The Flocken Elektrowagen is a four-wheeled electric car designed by

Andreas Flocken Andreas Flocken (born 6 February 1845 in Albersweiler, Rheinpfalz; died 29 April 1913 in Coburg) was a German entrepreneur and inventor. Life Until 1868 Flocken worked for German company Heinrich Lanz AG in Mannheim. Then he worked for company ...

(1845–1913), manufactured in 1888 by Maschinenfabrik A. Flocken in

Coburg Coburg () is a town located on the Itz river in the Upper Franconia region of Bavaria, Germany. Long part of one of the Thuringian states of the Wettin line, it joined Bavaria by popular vote only in 1920. Until the revolution of 1918, it ...

. It is regarded as the first real electric car.

History

In 1888, Flocken added a department for electrical engineering to his company Maschinenfabrik A. Flocken in Coburg and from then on experimented with electric vehicles. In the same year, the first Flocken electric car was built. This vehicle was originally a

chaise A one-horse chaise A three-wheeled "Handchaise", Germany, around 1900, designed to be pushed by a person A chaise, sometimes called chay or shay, is a light two- or four-wheeled traveling or pleasure carriage for one or two people with a folding ...

, similar to the

Daimler Motorized Carriage The Daimler Motorized Carriage was the first car produced by German engineers Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach, who founded Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft (DMG). The first car was sold in 1892. From 20 July 1872, Maybach and Daimler often work ...

in 1886 by

Gottlieb Daimler Gottlieb Wilhelm Daimler (; 17 March 1834 – 6 March 1900) was a German engineer, industrial designer and industrialist born in Schorndorf ( Kingdom of Württemberg, a federal state of the German Confederation), in what is now Germany. He w ...

, but it was equipped with an

electric motor An electric motor is an Electric machine, electrical machine that converts electrical energy into mechanical energy. Most electric motors operate through the interaction between the motor's magnetic field and electric current in a Electromagneti ...

. Little is known about Flocken's development work. In 1888, he provided a high-wheeled, iron-tyred carriage wagon (high center of gravity, narrow track width, turntable steering, etc.) with an electric motor, the power of about of which was transferred to the rear axle by means of leather belts.

Stefan Pischinger Stefan may refer to: * Stefan (given name) * Stefan (surname) * Ștefan, a Romanian given name and a surname * Štefan, a Slavic given name and surname * Stefan (footballer) (born 1988), Brazilian footballer * Stefan Heym, pseudonym of German writ ...

Ulrich Seiffert Ulrich (), is a German given name, derived from Old High German ''Uodalrich'', ''Odalric''. It is composed of the elements '' uodal-'' meaning "(noble) heritage" and ''-rich'' meaning "rich, powerful". Attested from the 8th century as the name of A ...

(Hrsg.): ''Vieweg Handbuch Kraftfahrzeugtechnik''. 8. Auflage. Springer, Wiesbaden 2016, , S. 174. The wooden vehicle is said to have reached a top speed of and weighed . In the following years, further models were developed. For example, there is a photo of a two-seater from around 1903 in the

Deutsches Museum The Deutsches Museum (''German Museum'', officially (English: ''German Museum of Masterpieces of Science and Technology'')) in Munich, Germany, is the world's largest museum of science and technology, with about 28,000 exhibited objects from ...

. This model had a stub axle steering, spoked wheels with pneumatic tires of the same size with ball bearings and fully elliptical springs and a battery box over the front axle. The tie rod was moved down and had a control handle. In addition, the vehicle had electric headlights, which is considered a possible novelty.Friedrich Rauer
''Elektroauto in Coburg erfunden''.
In: '' Neue Presse'', Coburg, 12 January 2008, retrieved 30 March 2018. Vehicle construction at Flocken was discontinued in 1903.Christian Boseckert
''Als Coburg Automobilgeschichte schrieb''.
In: ''Digitales Stadtgedächtnis'', Stadt Coburg, letzte Aktualisierung 3 June 2014, retrieved 2 April 2018:

References

{{reflist First car made by manufacturer 1880s cars German inventions Vehicles introduced in 1888 Cars introduced in 1888 1888 in Germany Electric car models