Not so new EV up for grabs in Melbourne
January 14, 2009 by Matt Brogan
While we may all think of the electric vehicle as a new idea, or something straight out of the Jetsons, it seems that long before the environmental concerns of our modern times became high priority Rauch and Lang from the US were way ahead of their time with this, the 1914 Electric Brougham.
The only ready-to-drive, all-electric passenger vehicle of the auction, the Brougham will be auctioned at the Melbourne International Motor Show on March 9th as part of the Shannons Summer Auction series.
In what will no doubt be the star of the show, the 1914 Rauch & Lang Electric Brougham was designed to seat four, has remarkable all-round visibility and a touring range of up to 130km, with its back seat driver able to steer it through city traffic – via a tiller – at speeds of up to 50km/h.
It will be offered with no reserve price, with Shannons estimating it will sell in the $35-$50,000 range.
Driven by an 80-volt electric motor and a cache of rechargeable batteries, the Rauch & Lang was one of the earliest electric vehicles built. Production of electric cars peaked around the time of the First World War, due in part to the rise in petrol prices, with Rauch & Lang producing up to 1,000 examples a year in the United States.
Believed to be one of only two in Australia, the vehicle being auctioned features a stylish Brougham body style abounding in period features.
It was formerly owned by the Heytesbury Holdings Collection in Perth as part of the Holmes A Court stable of collectors’ cars, but the most recent owner has treated it to a full electrical, suspension and brake rebuild to make it a potentially useable Veteran car.
With interest in electric vehicles again peaking around the world in response to energy and environmental pressures, Shannons predict that pioneering electric cars – known as “Juicers” – will undoubtedly become increasingly collectible.
All vehicles will be on display free to the public in the Concourse area of the Melbourne Exhibition Centre throughout the Show from February 27th until March 9th.
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I love the casual design, that if you want to see where you’re going, you have to look passed the passengers in front of you.
The safety Nazis have just fainted.
Bet they didn’t have to wear a fluro vest either!
mmmmm this or a Prius, similar money ?
Hahaha BM, I like your thinking. I’d take this, I think it has much more character than the electric cockroach :)
People seem to forget that EV technology isnt a thing of the future. If oil wasnt such a valuable resource and didnt make the world turn round, we would all be drving electrics right now. Too bad if they go broke, so do we….
Now I see where the Prius got its styling from :-)
If you can get it to 88 mph it will travel back in time.
I did not know electric cars had such a history. This is great to see.
A random fact, the first official land speed record was done in an electric car back before 1900. If my memory seves me right, it reached about 36 km/h, which is fast for essentially a horse drawn cars with an electric motor.
This would seem to be as practical and commercially viable as any pure electric car which has attempted to go on public sale since 1914.
Electric cars have been around since European cars were powered by steam.
I saw an Electric Fiat able to travel 14km’s/hr in Turin made in 1904.
A bit more electric car trivia
Austrian Jacob Lohner produced an electric car in 1900 with electric hub motors designed by one Ferdinand Porsche.
He (Porsche) was 25 years old at the time – a sign of genius to come.
Zoom in on a great hotel deal for the Melbourne International Motor Show. Simply book for less at Hotel.com.au/Melbourne with over 80 Melbourne city hotels to choose from.
Are you sure that the first official land speed record was done in an electric car back before 1900? BTW, is anyone looking for web designers melbourne?
I wish I had made it to this exhibition, totally disappointed now :(