Socovel scooter

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Socovel
1942 Socovel Electric Scooter, Musée de la Moto et du Vélo, Amneville, France, pic-001.JPG
Socovel (1942)
Socovel scooter
Manufacturer Société pour l'Etude et la Construction de Véhicules électriques
Production period 1941 to 1944
class motorcycle
Motor data
Electric motor
Power  (kW / PS ) 0.7 / 1.0
Top speed (  km / h) 25-30
Empty weight  (kg) 75

The Socovel Scooter was an electric motorcycle from the Belgian manufacturer Société pour l'Etude et la Construction de Véhicules électriques from Brussels . With at least 500 copies produced, the Socovel Scooter was the first electric motorcycle to be built in large numbers.

history

The brothers Maurice and Albert de Limelette developed conventional motorcycles as early as 1938. Maurice ran the design office with Paul Goffin, while Albert took over the financial department. In 1940, at the beginning of the German occupation , Socovel (the abbreviation of So ciété pour l'Etude et la Co nstruction de V éhicules él ectriques) presented an electric motorbike. Due to the fuel rationing, the Socovel scooter found favor with the German army, which wanted to use the electric motorcycle on airfields and issued the approval for the construction of 500 copies. The first models were delivered with smaller wheels. Socovel is said to have produced more copies than the agreed number and provided these "unwieldy boxes" with chassis numbers that have already been issued. After the war, Socovel returned to making conventional motorcycles.

Technical specifications

The motorcycle frame consisted of a double tubular frame , the 18-inch front wheel was dampened by means of a trapezoidal fork , the rear wheel of the same size remained unsprung. Three 6-volt batteries with 45  Ah provided a range of around 50 km. The power of the electric motor was initially given as 0.5  HP , later with 1 HP; the charging time should have been ten hours. It was driven by a chain on the rear wheel.

literature

  • Egon Duchateau, Geert Huylebroeck, Nick Jonckheere, Rik Van Eycken: Belgian motorcycles. Johann Kleine Vennekate, Lemgo, 1st edition 2009, ISBN 978-3-935517-49-2 .
  • François-Marie Dumas: Unusual Motorcycles . Haynes 2012, ISBN 978-0-85733-261-5 .

Web links

References and comments

  1. ^ A b c François-Marie Dumas: Unusual Motorcycles . P. 100.
  2. ↑ a b c Egon Duchateau et al .: Belgian motorcycles. P. 187.
  3. ^ Hugo Wilson: The Lexicon from the motorcycle. Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-613-01719-9 , p. 297.
  4. ↑ Suppliers were the Belgian manufacturers ACEC (Ateliers de Constructions Électriques de Charleroi) and MOES.