Horlacher Sport I

Honestly: when I read about vehicles like this, I start to feel as though we're living in a pioneering age of electric vehicle technology that's gone underreported (or unreported) in the mainstream automotive press. 

This car is more than 30 years old, its stats were seriously impressive for the time, and good enough for a Guinness Book of World Records nod for 547.014 km (339.899 miles) on a single charge in 9 hours, 56 minutes — at an average speed of 55.02 km/h (34.18 mph). 

In 1992. 

As you may have noticed, the Sport is small and looks light. It is. Without batteries, it weighs 300 kg (661 lbs). With the two Zebra Z6 batteries on board, total weight is 500 kg (1102 lbs). As a result, it's both efficient and warm in performance — think smart fortwo or Citroën 2CV-ish. 

Here are the specs from Horlacher: 

• Batteries: 2 ZEBRA NaNiCl batteries, 2x60 Ah, 142 V
• Drivetrain: BRUSA AMC 300, gt-20 AC-motor, max. power: 21 kW (28 horsepower)
• Energy consumption*: 6–9 kWh per 100 km (62 miles) (measured from battery)
• Max. speed: 120 km/h (74.5 mph)
• Acceleration: 0–50 km/h (31 mph): 8 seconds
• Range: 250–300 km (155–186 miles)
• Recharge time: 4–5 hours

Lest you think that the Sport is an impossible folly and completely useless and impractical under normal driving conditions, let me be the first to burst your bubble: it has been on the road since its debut, logging 240,000 km (150,000 miles) as of 2011. No word on its current odometer reading…

With upgrades along the way, I bet its current iteration is quite a fun electric runabout. 

Yes, it's minimal, and it's electric, and probably not all that practical — but it reportedly would finish 1st or 2nd in any of the solar car competitions it entered.

Think of it as a flight of fancy, or distraction, or curiosity — I think of it as an obscure EV that managed to survive far past its useful life as the world’s once latest and greatest electric car.