The Trabant is Back!

Trabant NT - electric vehicle

For some, the Trabant is the car that summed up East Germany. Industrial, repressed, smoky and uninviting. For others the “Trabbi” was a symbol of freedom. A symbol of the fall of communism, and a symbol of affordable independence.

Love it or hate it, more than 3 million of these little two-stroke cars were sold worldwide and the cult following of owners’ clubs is going stronger than ever.

The original Trabant had:

• little 2 cylinder,
• 2 stroke, 0.5 litre (30 cu) engine with a top speed of around 70 miles per hour.
• It’s 24 liter (6.5 gallon) gas tank was positioned under the hood, and once filled with fuel, required a measurement of oil to be added before being rocked back & forth to mix the two together; this process being the norm for two stroke engines to stop them from seizing up.

When running, it had a distinctive sound like that of an outboard motor, and following every Trabant is the familiar plume of blue smoke from the oil mixed into the fuel. But perhaps the most interesting thing about the Trabant is it’s bodywork. Underneath it had a typical steel shell, but the panels themselves were made of a cotton & resin blend. This made the car cheaper to build, and lighter & more economical to drive.
In just two short years however, we’re likely to see the new, improved Trabant NT – which stands for New Thinking – powered solely by electricity!

With styling not unlike the new Mini, the Trabant maintains it’s quirky looks but ditches the stark interior in place of some more modern creature comforts – including a heater as standard – unlike the original. That said, the brochure next to the car at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show claims that the Trabant will have no “unnecessary gadgetry”, so I guess that rules out a sat-nav screen and USB port.
With an estimated range of 160 kilometres (100 miles) the Trabant NT won’t be setting any long distance records but would still suit the needs of the majority of city dwellers, myself included.

The NT comes with a roof covered in solar panels to run some things such as air conditioning and the stereo, and the top speed will be limited to 130 km/h (80 mph). Though I’m curious to know just how aerodynamic it will be at that speed, considering it still looks like a box on wheels.

The new model will be powered by a Lithium-ion battery pack, but as yet there are no leaks on the expected size of this pack. One would expect it to be around 30 kilowatt-hours in size.

My only criticism of this vehicle would be the cost. Expect to pay around $30,000 US for one of these little cars.
The reasons given for the high price is the high manufacturing cost of the battery, though I would encourage the manufacturers to take a leap and use the cheaper Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries (LiFePO4 in tech-speak) that so many home-converters are using with success. They have a lower energy density than Lithium-ion but with only 100 miles being your target, it won’t be a problem.

At first I was repulsed by the sheer ugliness of the Trabant NT, but after looking at it for a minute I’ve fallen in love with this “Communesque” ugly duckling. Who knows, it may turn into a swan just yet.