StarleyTricycle

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  • German museum recreates 130-year-old EV, looks like a steampunk Segway

    by 
    Daniel Cooper
    Daniel Cooper
    11.14.2011

    If you think that EVs are new-fangled rubbish, it'll serve you well to listen up. Five years before Karl Benz patented his original horseless carriage, messers. William Ayrton and John Perry engineered the electrically-powered Starley Tricycle. Germany's Autovision Museum spent around a year building a fully working replica of this transportation sensation of the 1880s. Considering the 130-year-old nature of the technology, the vehicle turned out to be very comfortable, super-quiet and fast: it'll top out at a respectable eight miles per hour, with a range of around 25 miles. After the break you'll be able to see the machine in action. No word on if the museum will produce any more in time for Christmas, but it would certainly be a hit with the steampunk commuter crowd.