Electric tricycle
An electric tricycle is a three-wheeled motor vehicle that is powered by an electric motor. The development goes back to the 19th century.
history
After the steam bike , but before the gasoline motorcycle , the first electrically powered three-wheelers date back to the 19th century. One of the first fully functional electric vehicles is the Trouvé Tricycle, which was on the road in Paris in 1881 . A year later, two English professors built the Ayrton & Perry Electric Tricycle in London . Until the First World War, the electric drive proved to be the most reliable drive system, not only in the tricycles, which decisively advanced machine-driven land transport.
In the 20th century, the electric tricycle not only achieved high numbers of company vehicles in industry , but also in particular in the postal and railway companies as well as in the public service of hospitals, cemeteries and building authorities. Originally spurred on by the scarcity of resources in times of crisis, the electric drive established itself in the environment of small vehicles in various niches of commercial and factory traffic in the further course of development.
Switzerland
After the First World War, the Swiss electric vehicle manufacturer A. Tribelhorn suspected a sales opportunity in the electric wheelchair and presented its development in major European cities. However, the orders fell short of expectations as the vehicles were too expensive. Tribelhorn's three-wheeler designs Tank (delivery van) and Truck (platform truck ) were the first successes in establishing the electric tricycle as a small utility vehicle. With the almost 50 vehicles ordered by the Swiss Post , the electric vehicle company EFAG achieved a production record in 1919. Between 1939 and 1963, the successor company NEFAG delivered a further 133 three-wheeled vehicles to the Swiss Post and in 1981 a larger order was added.
In the post-war period, the railway locks at Swiss train stations were shaped by a classic electric tricycle. Mostly these were vehicles as small platform trucks or as pure tugs for luggage trailers.
The company Kyburz Switzerland not only succeeded in 2009 with its model DXP , but was also able to develop a new standard for postal delivery vehicles that is used all over Europe and also in New Zealand. With the previous model, the Kyburz Classic , the development was based on a vehicle for people with walking difficulties or for the elderly in general.
More electric tricycles
The following list contains examples of other electric tricycles:
- Sinclair C5
- El-Trans with the ( CityEl ) since 1987
- Ape E
- Twike since 1996
- Sam (electric car)
literature
- Gijs Mom: The Electric Vehicle . Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore / London 2004, ISBN 978-0-8018-7138-2 .
- Martin Sigrist: Johann Albert Tribelhorn and his legacy at EFAG and NEFAG - pioneering history of the electric automobile . In: Swiss pioneers in business and technology . tape 93 . Association for Economic History Studies, Zurich 2011, ISBN 978-3-909059-54-6 .