With the recent release of the new Xiaomi car, a controversial topic has caused more discussion - is it better to have a petrol car or an electric car? Tram owners will always refute it with advantages such as cost performance and energy costs.
Interestingly, in fact, the battle between oil and electricity is not only in modern times, but even existed as early as World War II. In those days, in addition to producing the cars we know, Porsche was also the designer of the famous Tiger tank. At that time, the German army wanted a new generation of heavy tanks, and both Porsche and Henschel competed, Henschel's proposal used a conventional gasoline engine, while Porsche used electric drive technology and used a hybrid model, and Dr. Ferdinand Porsche envisioned relying on an electric motor to drive the tank and save complex mechanical transmission.
When it comes to bidding specifically, the Porsche Tiger has a power of 9.4 hp/tonne, while the Henschel Tiger has a power of 12.3 hp/tonne. This put the Porsche Tiger at a certain disadvantage in the competition, and then during the test, due to the immaturity of the technology at the time, the failure rate of the Porsche Tiger in the engine and cooling system was significantly higher than that of the Henschel Tiger. In fact, these problems were not completely unencountered by Henschel, but on the eve of 1943, Germany was forced by the change of the battlefield situation, and the German army needed new tanks to be put into production as soon as possible.
▲The "Tiger" type P designed by Porsche
Due to these unfavorable factors, the Germans finally chose the prototype designed by Henschel. The electric drive, which was considered a failure of Porsche's solution, actually performed very well in the tests, and the electric transmission worked smoothly. However, Tiger P was ultimately defeated due to various factors such as its own performance, the military's doubts about the reliability of electric transmission, and the lack of copper resources in Germany.
▲ The "Tiger" H-type designed by Henschel Company
Although Dr. Porsche's Tiger P-plan ultimately failed, in view of the good relationship between Hitler and Dr. Porsche, the Germans still took over the 90 tanks produced by Porsche and converted them into Ferdinand tank destroyers.
▲ The "Ferdinand" tank destroyer modified from the "Tiger" P-type chassis
Although Henschel's plan ultimately won, the Tiger H also had many shortcomings, such as a high failure rate, poor off-road performance, and many technical problems, and the Henschel Tiger ultimately failed to prevent the fall of the Third Reich in history.
▲ The "Tiger" tank and the "Mouse" tank in the game "World of Tanks".
Fortunately, decades later, the "Allied Nightmare" Tiger Tank, the "Allied Nightmare" Tiger Tank, and the Tiger P, Ferdinand's Tank Destroyer, and the "Big Mac" Rat by Dr. Porsche, have all been brought to life in video games again, and both military enthusiasts and gamers can re-appreciate their galloping style in the virtual world.