On July 25, 1992, the Barcelona ’92 Olympic Games began, perhaps one of the most significant events in Spain’s recent history. In the capital of Catalonia, more than 12,000 athletes gathered to vie for medals for their countries across the various disciplines.
But perhaps many do not know that before the Olympic flame reached the stadium’s cauldron, an electric SEAT Toledo developed specifically for the occasion accompanied the athletes who carried it and even completed the marathon course days later.
When planning the role SEAT would play, the official car for that edition of the Olympic Games, the organizers asked SEAT to develop an electric car to accompany the athletes on their way to the Olympic Stadium and during the 42-kilometre marathon.
SEAT then embarked on the development of what could be considered its first electric car. It was a first-generation SEAT Toledo, painted white and with the Olympic rings logo on the body.
500 kilos of batteries for the ‘first’ SEAT electric
This car featured some major modifications compared to a standard Toledo. We are talking about a battery package that allowed powering the electric motor at the cost of a 500-kilogram overweight compared to the standard model.
According to data from SEATFanclub.com, the car featured an electric motor delivering 20 horsepower (15 kW), had lead-acid batteries and regenerative braking. Because of all this, its top speed was limited to 100 km/h.
Today we are accustomed to modern electric cars offering ranges well above 200, 300, and even 400 kilometres, but at that time, the development of electric technology was practically nonexistent in the automotive sector, hence it could only go 65 kilometres before needing a recharge.
Additionally, it carried a hidden charger behind the front grille, so the differences from the Toledo that was on sale at the time were hardly noticeable. To cool the batteries, a water cooling system was used, and there was a battery temperature monitoring system.
Today the electric SEAT Toledo remains in the collection of cars that the Spanish brand keeps safely stored in hangar A122, and it will undoubtedly be one of the pieces with the greatest historical value for the brand, not only for having been its first electric car but for what it represented for SEAT to be the official vehicle of an Olympic Games.
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