Elektromote hits the road
April 29, 1882, Werner von Siemens tested the world’s first electric trolleybus, the Elektromote, on the streets of Berlin.
“When I have time and money, I want to build an electro-magnetic hackney that will never leave me in the lurch.”
Elektromote inventor Dr. Ernst Werner von Siemens in a letter to his brother
Death Centenary of Werner von Siemens
Released by the German Post office November 5, 1992
Designer: Margit Zauner
From April 29 to June 13, 1882, Werner von Siemens’ experimental Elektromote trolley trundled along the streets of the Berlin’s Halensee suburb. It ran along a 540-meter (591-yard) route that started at the Halensee railway station and traveled to Straße No. 5 and Straße No. 13.
Elektromote trolley 1882 photo courtesy Siemens Global
The Elektromote trolley was a converted four-wheel landau carriage (an open hunting carriage) powered by 2 2.2 kw electric motors running off a 550 V direct current system. The machine was connected to overhead wires via a Kontaktwagen, a small 8-wheel “contact car” that rolled along the electric cables just behind of the trolley itself. If you look at the photo above, you can see the Kontaktwagen connected to the Elektromote via a cable.