Sunday, January 8, 2012

An Electric Car from the 1950s -- the "Pioneer" from Nic-L-Silver Battery Company



From an article published in Sports Car Illustrated, January, 1960, p. 32 ff.






The two seater body was made of laminated fiberglass, and it had a removable hardtop. Behind the bucket seats were 12 4 -volt series wired batteries made by Nic-L-Silver. These lead cell batteries have two cells each with 31 plates per cell and a capacity of eight hours at 235 ampere hours.






A box frame construction carried a full torsion suspension similar to that a of a VW of the era. Top speed was 50 mph. A hydraulic brake system an conventional steering system was also featured in this 95 inch wheelbase vehicle.



The inventor-entrepreneur for all of this was George Lippincott, who hoped to build ten cars a day with the market being power companies and postal authorities.



The car had two electric motors and a stated range of 100 to 150 miles, depending on how the vehicle was driven. Price was stated at $1995, with a $300 cost to replace batteries when that happens.

2 comments:

  1. Well, this car is very nice car, it has good and excellent features. Its design is so awesome that can attract everyone.As we look at this car it look like classic car of 1960's models.
    By seeing at this car, we can make out that there are some people who are having craze of this car of 1960's electric cars.
    New & Used Trucks

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  2. It is interesting to know that, as far back as the 1950's, the automotive industry has conceived of the idea to build electric cars. Fast forward to this day, the industry continues to come up with brilliant ideas to make the sector more responsive to the global call to protect the environment.

    Erwin Calverley

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