A symbol of communist East Germany is to be reborn as an electric car, The Telegraph reports.
The new edition of the infamous national car, the Trabant will be revealed at the Frankfurt Motor Show next month under its new name- the nT (new Trabant).
Its reappearance comes almost 20 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of its production.
The old Trabant whose name means ‘foot soldier’, became the butt of many a joke thanks in part to its clattery two-stroke engine and very basic use of technology, including a petrol gauge in the form of a dipstick. As Germany united, the Traban could not compete with the popularity of sophisticated Audi, BMW or Mercedes models.
Now German motor parts maker IndiKar has teamed up with a model manufacturer to create a consortium hoping to secure investment when the nT is unveiled in Frankfurt on Sept 17.
The consortium is looking for an investment of around £100 million to start production of the new Trabant at Zwickau, the site of the original car’s manufacturer.
The old version, for which people had to wait up to ten years for delivery after ordering, was very basic. The new one comes with solar panels on the roof, a petrol tank in case of emergencies and a range of 150 miles before recharging.
The German government wants to see around a million electric cars on the road by 2020, with many carmakers already developing electric cars to meet the demand.
The nT consortium said a poll it undertook showed 93 per cent of people want to see a cleaner, greener Trabant return to the roads.
To find out more, read The Telegraph article here.
