Trabi is back
Sep. 20th, 2009 10:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mahnmutPerhaps no other icon better exemplified the inefficiencies and inequalities of the communist system in what was then East Germany than the Trabant automobile. The original Trabant, produced from 1957 until 1991 with virtually no changes, featured a smoke-belching two-store, two-cylinder engine and was well-known for its unspectacular performance and long wait list as much as anything else.
Surprisingly, the Trabant, now often know as the 'Trabi' in German has become almost beloved in Germany and elsewhere in Europe.
Seeking to cash in on the cult status attached to the Trabant name, a concept car called the Trabant nT was unveiled at this year's Frankfurt Motor Show. The design is what can be best described as an updated version of the original Trabant.
The Trabant nT can achieve a maximum speed of 130 km/h and is fed by a lithium-ion battery located in the design space between rear axle and the vehicle's transmission tunnel. Rated at 45 kW, an asynchronous electric motor powerfully drives the front axles. The vehicle has a stated maximum range of 160 km, which is claimed as sufficient given that the majority of daily rides in Germany are shorter than 50 km, according to its builders.
Making use of its worldwide cult potential, the Trabant nT offers a chance to put an automotive alternative on the road suitable for everyday use, and combining environmental and budgetary considerations, according to its makers. The goal of the manufacturer is to have the Trabant nT' in full production by 2012.
By the way my dad used to have a Trabi 601 back in my childhood in NL :-)
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Surprisingly, the Trabant, now often know as the 'Trabi' in German has become almost beloved in Germany and elsewhere in Europe.
Seeking to cash in on the cult status attached to the Trabant name, a concept car called the Trabant nT was unveiled at this year's Frankfurt Motor Show. The design is what can be best described as an updated version of the original Trabant.
The Trabant nT can achieve a maximum speed of 130 km/h and is fed by a lithium-ion battery located in the design space between rear axle and the vehicle's transmission tunnel. Rated at 45 kW, an asynchronous electric motor powerfully drives the front axles. The vehicle has a stated maximum range of 160 km, which is claimed as sufficient given that the majority of daily rides in Germany are shorter than 50 km, according to its builders.
Making use of its worldwide cult potential, the Trabant nT offers a chance to put an automotive alternative on the road suitable for everyday use, and combining environmental and budgetary considerations, according to its makers. The goal of the manufacturer is to have the Trabant nT' in full production by 2012.
By the way my dad used to have a Trabi 601 back in my childhood in NL :-)
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