Porsche's first electric car built in 1898 by Ferdinand Porsche

WHILE many believe electric cars to be a new invention, Porsche has revealed that the first car made by its founder was indeed electric.

Porsche and first car

WHILE many believe electric cars to be a new invention, Porsche has revealed that the first car made by its founder was indeed electric.

The car, made in 1898 by Ferdinand Porsche, was recently unearthed in an Austrian garage, where it had been stored since 1902.

The design was dubbed the Egger-Lohner electric vehicle C.2 Phaeton model, or the P1 for short.

Then a 22-year-old, Ferdinand Porsche would not start his car company until 1931 and designed the P1 for carmaker Jacob Lohner.

Ferdinand Porsche designed an "octagonal electric motor" that was powered by electric batteries and suspended amidst shock absorbers in the rear of the vehicle.

It was a complicated machine, using a 12-speed controller, which had six forward gears, two reverse gears and four gears with which to brake the car.

The P1 was unveiled on the streets of Vienna, Austria, on 26 June 1898 and could reach speeds of up to 34km/h and travel up to 79 kilometres on a single charge.

Ferdinand Porsche eventually entered the P1 in a Berlin road race in September 1899, in which competitors had to travel a total of 38 kilometres with four people in the car.

The P1 raced to the finishing line, crossing a full 18 minutes before the next car and it consumed the least amount of energy.

The car is on display as part of an exhibition at the Porsche museum in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen, Germany.