SUNNYSIDEUP
Trabant revival hits a solar need?
When the latest Trabant trundled into The Frankfurt Motor Show late last year with a new release observers were anxious it would not smoke at the slightest touch of an ignition key. The motoring world held its collective
breath in anticipation. By Mitchell Gaynor.
A HORRID rumour went around the motoring world in August 2009, that a new Trabant was on the way. However interest was piqued when it was revealed the offering was an electric car with solar powering for all internal functions. As long they could find investors willing to front the project.
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Trabant call the car the nT, standing for “new thinking, new technology and new Trabant. ” The motoring world will likely stick to the traditional nickname and call it the Trabi nT.
The new vehicle will be powered by a 45 kilowatt (60.3 horsepower) asynchronous motor powered by a Lithium-ion battery. The Trabant nT will also have a 1.8 square metre, 120 W solar roof that will feed energy to the car’s ventilation system. The company brochure states that the Trabant nT has no ‘unnecessary gadgetry.’ The company claims a range of 100 miles and a top speed of 80 mph. The company say those figures are “absolutely sufficient.”
The original Trabants have a special place for motoring enthusiasts and were always
considered to be at the bottom end of the market. The nT’s quoted price suggests the car will be aimed towards the value end of the market.
The new car has been designed by Herpa Miniaturmodelle, a toymaker that offers a model of the Trabant, and a German automotive parts company, IniKar. The idea is to resurrect the Trabi for the nostalgic but make it electric to meet today’s energy needs. The car is aimed to be the urban commuter and fleet vehicle markets. The car can be charged overnight for the paltry price of €1.
The styling was completed by Herpa, and the car will maintain its distinctive appearance. Based on this original East Germany design the new variant will bring it up to date than the late 60s and early 70s version, although it has retained its distinctive boxy look. The Trabant was first produced by VEB Sachsenring Automobilwerke Zwickau in Zwickau, East Germany between 1957-1991.
Cars like the Mini, Fiat 500 and the new Beetle have enjoyed recent success and you could argue there is a nostalgic reason for icons of the motoring world being re-imagined. Herpa say it is serious about getting the car on the road by 2012, and according to Klaus Schindler,
the head of Herpa, the price range will be €20,000 or $29,000. When the model was shown at Frankfurt, phrases like “absolutely sufficient” were used.
The original Trabant was built in East Germany between 1957 and 1991
The Trabant was the most common vehicle in communist East Germany, but was exported to countries outside the
communist bloc. The main selling point was that it had room for four adults and luggage in a compact, light and durable shell. Despite its mediocre performance and smoky two-stroke engine, the car is still regarded with affection as a symbol of the former East Germany.
With the fall of the Berlin wall many people in the former West Germany watched with amusement at the number of Trabants streamed through ensuring the vehicle is always connected to teh 1989 change. For advocates of capitalism the Trabant is often cited as an example of the disadvantages of centralized planning due to some unusual design feature. Even refueling the car required lifting the hood, filling the tank with gasoline (only 24 litres), then adding two- stroke oil and shaking it back and forth to mix. It was in production without any significant changes for nearly 30 years with 3,096,099 Trabants produced in total.
The Trabant was widely regarded by the motoring world as one of the least regarded cars ever made so the recent announcement carried some trepidation. From a positve point of view Trabant can be forgiven its past reputation as they make an excellent attempt at addressing energy concerns with a solar roof.
Trabant recently had entered folk law when Irish rockers U2 used painted Trabants on their Zooropa Zoo TV tour in 1992-93 and are now displayed in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio. An unusual fact is that even today, there are still over 52,000 original Trabis on German roads.
www.solar-pv-management.com Issue II 2010
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