batteries was very intensive and the vehicles were expensive.
Lohner & Co. was quick to appreciate, that this was hindering the sale and the implementation on the market. As a result Porsche was developing a vehicle, where electric motors were supported by two combustion engines of Daimler – the first hybrid car of the world – as a way out of the misery.
But this was not enough for Porsche, as he was also building his own racing car, which was equipped with an electric motor on each wheel. After his victory at the Semmeringrennen in 1900, he proved the performance and built unconsciously the first all-wheel-drive automobile in the history.
In 1904 Porsche left the factory Lohner & Co. and devoted himself to her automobile projects.
The current development of emission-free means of transport is moving however the invention of the ingenious and blessed constructor to a current point of view and is showing impressively as Porsche previously thought.
Only 78 vehicles, equipped with an electro-hub motor, were manufactured between 1900 and 1905 by Lohner & Co, among them passenger cars as well as trucks and busses.

Collectors Resin model with plastic parts,
original acryl-showcase and cardboard box.

This product is not a toy. Not suitable for children under 14 years