Lanchester petrol-electric car [SEP] start time
Lanchester petrol-electric car
The Lanchester petrol-electric car is a protype motor vehicle, designed in 1927 by Frederick W. Lanchester of the Lanchester Motor Company in his workshop in Birmingham, England. It is now on display in Thinktank, Birmingham Science Museum.
The term "petrol-electric" denotes that the car was a hybrid vehicle, with both a petrol engine, at the rear, and an electric motor. The latter was used for starting, reversing, and when extra power was needed, for example
, made by the Woods Motor Vehicle electric car maker, had a four-cylinder ICE and an electric motor. Below the electric motor alone drove the vehicle, drawing power from a battery pack, and above this speed the "main" engine cut in to take the car up to its top speed. About 600 were made up to 1918. The Woods hybrid was a commercial failure, proving to be too slow for its price, and too difficult to service. In England, the prototype Lanchester petrol-electric car