Info für Besucher ohne Javascript

Premium

When will we drive in a car twitter? - How GM envisioned the future of the automobile 50 years ago

This article was auto-translated. We apologize if some words are confusing or simply amusing. Would you like to help us improve?

Created in 1969

Text:

N. D. Hebert

Photos:

Archiv

9

Archiv

9

This photo shows how full to the brim the test vehicle (here still the STIR-LEC I) (1969) is.

When logged in, you see more images in larger size.

Cover picture hobby 14/1969

When logged in, you see more images in larger size.

This is what it looks like in the STIR-LEC II (1969). The batteries take up most of the space under the hood, with the operating units at the rear.

When logged in, you see more images in larger size.

The interior of the XP 883 (1969). This model also has a "hermaphroditic drive" and looks like a "real" car.

When logged in, you see more images in larger size.

The XP 883 (1969) from the outside. This model is already too big for a pure city car.

When logged in, you see more images in larger size.

The small Type 512 four-wheel drive vehicle (1969) with mixed drive (gasoline and electric motor) in the rear.

When logged in, you see more images in larger size.

The pure electric version of the Type 512 (1969) with larger batteries, which can store electricity for a distance of 90 kilometers.

When logged in, you see more images in larger size.

GM 551 (1969) is the name of this experimental vehicle on three wheels with very good road holding. With a top speed of 128 km/h, it is no obstacle to traffic.

When logged in, you see more images in larger size.

When will we be driving a hybrid car?

You have only

1 out of 9

images seen in high resolution

Summary

Anyone who thinks that Greta Thunberg and the currently hotly debated issue of environmental protection are a phenomenon of modern times is not quite right. Back in the late 1960s (and even earlier), there was a heated debate about environmental protection and the role of car emissions. GM's hybrid cars, for example, were one of the solutions at the time. The mélange of petrol and electric engines could have been a pioneering solution, had it not been for the considerable problems ...

This article contains the following chapters

A dwarf and a hermaphrodite at the same time
Cooperation between the two motors
A danger to the general public
A total of three experimental small cars
Reduced from four to three wheels
Others also wanted a piece of the pie
Improved edition of the STIR-LEC I
The major advantages of the Stirling engine
Energy deficits during heavy use

Estimated reading time: 9min

Preview (beginning of the article)

It sounds crazy, but on closer inspection it is not: combining two types of drive in a single automobile. Unusual experiments have recently been carried out in the USA to deal with modern traffic problems. The following report deals with miniature vehicles and experiments with mixed electric and gasoline propulsion. General Motors is now exhibiting the prototype of the ideal city car in the USA. It is called the GM 512 and is both a dwarf and a hermaphrodite. The vehicle is just 1.65 meters long (the wheelbase is only 1.25 meters), 1.30 meters wide - two adults can still sit next to each other - and 1.40 meters high. Not enough for doors. When you get in, you fold up the upper part of the body, just like the Isetta in the past. When you look at the luggage compartment, which doesn't even have room for the tiniest suitcase, you realize what the hermaphroditic properties are all about. You will find something completely unusual: a petrol engine and - nestled close to it - an electric motor. And which of the two you want to use, the petrol engine or the electric motor, is largely up to you.

Welcome to Zwischengas!

Continue reading this article for free?

Images of this article

Source: