Unless you were a former senior member of the communist party or resident of East Germany, my guess is you have never heard of the Trabant.
And even if you were on the wrong side of the ‘wall’ you probably haven’t heard of the Trabant nT.
It’s not that the Trabant was hard to get hold of in East Germany, in fact, there were over 3 million of them sold during the 51-years they were in production.
Not everyone could get one though, and waiting time from when you placed your order to delivery, was up to 15 years!
While they were reasonably economical using just 7L/100km, it took a whopping 21 seconds to go from 0-100km/h, and the engine was a certified hydrocarbon producer.
Meet the all-new Trabant nT, which the company says “could be on the road in 2012.”
Let me first apologise for the lack of photos of this strange little car. I hustled with the best of them, only to be out-shoved by more people than were around Audi’s multiple displays.
In stark contrast to the heavily polluting Trabant 500 and original 601, this new concept from Trabant won’t ever produce a single hydrocarbon or use any petrol.
The Trabant is powered by a 47-kilowatt asynchronous electric motor, and supported by a lithium-ion-battery, stored in the transmission tunnel.
There’s also a solar panel roof, producing 120 Watts, which is enough to support ventilation and various accessories.
You’ll be able to charge the car from your home from a 220-Volt network in 8 hours, or less than 2 hours, using a 380 Volt socket.
Top speed is said to be 130km/h with a range of 160 kilometres.
Judging by the sheer number of people on the Trabant stand, this thing might have legs. We’ll keep you posted.