Miguel Sánchez
Although it is seen as something new, electric mobility is not exactly a new phenomenon. In this way, the entire 20th century was plagued with multiple examples In this sense, the presence of the electric vehicle was especially notable even during the very beginnings of motoring.
Something well exemplified by the Detroit Electric company, which came to sell some 13.000 units of its electrical designs between 1907 and 1939. All of them not only very well equipped but also with powerful reasons to improve the commitment made to the electric car, at least within the urban environment.
And while combustion models emitted as many gases as complications could arise when starting them, electrified models presented an unquestionable cleanliness in use while both start-up and power delivery were immediate.
Thus, despite their weight and limited autonomy, electric cars had objective advantages over those equipped with a cylinder and piston engine. However, depending on the start-up and efficiency of the latter, improving by leaps and bounds Everything related to electrified models was falling out of favor at a devastating rate.
THE SIXTIES, A SOLUTION FOR CITIES
After those brief but existing electrical examples given at the beginning of the 20th century, battery powered vehicles They remained in oblivion due to the absurdity of their launch in a market dominated by oil.
However, when in the mid-sixties the expansion of the large metropolises was going hand in hand with the popularization of the automobile among the new middle classes, electrification emerged as a solution to congested urban traffic.
The same one that, based on traffic jams and millions of units in motion every morning, was increasingly suffocating the air quality to breathe in the capitals. A problematic context in which the appearance of small electric cars was seen as a credible solution to alleviate a debate that - ultimately - did not go to the root of the problem: creating useful and efficient public transport networks.
FROM THE MICROCAR EXPERIENCE TO THE SECOND URBAN CAR
If you are reading this article, you are already showing an obvious interest in the history of transport and therefore also a certain knowledge about it. In this way, you may find yourself complaining to yourself about the lack of novelty of that idea embodied in the aforementioned electric utility vehicles, because, even though they are combustion-powered, the forties and fifties They had already seen a great development of microcars.
In any case, they were conceived based on the necessary post-war economization, thus being an example of a damaged market after the rigors of the contest more than the solution to an urban problem based on rising demographics.
In short, while the microcars of the 1940s and 1950s - from the Isetta to the Biscúter - were usually the first and only combustion vehicle in the family, the electric utility vehicle trials carried out in the late 1960s and early 1970s responded to a hypothetical use by families. previously supplied with a modern sedan focused on intercity travel.
ELECTRIC AND GASOLINE MICROCARS
Making a brief digression in our electrified narrative, it is fair to point out how during those times some studies of extremely compact urban utility vehicles equipped with combustion engine. What's more, some of them were signed by global manufacturers, thus confirming the importance given to knowing how to respond to increasingly congested traffic.
In this sense, the presentation in a late 1975 of the Ford Urban Ghia; a prototype equipped with the engine of the most basic Fiesta capable of carry two passengers with a high degree of comfort despite its small size.
However, it did not end up being produced because for very little more money one could easily acquire - for example - a Fiesta that was much more versatile as a driving car. “all purpose”. Also, in 1972 Citroën considered the idea of marketing its Mini ZUP. A much more concise vehicle than the Ford despite also having a combustion engine, specifically the 2CV.
In any case, its fate was the same as that of the Urban Ghia, as it did not reach production either. In this case, something perhaps a little more striking, since in markets such as the British one, something as light as the tricycle Reliant Robin It was sold for quite a few years.
REASONS FOR ELECTRIFICATION
As we have seen, the concept of the microcar seemed to lack a commercial niche in Europe in the seventies. However oppressive urban traffic might be, the truth is that it no longer made sense to offer such a simple vehicle with a price tag only slightly lower than that of a modern model. segments A and B.
What's more, the Mini had even been marketed for years with the appearance and look of a real car despite its size. At this point, while the general manufacturers They were leaving those studies aside and seemed to rescue them simultaneously whenever electric mobility was discussed.
A way of working to help clean the air in cities, reinforced since 1973 due to the economic effects derived from the Oil crisisIn short, the first time that electrification returned to the automotive world since the brief but interesting examples given between the 19th and 20th centuries.
FIAT, ELECTRIC MICROCARS IN ITALY
In all fairness, the first of those urban microcars with electric character was the Ford Comuta from 1967 developed in the United Kingdom; an interesting experiment although ultimately unsuccessful due to the excessive weight of its batteries.
However, the general manufacturer that best took up the challenge of all this was Fiat, presenting its futuristic X1972/1 with a design of Michelotti and enough capacity to transport two adults through the intricate historic centres of Italy thanks to its 13,5 HP electric motor.
Incidentally, a design with many traces of reaching series, although, finally, the excessive novelty embodied by the electric In the range of a manufacturer not given to risks, it was crucial for its early archiving.
Of course, one way or another the idea ended up catching on, so in the face of 1976 Fiat has once again left the design of another electric prototype with an urban and futuristic look in Michelotti's hands: the 126 Vettura Urbana.
Based on the 126 platform, this one incorporated sliding doors to give access to a cabin that could accommodate up to four passengers. All this with a total autonomy of up to 80 kilometers although, finally, the same reasons seen in the X1 / 23 -as well as the more than predictable high cost of production- made the project a foregone conclusion from the start.
Quite a paradox in the light of the years, because right now - since 1993 in fact with the presentation of the prototype Downtown– Fiat itself is taking clear steps towards electrification, starting with the most basic model in its range: the 500.
