fig.: The city electro-vehicle 'Lohner-Porsche' belongs to the collection of the Technisches Museum Wien. Photo: Technisches Museum Wien/Peter Sedlaczek. The 'Lohner-Porsche' was contributed digitally on 1 May 2012 as the 'Object of the Day' to the museum project 'insMuseum.com'. It is the first of 100 special objects selected by 100 Austrian museums from their collections. The 100 artifacts are presented over the duration of 100 days on insMuseum.com.

Elegant City Electric-Car

On 1 May 2012, the Austrian museum project 'insMuseum.com' presented the elegant, easy to drive city electro-vehicle 'Lohner-Porsche' which fascinated already visitors of the Paris World Exhibition in 1900.

The Viennese car maker Ludwig Lohner started to work on the vehicle in 1898; he had the idea to construct a car for city-usage with electric drive instead of a petrol motor. Such a car is quiet, it doesn't spoil the air, and is easy to handle.

In collaboration with young Ferdinand Porsche, the construction was refined and the 'Lohner-Porsche' (speed 35km/h for about 50km) was presented internationally in Paris in 1900. The car was used by the Vienna Fire Department and for taxis in Berlin.

The Technisches Museum Wien reports that these electric cars had an 'image problem' in the beginning of the 20th century: they were almost too clean and quiet and therefore a bit boring.

fig.: The 'Object-Heart' is the logo of the Austrian museum project 'insMuseum.com'. The heart consists of around 50 objects (half of the project's 100 artifacts) from museums countrywide. The 'Lohner-Porsche' is even part of the heart below. Photo: (C) insMuseum.com.