A trolley car is a cargo vehicle powered by an overhead wire through a trolley device.
The name "freight trolleybus" is not entirely correct, since the prefix "bus" means that we are dealing with passenger transport. It is more correct to call him a trolley car, or a trolley car. Nevertheless, this name stuck by analogy with a freight tram.
There is a subspecies (duobus) with an additional internal combustion engine that rotates an electric generator that feeds a traction motor. For example, the KTG model was equipped with an internal combustion engine from a ZIL-157 truck with a capacity of 102 liters. with. Trolley cars were used in industry: in the mining and construction business for the delivery of equipment and goods, in cities they were used to tow faulty passenger trolleybuses, to provide technical assistance and to repair trolleybus power grids.
The practice of using freight trolleybuses in the USSR has shown that they have a significantly higher operating cost than trucks.
The first Soviet freight trolleybuses began to appear in the 30s. last century. These were handicraftly converted YATB passenger vehicles. Such trucks were used for the own needs of the trolleybus depots. Gradually, the scope of such machines began to expand, and the operators began to think about using "horned" machines in those places where there was no contact network. This problem became especially urgent in the context of a shortage of fuel during the war. In particular, in the capital of the USSR, on the initiative of the director of the 2nd trolleybus fleet I.S. Efremov, the first real freight trolley cars were built - trolleybuses equipped with an additional set of batteries, so that they could deviate long distances from the contact network. According to some reports, such machines operated in Moscow until 1955.

The next step was the creation of trolleybuses equipped, in addition to an electric motor, and internal combustion engines. Such machines could deviate from the wires for even greater distances, although they did this very rarely. Experiments with such machines in the late 1950s. at first it was built by the Uritsky plant - the main manufacturer of trolleybuses in the USSR, but its freight trolleybuses remained isolated prototypes. Freight trolleybuses were introduced to the masses by another plant - the Sokolnichy car repair plant, better known as SVARZ. They were equipped with two parallel drive systems - from an internal combustion engine and from an electric motor. The basis of the first 5-ton version of the TG was an original spar frame, on which a tall van body was installed with two side sliding and rear double doors, four skylights and a spacious double cab. The TG-4 variant had an onboard platform. The trolleys were equipped with a 70-horsepower gasoline engine, a gearbox, a radiator lining from a GAZ-51 car, bridges and wheels from a MAZ-200, electrical equipment from an MTB-82D trolleybus with a 78 kW DK-202 traction motor. Since 1964, the TG-3M trolley car was produced with the electrical equipment of the ZiU-5 trolleybus and the DK-207 motor (95 kW). Externally, it was distinguished by a radiator grill and the absence of windows in the cargo compartment. The total mass of the vehicles was about 12 tons. They developed a speed of up to 50 km / h. Until 1970, SVARZ produced about 400 freight trolleybuses, including 55 examples with an onboard platform. 260 of these machines operated in Moscow. The latter was "retired" in 1993. 140 SVARZ freight trolleybuses operated in other cities of the USSR, including Minsk.
In the 1970s. the initiative of SVARZ was intercepted by the Kiev plant of electric transport named after F.E. Dzerzhinsky, aka KZET. The circulation of his cargo trolleybuses of the KTG family significantly exceeded those of SVARZ, and many of those vehicles are still in operation. Initially, KZET was supposed to produce not only a van and a flatbed truck, but also a whole family of trolley cars, including a water washer, a refrigerator van, a dump truck and even a truck tractor. But the projectors have remained projectiles.


We have figured out the trolleybuses that have become trucks, but trucks that have become trolleybuses cannot be excluded from our story!
In 1952, thanks to the efforts of the Institute of Mining of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR, the Kharkov trolleybus depot and the Soyuznerud trust, a new type of transport was born. On the chassis of the MAZ-205 and YaAZ-210E dump trucks, and two years later, the 25-ton MAZ-525, electric trolley trucks were created, the use of which was supposed to significantly increase the efficiency of the operation of dump trucks of this class. The trolley car on the chassis of the open-pit MAZ-525 was equipped with two trolleybus electric motors of the DK-202 type with a total power of 172 kW, controlled by one controller and four contact panels. The electric motor also operated the power steering and the tipper platform lifting device. The transmission of electricity from the power plant to the electric motors was carried out in the same way as in ordinary trolleybuses: wires were pulled along the route of their operation, which the electric dump trucks touched with two arcs installed on their roof. The work of drivers on such vehicles was easier than on traditional dump trucks, the productivity of trolley-electric dump trucks compared to them was 76% higher, and the cost per ton-kilometer was 39% lower.
However, there was also a “reverse side of the coin”. Excavators were constantly moving, and almost every day it was not easy to rearrange the poles with wires. The problem could be solved by trolley cars, which, in addition to the electric motor, also had a diesel engine.
The first domestic diesel trolley car was built in 1964 at the Belarusian Automobile Plant. The dump road train, which was powered by both a diesel engine and electric motors, received the BelAZ-7524-792 index and had a carrying capacity of 65 tons.


The chassis of a 40-ton dump truck with all the main components and assemblies was used as a tractor. An experienced diesel engine YaMZ-240N with a capacity of 520 hp was installed on it. The semitrailer body capacity was 34 "cubes". The traction generator DK-508B with a capacity of 280-300 kW and modernized traction motors DK-708A with a capacity of 200 kW, removed from a heavy tracked tractor, were used as electric machines.
In 1965, factory tests of this road train began. They were carried out in diesel mode in the area of ​​the plant for the transportation of sand. The tests in trolley mode were carried out at night in Minsk, since the trolley network closest to Zhodino was only in the capital.
In July 1966, the trolley car was sent to the Krasnogorsky open-pit mine in Kuzbass. In 1968, two more diesel trolley vehicles were built. After the completion of the tests, the state commission came to the conclusion that "the use of trolley cars in the conditions of open pit mines with inclined coal seams without the presence of protracted rises is NOT APPROPRIATE."


Twenty years later, they remembered about diesel trolley cars again. In 1986, the Belarusian Automobile Plant returned to this problem. Two diesel trolley vehicles were manufactured on the basis of BelAZ-75191 dump trucks with a carrying capacity of 110 tons with an electromechanical transmission. From February 1987 to November 1988, they underwent operational tests at the Kurzhunkul mine of the Sokolovsko-Sarbaisky mining and processing plant (Rudny).
The main conclusion drawn on the basis of the operating experience of all domestic diesel trolley vehicles ever built was that the economic efficiency of the use of diesel trolley vehicles can be achieved in a quarry, the depth of which is at least 300 m, in the presence of a permanent technological road without a large number of turns.


Today, freight trolleybuses have not been mass-produced for more than ten years, so today the need for such transport, which is available at trolleybus farms, is satisfied only through the overhaul of old cars. For such a repair, and at the same time for a deep modernization, up to giving the machines a new look, the Moscow Trolleybus Repair Plant has recently undertaken.

A trolley car at the KrAZ base on the Simferopol-Yalta highway, 1964.

Trolleybus systems of the world

Currently, there are more than 400 cities with trolleybus services in the world (see List of urban trolleybus systems).

In Boston, Massachusetts (USA), in addition to the usual street service, there is an underground high-speed trolleybus system (the so-called silver line).

A similar system also operates in the cities of Kurobe and Tateyama (China).

The southernmost trolleybus system is located in Wellington, New Zealand.

The only African city with a trolleybus system is Addis Ababa (Ethiopia). Currently, the trolleybus system belongs to the Russian-Ethiopian joint venture RusAfroTroll (with 70% of Ethiopian businessmen and 30% of Russians).

In Shanghai (China), in addition to the usual trolleybus, there is also an electric bus with supercapacitors, which is connected by a special pantograph to the compressor station only at stops.

In Europe (Except for the Russian Federation and the CIS). The available trolleybus systems in England are museum-owned. In 2011, the city trolleybus system was commissioned in Leeds. It should be noted that it was Leeds that was one of the first cities in England, where in 1911 the trolleybus service was launched.

The largest trolleybus system in Europe (excluding the CIS) is located in Athens (Greece). The length of the contact network is more than 350 km, more than 350 vehicles are in operation.

In addition, in Europe there are trolleybuses in Austria, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, France, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Sweden and in Estonia.

In Russia, there are 87 trolleybus systems in 88 cities (the cities of Saratov and Engels had a common network, in 2004 the trolleybus networks of Saratov and Engels were separated due to the fall of the supports that held the contact network on the Saratov bridge, the restoration of these supports was postponed until the bridge was overhauled).

The world's largest trolleybus system, the oldest in Russia, is located in Moscow.

The world's northernmost trolleybus system is located in Murmansk.

The Kachkanar trolleybus is the only trolleybus system in Russia that was closed during the Soviet era.

In the CIS. In addition to Russia, there are 80 more trolleybus systems in the CIS.

The second largest trolleybus system after Moscow is located in Minsk.

The longest trolleybus route in the world is the intercity route Simferopol - Alushta (52 km) - Yalta (86 km) in Crimea (Ukraine).

An intercity trolleybus Urgench - Khiva operates in Uzbekistan, the length of the route is about 35 km.

An intercity trolleybus Tiraspol - Bendery has been operating in Transnistria since 1993, with a length of more than 13 km.

Intercity trolleybus

Intercity trolleybus is a trolleybus line connecting two or more cities.

The term suburban trolleybus is practically not used, despite the fact that there are many trolleybus lines, which, according to the rules for buses, would be called suburban.

Intercity lines in the countries of the former USSR:

• Tiraspol - Bender.
• Moscow, st. Metro Planernaya - Novye Khimki. Since this route entirely passes through an urbanized area, it is actually an urban one.
• Saratov - Engels.
• Ivanovo - Kokhma. This line mostly falls under the definition of a suburban line, since Kokhma is a small town near Ivanovo.
• Urgench - Khiva.
• Namangan - Turakurgan
• Simferopol - Alushta - Yalta - The most famous line in Crimea, 86 kilometers long, is the longest trolleybus system in the world. There are several routes on the line, and it is connected to the city trolleybus networks of Simferopol and Yalta.
• Donetsk - Makeevka. In fact, it was closer to the suburban service. The contact network (about 50 m) was removed in the early 90s in connection with the construction of a bypass road around Donetsk. Currently, the trolleybus systems of the two cities are not interconnected. However, there is one route connecting the center of Donetsk city with the center of Chervono-Gvardeevsky district.
• Alchevsk - Perevalsk. Also, rather, it should be attributed to the suburban. The fare in different periods was the same or slightly higher than on the intracity routes of Alchevsk. Previously, it was route No. 3 from the railway station of Kommunarsk station in Alchevsk to mine 25 in Perevalsk, later the route was somewhat extended through the city of Perevalsk and divided into 2 parts - No. 3 from the railway station of Kommunarsk station to Alchevsk bus station, which is located between the cities of Alchevsk and Perevalsk, and No. 2 from the bus station to mine 5 in Perevalsk, so it can now be classified as intercity only conditionally. From October 1, 2008, the operation of the route was officially stopped due to the unprofitability and unwillingness of Perevalsk to pay compensation for the reduced fare. In fact, the movement of trolleybuses on the route was stopped back in July 2008).
• Krasnodon - Molodogvardeysk. Lugansk region. There are routes No. 1 (Pervomaika, Krasnodon - Molodogvardeysk), No. 3 ("Barakova quarter", Krasnodon - Molodogvardeysk).

Double decker trolleybus

Double-decker trolleybuses also traveled through the streets of Moscow. These were YATB-3 vehicles. On the first floor, the salon had 32 seats, on the second 40. A staircase of two flights of 10 steps served to access the second floor. The height of the cabin (1780 mm) was determined by the contact network (for its operation, it was necessary to raise the contact network per meter (up to 5.8 m) on Gorky Street (now Tverskaya) and on the entire suburban section of the first route), and it was not very convenient to stand in the aisle , especially in winter, in high headdresses.

When passengers gathered on the landing at the front door, the car went with a noticeable roll to the right. Trolleybus: length - 9.4 m, height - 4.7 m. The salons had 72 seats, 28 passengers. could drive in the aisle of the first floor. They first took to the streets of the city in 1937. In total, 10 cars were made, however, the difficulties of management and cases of overturning of cars (especially on a snow-covered pavement and in ice), as well as problems with dimensions on the streets led to the decommissioning of trolleybuses immediately after the solution of post-war problems with the release of new equipment.

In the GDR, double-deck trolleybuses of the road train type were also produced.

Freight trolleybus

Freight trolleybus is a type of electric transport used for freight transport.

The name "freight trolleybus" is not entirely correct, since the prefix "bus" means that we are dealing with passenger transport. It is more correct to call him a trolley car, or a trolley car. Nevertheless, this name stuck by analogy with a freight tram.

The practice of using freight trolleybuses in the USSR has shown that they have a significantly higher operating price than trucks.

The main advantage of many duobus freight trolleybuses is the presence of a diesel internal combustion engine. For example, the KTG model was equipped with an internal combustion engine from a ZIL-157K truck with a capacity of 102 liters. with. The internal combustion engine is connected to a generator that can power the traction motor.

They are not used in large quantities in Russia, some of them have survived as mobile laboratories for technical supervision of the contact network in trolleybus fleets.

Models in the USSR. A freight trolleybus based on the passenger nuclear fuel tanker-1 with an onboard platform.

A trolleybus truck based on the YAG-3 truck.

Freight trolleybus TG-3 / TG-3M / TG-4, manufactured by the SVARZ plant.

Freight trolleybus KTG, built at the Kiev Electric Transport Plant named after F.E.Dzerzhinsky.

SVARZ. In 1957, the Plant named after. Uritskiy made two trolleys: TBU-2 with a closed van body and TBU-3 with a loading platform. Unfortunately, the short term of their operation did not allow to fully reveal their advantages and disadvantages.

In 1960, SVARZ manufactured an experimental political party of 12 TG1 trolleys with a carrying capacity of 7 tons with a closed van body. The autonomous course was provided by an accumulator battery charged with current when working on the line from the rods. The power reserve was only 6 km. The trolleys were operated at the Filyovskiy TP. The car appeared very bulky, and in 1966 - 1967. TG1 trolleys were excluded from the inventory and transferred to other cities (one of them remained in Simferopol until 2006, but then was cut, although they wanted to take it to the MGT Museum).

In 1961, the production of 5-ton TG3 trolley cars began, on which a gas-11 engine was used as an autonomous drive, installed in the front part of the cab between the driver and passenger seats. The trolleybus had front and rear axles from the MAZ-200 truck and electrical equipment from the MTB-82D trolleybus. On the basis of the TG3, a modification of the TG4 with an onboard platform was produced.

In 1964, the TG3 was modernized and received the TG3M index. The main difference from its predecessor is the electrical equipment from the ZIU-5 and the increased power of the electric motor to 95 kW. Externally, the modernized version can be distinguished by the new radiator lining (on the TG3 there was a grill from the Gaz-51A truck) and the absence of windows in the side curves of the roof. Until 1970, SVARZ produced a total of 400 trolley vehicles, incl. 55 with an onboard platform. 260 machines worked in Moscow (the last were written off in 1993), and the rest - in other cities of the USSR. The MGT Museum has trolley cars SVARZ TG3M and SVARZ TG4.

During the Soviet era, freight trolleybuses were widely used in cities that had a trolleybus economy. Most often, freight trolleybuses belonged to trolleybus fleets. Large city enterprises (especially light industry) ordered freight trolleybuses to transport finished products from enterprises to city warehouses or freight railway stations. A cargo trawler, in contrast to a truck, was cheaper to operate, because worked on electricity. Most of the freight trolleybuses, in addition to the electric motor, also had a cabriorator internal combustion engine for short-term operation in places without a contact network (territory of enterprises, warehouses, freight stations). In the USSR, freight trolleybuses were most widespread in the 60s and 80s.

Currently not used in large quantities. The surviving vehicles are in most cases used as tractors for towing faulty trolleybuses to the depot, but there are exceptions: for example, in Moscow, KTGs operate mainly for their intended purpose. KTGs operate in many trolleybus systems of the former USSR. There are cars (on the move) in the following cities:

Moscow - 19;

St. Petersburg - 5;

Samara - 5;

Rostov-on-Don - 1;

Saratov - 1;

Odessa - 1.

Trolleybus manufacturers.

Trolza

LiAZ

Belkommunmash

LAZ

Solaris

The trolley car of the KTG-1 model is a representative of a rather extensive family of special trolleybuses produced in Kiev at the Dzerzhinsky plant from 1976 to 1993. The presence of two engines - electric and internal combustion (carburetor) - allowed trolley cars (this is how such vehicles are correctly called) to travel to places not equipped with trolleybus wires, as well as work on lines with a damaged contact network. The main distribution in Soviet trolleybus fleets and depots was received by KTG-1 trolley vans and trucks with an onboard platform KTG-2. There were also watering machines, technical assistance, dump trucks and even mobile canteens bearing the KTG index. But for most cities, including Leningrad, they were exotic - the same as the KTG-1 and KTG-2, which were often found on the streets of the city on the Neva not long ago.

The trolleybus with tail number TL-1, restored for the Museum of Urban Electric Transport of St. Petersburg in 2010, can hardly be called a typical trolleycar. This is a contact network laboratory, created in the early 1980s with the participation of specialists from the Leningrad Institute of Railway Engineers (LIIZhT, now PGUPS) from a 1976 KTG-1 trolley van. In its new capacity, the trolley-laboratory worked for only a few years, after which it was dismissed from operation - in other words, “stood under the fence”. In the mid-2000s, the unique car was added to the museum's storerooms, in 2009 it was put under restoration. Now it is mainly used as a full-fledged museum exhibit and a tractor for towing museum trolleybuses (there is no trolleybus contact network on the territory of the museum).

Nowadays, a very popular automotive topic is modern electric vehicles and, for example, Tesla in particular. And how many people know how long this direction has existed in the automotive industry? The question can be posed even more concretely - how many people know how widely this topic was developed in the USSR? Let's find out more about this ...

In 1935, the first Soviet electric car was built on the basis of the GAZ-A car. In the same period, a two-ton electric car based on the ZIS-5 car was created in the laboratory of electric traction of the Moscow Power Engineering Institute (MEI) under the leadership of Professor V. Resenford and engineer Y. Galkin. This is a battery-powered garbage truck on a converted ZIS-5 chassis. Behind the cab, on a cargo platform, 40 batteries with a total capacity of 168 Ah and a total weight of 1400 kg were placed in wooden boxes.

They powered a series-excited electric motor located under the driver's cab. It developed a power of 13 kW at 930 rpm. To regulate the speed of movement, a pedal-operated controller was used, which provided seven modes. In running order, the LET electric car, built in 1935, had a mass of about 4200 kg. It could carry two containers with garbage weighing 1800 kg. The highest speed of the car is 24 km / h, the cruising range is 40 km.

At the same time, the first Soviet electric bus was created on the basis of the SVARZ-LK trolleybus (Lazar Kaganovich) with a capacity of up to 80 people. The idea of ​​a trolleybus first appeared in 1924, but implementation began only in 1932. For them, in the summer of 1933, the Yaroslavl Automobile Plant made a chassis. In October 1933, the automobile plant named after. Stalin (AMO-ZIL) manufactured the bodies, and the Dynamo plant - electrical equipment according to American drawings (including electric motors). Regular movement of one trolleybus began at 11 am on November 15, 1933. This was the first trolleybus line in Moscow and the USSR.

SVARZ-LK (Lazar Kaganovich)

Another vehicle was the NIIGT trolley car, built by the Aremz plant in Moscow in 1939. It was a truck with a combined power plant: a ZIS-5 automobile engine and gearbox and a DC trolleybus engine DTB-60. The trolley car was powered by electricity from wires like a trolley bus, but could perform autonomous trips like a car.
The basis of the NIIGT-Aremz vehicle was the chassis of the YATB-2 trolleybus. With a carrying capacity of 6000 kg, it had a curb weight of 6700 kg and developed a speed of 55 km / h. Main dimensions: length - 8700 mm, width - 2500 mm, wheelbase - 5200 mm. Several of these trolleys were in service during the 1940-1948 period. on the streets of the capital.

It combined the advantages of trolleybuses (noiselessness, cleanliness and cheap "fuel") and trucks (autonomy). In a sense, having folded its "horns" and starting the internal combustion engine, the device could get away from the wires anywhere, unlike freight trolleybuses ..

But this, I suppose, was his Achilles' heel: the car must have come out much more expensive than a trolleybus or a truck - and she had to carry a lot of unnecessary things. When powered by wires, unnecessary, but heavy car giblets, when driving on a car - trolleybus. And in order to unhook-cling to the wires, one had to choose a moment when it would not create problems for regular trolleybuses. So the case gradually died out, and then there was the war ...

In 1941, the first freight trolley-buses appeared on the streets of Moscow. Passenger trolleybuses destroyed by bombing and converted (so far, of course, without running autonomy). A trolley car, in contrast to a passenger trolleybus, must have a certain degree of autonomy - the ability to drive away from the contact network for at least several kilometers.

This is exactly what the first domestic industrial trolley-carrier SVARZ TG1, which appeared in 1960, became. The power source for the autonomous course was a powerful rechargeable battery, which was automatically charged when working under the contact network. The reserve of the autonomous course was 6 km, i.e. the trolleybus could move away from the contact network at a distance of no more than 3 km. But due to the rapid aging of the batteries and the large weight (about 3 tons), low speed of 20-25 km / h, the first batches of cars were written off by the end of the 60s. More advanced cars, but with internal combustion engines instead of batteries, worked until the 80s.

In 1960, SVARZ manufactured an experimental political party of 12 TG1 trolleys with a carrying capacity of 7 tons with a closed van body. The autonomous course was provided by an accumulator battery charged with current when working on the line from the rods. The power reserve was only 6 km. The trolleys were operated at the Filyovskiy TP. The car appeared very bulky, and in 1966 - 1967. TG1 trolleys were excluded from the inventory and transferred to other cities (one of them remained in Simferopol until 2006, but then was cut, although they wanted to take it to the MGT Museum).

Freight trolleybus TG-3 / TG-3M / TG-4, manufactured by the SVARZ plant

One of the first post-war bus models, the ZIS-154, produced from 1947 to 1950, was very original, full of technological innovations. A body without a hood familiar to passengers, an unusual shape for those times, a large salon (34 seats). Its body was made not of wood, and not even of tin, but of aluminum - which was a real sensation for those times. In addition, it was equipped with a diesel-electric power plant (110 hp), which ensured a very smooth ride. The 110-horsepower YaAZ-204D diesel engine was paired with a DC generator (this unit was located under the rear five-seater seat).

The traction electric motor, located under the floor of the body, transmitted torque to the rear driving axle through the propeller shaft. An electric travel switch was used to change the direction, and the amount of traction on the driving wheels was set automatically, without driver intervention. The passengers were surprised at first by the fact that the bus moved without the usual jerks and choking of the engine, as if it were floating above the road. More than 1000 of them were produced.

At the end of the 50s, when the YaAZ-204D diesel engine was brought to mind, they began to search for the remaining ZIS-154. After the installation of YaAZ-204D or YaAZ-206 (6 cylinders, 165hp), the dynamics of the bus improved radically, such buses were operated until the end of the 60s.

On the basis of the bodies of these buses, MTB-82 trolleybuses were produced for a long time (pictured below).

In 1948, NAMI developed and manufactured electric vehicles with a carrying capacity of 0.5 t (NAMI-750) and 1.5 t (NAMI-751), four samples of which were used for mail transportation in Moscow. Then 10 prototypes of these electric vehicles manufactured by the Lviv Bus Plant were operated from 1952 to 1958. in Leningrad; they were also mainly used for the transport of mail.

Work on the production of these machines at the plant was headed by one of the authors of the project - an employee of NAMI A.S. Reznikov. In the design of NAMI electric vehicles, many non-standard solutions were applied: for example, a frame in the form of a spatial truss, a body frame made of aluminum profiles. For loading and unloading mail, two lateral lifting hatches on the right side served (in the open position, they slid under the roof) and an additional rear door at NAMI-751. The wheels were driven by two electric motors through wheel reducers (one per wheel without a differential). Engine power - 2x2.85kW (NAMI-750) and 2x4.0kW (NAMI-751). Iron-nickel batteries served as a power source for the Lviv cars (on NAMI electric vehicles, the usual ones were used - lead ones). The power reserve was 55-70 km, and the highest speed was 30-36 km / h.

In 1957, NAMI developed new models of electric vehicles of the same carrying capacity. In the same period, the first Soviet electric bus was created on the basis of the SVARZ trolleybus with a capacity of 70-80 people. The reason was the need to equip VDNKh with new transport to replace the old one, which does not correspond to the spirit of such a representative institution.

However, in the following years, electric traction vehicles once again failed to compete with vehicles using an internal combustion engine.

The ground for the revitalization of work related to the creation of electric vehicles was prepared by the achievements in the field of electrical engineering, electronics, chemical power sources. It should be noted that the transition to electric drive is particularly beneficial for transport vehicles. Particularly good results are obtained by using wheel motors with an independent electric motor on each wheel. A simple electronic automatic device reduces power to a wheel that has lost traction and increases power to other wheels.

Structurally, the electric drive circuit is more perfect and generally simpler than the traditional mechanical drive circuit with an internal combustion engine, however, the most difficult problems requiring immediate solution at present are concentrated in the development of sources of electrical energy for electric vehicles.

In the 70s, many experiments were carried out by various organizations in the field of electric vehicles. The focus was on batteries and control systems, which contributed to more energy efficiency. A fairly wide range of organizations have joined in the experiments. Among them are the Research Institute of Automobile Transport (NIIAT), the All-Union Research Institute of Electromechanics (VNIIEM), the All-Union Research Institute of Electric Transport (VNIIET), as well as the automobile plants VAZ, ErAZ, RAF and UAZ. Road tests of a batch of electric vehicles NIIAT - A.925.01 with a DC power supply system took place in 1975 in Podolsk. A year earlier, five U-131 electric vehicles based on the UAZ-451 DM were put into trial operation at the car plant No. 34 in Moscow. These machines are the result of joint efforts of the Research Institute of Glavmosavtotrans and VNIIEM of the Ministry of Electrotechnical Industry. They operated on alternating current with induction motors.

Two institutes - VNIIET and VNIIEM - also produced experimental electric vehicles, including one with a hybrid power plant (electric motor and gasoline engine). All the studies of these research institutes and other organizations did not solve the cardinal problem - the creation of a lighter and more capacious battery than a lead-acid battery.

The U-131 electric car was developed in 1974 jointly by UAZ and VNIIEM of the Ministry of Electrotechnical Industry.

The first electric vehicles on the UAZ chassis were created in 1974 as a pilot batch for the 34-car complex "Mostorgtrans". These cars were manufactured by order of Glavmosavtotrans jointly with VNIIEM of the Ministry of Electrotechnical Industry. 5 U-131 vans based on the UAZ 451DM chassis could carry up to 500 kg of cargo in a specially mounted van, which also contained battery installations. The charger was external, so these cars were charged at night in a specially prepared box of the car complex. Electric vehicles were used to transport sausages from the nearby Cherkizovsky meat processing plant.

In 1978, a pilot batch of UAZ 451mi electric vehicles equipped with an AC installation and a charger on board came to the car plant. These cars have already come straight from Ulyanovsk. The body was now all-metal, outwardly practically indistinguishable from the usual "UAZ loaf". The batteries were placed under the frame of the car, thus increasing the volume of the cargo compartment.

Thanks to the on-board charger, the electric car could be charged from almost any electrical outlet. This decision made it possible to charge this car directly during loading at the base. In 1 hour, the batteries were charged by 70%.

In 1981, from the Ulyanovsk Automobile Plant, a batch of 30 UAZ-3801 electric vehicles, developed jointly with NPP KVANT, came to the same 34-car plant. The body was also all-metal, from the UAZ 451.
The batteries this time migrated back to the body, and special hatches were made on the sides of the body for recharging. The cargo compartment door has been shortened from the bottom. the floor inside has become stepped due to the battery installation located directly behind the partition of the cabin. The carrying capacity of the UAZ 3801 was already 800 kg (up to 650 kg according to other sources).

The maximum speed is 70 km / h. On a single charge, an electric car could travel 48-50 km. After the installation of the braking energy recovery system, the cruising range per charge increased to 70-75 km! For heating in winter, gasoline heaters from Zaporozhets were installed on the cars. It is also worth noting that the mass of the batteries was 680 kg.
In addition to the speedometer, the driver's instrument panel also contains volt- and ammeters and an electrical installation control panel. The electric car is equipped with three pedals: traction, braking (recuperation) and a standard brake.

Order for the unification of "Quant" on bonuses for employees involved in the development of electric vehicles.

In the period from 1980-1985, 65 units of UAZ-3801 electric vehicles were produced with a payload capacity of up to 800 kg. Battery weight 680kg. Gross weight 2750kg. One charge was enough for 48-50 km of run, and the on-board charger charged the battery by almost 70% in just an hour. After installing the recuperation system (when braking, the battery was charged), the mileage increased to 70-75 km. A petrol heater from Zaporozhets was installed for the winter.

In October 1978, Chief Designer Kuznetsov demonstrated the development at the World Electric Vehicle Show in Philadelphia. Our machine was the only one that operated on alternating current. Now, preference is given to alternating current.

In 1976, a batch of RAF-2203 microelectric buses was manufactured at the Jelgava Automobile Plant. These electric vehicles are equipped with 23 kW engines, accommodate nine people (including the driver) and develop up to 60 km / h. Rechargeable batteries (their total weight is 630 kg) provide a cruising range of about 70 kilometers. Later, during the 1980 Olympics in Moscow, some of the referee's cars were converted into electric vehicles equipped with a solar panel. Work was also carried out with the RAF-2210 model as an electric vehicle. In 1982, 3 of these cars were delivered to Moscow as taxis.

RAF-2910- a referee's car, created specifically for the Olympics - 80. The car was supposed to serve competitions in marathon running and race walking, and therefore be silent and preferably without poisonous exhaust. For these purposes, the designers of the Riga plant have developed an electric car equipped with doors on both sides, a swivel seat, folding table and chair, and a refrigerator in the cabin. In the rear part of the body there was a sealed compartment for batteries, on the roof was installed (not on all cars) a massive information display panel, which was controlled from the passenger compartment.

And then it was converted into a solar-powered car.

As for the VAZ, his experiments covered both a serial VAZ-2102 convertible into an electric vehicle with a carrying capacity of 0.2 tons, and a completely new VAZ-1801 car. Truck VAZ-2301 and VAZ-2313 were tested

VAZ-2801 is one of the few Soviet electric vehicles that was serially produced.

The car, created on the basis of the production model 2102, did not have rear doors and windows - instead, there was only a hatch for access to nickel-zinc batteries. The car was developed back in the seventies, and in 1980-1981, on the recommendation of the USSR Ministry of Automotive Industry, the first and last industrial batch of electric vehicles was produced - 47 pieces. On some of the cars, the inscriptions "ELECTRO" were exponentially applied to the side, often the VAZ-2801 glowed at exhibitions. routine work - some of the copies worked on the delivery of breakfasts, some worked in post offices, it is also known that the electric car existed at the Zaporozhye TV-repair enterprise "Garant".

The experience of using an electric car, although it showed its suitability for everyday use, also revealed many disadvantages, among which too little power reserve stood out. Project 2801 was officially completed, having produced over 50 cars (including prototypes), but the solutions used in this car were still used later on “VAZ” concept cars.

And the produced electric cars ... One might say, they have sunk into oblivion. Back in the early nineties of the last century, two such cars existed on the territory of the VAZ itself - one was still working, the second was rotting in the yard. Then they were gone ... If you are very, very lucky, you can still find the remains of an experimental batch of VAZ-2801 on the territory of Ukraine - almost the entire experimental batch was sent there for testing in everyday life.

But even on the "surviving" electric vehicles, there is no electrical equipment for a long time, but ordinary carburetor engines are installed - therefore, the only identifying mark of a unique car is only a van-type body. And there are no more than two or three such former electric vehicles left. So if you see an old "deuce" - a van, you should know - before you is an echo of the history of Soviet electric vehicles, the remains of a rare small-scale model that once ran cheerfully around some Soviet city, shining with brand new moldings without any exhaust - on its powerful batteries.

The first passenger electric car (apart from the already mentioned car of the 30s) in the USSR was Ukrainian. In 1973, in Zaporozhye ZMI under the leadership of the assistant of the Department of Electrical Machines V. B. Pavlov, on the basis of ZAZ-968, an experimental electric car was created. This machine already had a novelty then: a pulse semiconductor converter. In 1974, this EM at the USSR Exhibition of Economic Achievements received a bronze medal, and its control electronics - a silver one!

Along with the RAF, UAZ, VAZ, work on the creation of electric vehicles began at ErAZ, 26 samples were made and sent for testing to the Moscow Automobile Plant. Due to the large volume of the body, the ErAZ-3730 was recognized as the most convenient for cars in operation. But due to the imperfection of the power supplies, the work on the ErAZ-e was stopped.

In 1979-80, AvtoVAZ worked on the VAZ-2802 electric vehicle in a cargo version. In order to lighten the weight, the cab was made single, the frame and attachments are made of aluminum. Welding was carried out by the method of spot welding. Designed by Alexander Degtyarev. Machine weight 1140 kg, payload 500 kg. Two copies were made for testing layout solutions. The problem with the weight distribution of the bridges has been identified. The front one was overwhelmed.

The next model VAZ-2702 (since 1982) was also made from AL1915 aluminum of the Samara Metallurgical Plant. But remembering the bad experience with the frame of the previous electric car, now it was made of a backbone design. The frame was made in TolPI.
The author of the design was Gennady Grabora.

120-volt batteries were placed in two compartments in the middle of the car, in containers. For these containers, we have developed an original roll-out system with external locks for easy changing.

An autonomous heater was also provided - the same five-liter household cylinder as on the VAZ 2802-01. Heat transfer was carried out through an intermediate heat carrier - ethyl alcohol - to a standard Zhiguli stove, with a safety safety valve, so that it would not "explode". This heater was designed by engineer Sergey Lastochkin.

This electric car was the first domestic one to pass the crash test. The electric car was practically brought to the stage of an industrial design, but then the difficult "perestroika" years began.

VAZ-1801 Pony

There was a version of the VAZ-2109E. The performance was not bad. For example, a VAZ-1111E (2 + 2 persons, a trunk with a capacity of 90 dm3) has a cruising range at a speed of 40 km / h - 130 km, in city mode - 100 km; maximum speed - 90 km / h; acceleration time to a speed of 30 km / h - 4 s, and up to 60 km / h - 14 s; the maximum overcome rise - 30%. All of the above indicators are provided by a DC electric motor with independent excitation, which develops a power of up to 25 kW and a maximum torque of up to 108 N m (11 kgf m). The range of rotation frequencies of its shaft is 2200-6700 min-1. It works from a nickel-cadmium storage battery, the energy reserve of which is 12 kWh, weight - 315 kg. The power drive control system is thyristor.

VAZ-2131E - an electrified version of the five-door VAZ-2131. It is intended for partial replacement of urban low-tonnage vans performing regular small-scale wholesale transportations on permanent short-haul routes. Its carrying capacity is 2 people. + 400 kg of cargo; maximum speed - 80 km / h; acceleration time to a speed of 30 km / h - 6 s, to 60 km / h - 20 s.

At the end of the 1980s, SNPP "KVANT" carried out work on small-sized transport: a mini-electric car with solar panels and energy storage for resort areas and park areas. The number of mini-electric vehicles - 3 units The total number of passenger seats - 4-5 Travel speed, max. - 20 km / h. Years of creation and operation - 1987-1990.

Highly maneuverable vehicle (electric car) with individual wheel drive. Loading capacity 1000 kg.

Unfortunately, the state of the current Russian developments in this area leaves much to be desired. And this despite the fact that until the 1990s. The USSR took one of the leading places in the development of electric vehicles. So, back in 1947-49. in the USSR, a serial hybrid bus with a sequential constant-direct current circuit ZIS-154 was produced (more than 1000 buses were produced).

The trolley car on the chassis of the MAZ 525 quarry, created by the efforts of the Institute of Mining of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR, the Kharkov trolleybus depot and the Soyuznerud trust, was equipped with two trolleybus electric motors of the DK-202 type with a total power of 172 kW (230 hp), controlled by one controller and four contact panels. The electric motor also operated the power steering and the tipper platform lifting device.

The transmission of electricity from the power plant to the electric motors was carried out in the same way as in conventional trolleybuses: wires were pulled along the route of their operation, which the electric dump trucks touched with two arcs mounted on the roof. The work of drivers on such vehicles was lighter than on traditional dump trucks, the productivity of trolley trucks was 76% higher compared to them, and the cost per ton-kilometer was 39% lower. But in general, the operation of MAZ trolleys was recognized as inexpedient (more precisely, it was recognized as expedient, but when a number of conditions were met, which was impossible in practice).

At the moment, probably the most famous Russian cars associated with electricity are Prokhorov's Yo-mobiles. By the way, where have they disappeared lately? What happened to them?

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