Elektromote

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"Elektromote", the world's first trolleybus, 1882, Berlin, Germany World's first trolleybus, 1882, Berlin, Germany

Elektromote was the name of the world's first trolleybus, which was first presented to the public on April 29, 1882 by its inventor Dr. Ernst Werner von Siemens in Halensee a suburb of Berlin, Germany. The Elektromoto operated from April 29 to June 13, 1882, on a 540 m (591 yards) trail-track, starting at the train station Halensee to “Straße No. 5”, today's Joachim-Friedrich-Straße, to “Straße No. 13”, today's Johann-Georg-Straße, crossing the Kurfürstendamm at the Kurfürstenplatz.

The Elektromoto was a converted four wheel coach, equipped with two electric motors with 2.2 kW power each, transmitting the power using a chain drive to the rear wheels. The current used was 550 V DC. The electric power transmission to the coach was via a flexible cable to a small trailed eight-wheeled "contact car" (Kontaktwagen) running on the power lines. In English language use, the Kontaktwagen was later named "trolley", giving the trolleybus its name.

This experimental vehicle already fulfilled all criteria of a typical trolleybus. After the demonstration runs closed on June 13, the test track was dismantled on June 20, 1882.

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