Internal combustion engine versus electric motor, or hydrogen or hybrid? More than a hundred years ago, the internal combustion engine prevailed over the electric motor. The problems of  electric cars described then were virtually the same as they are today: Battery technology (contained lead at the time), vehicle weight, range, charging times, and charging options. It's as if time has stood still. Or not quite? 

At that time, 50-100 thousand passenger cars were registered in Germany. 50% of them were electric cars, by the way. Today, there are 48.5 million passenger cars. In Germany alone! This means roughly: one car for every two inhabitants. And the German population continues to grow, as does the thirst for mobility. The kilometers driven per vehicle and year were much lower then than they are today (from 3 - 5,000 to 19,000 km). The same applies to driving speeds, which are much higher today than they were 100 years ago. In addition, larger and more powerful cars are being produced. At the same time, fuel consumption per kilometer driven has dropped (from 20-30 to 7-8 liters). These few factors alone make the resulting environmental impact clear. By the way, in order to become climate neutral in 2035, according to various studies, only 30 million passenger cars should be on the road in Germany! Interesting perspective: Worldwide there are about 1 billion passenger cars today!

The first "official" electric road vehicle was the Trouvé Tricycle by M. Gustave Trouvé in Paris in 1881, with a top speed of 12 km/h and a range of 26 kilometers. This was five years before Carl Benz' patent for the three-wheeled Benz Patent Motor Car with a gas internal combustion engine. The first known German electric car was built in 1888 by the Coburg machine factory A. Flocken. This four-wheeled electric car was probably the world's first electrically powered passenger car. The Lohner-Porsche, the first electric car with wheel hub motors, was developed by Ferdinand Porsche in 1899. All this happened an incredible 120 - 140 years ago. Today, the 'all-knowing' car manufacturers are rediscovering the electric car. By the way, these are the same people who were laughing disparagingly at Tesla some time ago. How times change!

Shell (1939 to today: Shell Eco-marathon) and Exxon Mobil (better known in Germany as Esso 1936-1968) discovered the topic of 'fuel efficiency' for themselves as early as the 1930s. Two oil companies, whose profits were closely linked to motorization and the mobility of society, launched competitions 90 years ago to find the most fuel-efficient vehicles and their inventors. Each year, a driving competition was held to see who could get the most mileage out of a U.S. gallon of gasoline (= 3.785 liters). Driving style was not restricted, but a minimum speed of 30 miles/h (48 km/h) was required. Why a competition 'fuel efficiency' was/is organized and sponsored by oil companies and not by car manufacturers is surprising. Well, I don't have to understand everything.

The winner of the 1973 Shell Wood River competition was Ben Visser, who set a stunning new world record in a heavily modified 1959 Shell Opel Rekord P1: 376.59 miles per gallon, which theoretically would have allowed one to drive from US West Coast to US East Coast in less than ten gallons. Theoretically, at least.

The Opel was originally a station wagon with the roof cut off (lowered) and converted to a pickup, equipped with a 2-speed chain drive, a 4-cylinder engine that is almost completely isolated (including the entire radiator), an adapted air intake (the carburetor has a ¾-inch bore), and a mid-engine replacement. The rear wheels are connected to the center of the axle. The axle was lengthened by 12.7 inches. The names of the experimental team members who designed and prepared the car are proudly displayed on the tailgate.

Recommended Readings:

1)    Shell Confession of a Mileage Champion;
2)    Fuel economy of the gasoline engine: Fuel, lubricant, and other effects.
3)    The Mobilgas Economy Run: A History of the Long Distance Fuel Efficiency Competition, 1936-196