With Seat and electric driving, you may immediately think of the Mii Electric, the first EV that the brand built on a larger scale. However, it was not the first electric Seat, because in 1992 they filled a Toledo with batteries especially for the Summer Olympics in Barcelona.
Developing a car specifically for one event: nowadays manufacturers no longer start on it, but in 1992 Seat did it for the Games in its home country. For the marathon, a car was needed to accompany the event. The marathon regulations stipulated that the car had to be emission-free. Quite progressive almost 30 years ago, but back then electric cars were far from commonplace. Around that time they were experimenting with it, for example on the German island of Rügen, but the EV still had too many snags to be an attractive alternative to the fuel car.
Heavyweight
Seat therefore faced the challenge to build an EV specifically for the marathon. The car had to last at least 42 kilometers, the length of the marathon, on one battery charge. The engineers chose the then relatively new first generation Seat Toledo as a basis. They converted the Seat into an EV in three months. Under the hood was a 22 hp electric motor and 16 lead batteries in the trunk supplied power to the power source. That 22 hp is not really about anyway, but on top of that, the Toledo gained about 500 kilos thanks to the batteries: suddenly the sedan weighed more than 1,500 kilos.
On the outside, the electric Toledo has no specific style characteristics. Take off the Olympic stickers, park it on the street and no one would suspect that this car is quite special. Also striking: because there was no legal framework in Spain that provided for the registration of an electric car, the Toledo first had to be registered in Germany before it could get a Spanish number plate.
It can be guessed that the performance is not really spectacular: the electric Toledo can reach a top speed of 100 km / h, according to Seat, but that requires a good portion of patience. The sprint to 70 km / h already takes 28 seconds. Apparently the engineers stopped counting after that. With 50 kilometers, the range is also not to write home about, but that is enough margin to be able to accompany the marathon. Note: the range only applies when the speed does not exceed 30 km / h. Incidentally, the Toledo could not be tested on the route of the marathon prior to the Games. The engineers had to make do with a simulation on the test bench. Fortunately for them, the Toledo made it without any problems.
Ahead of its time
The Olympic Toledo today resides in the Seat Museum in Barcelona. The car is still fully functional: Seat has replaced the batteries and renovated the electric motor. The retired Olympian could theoretically run another marathon. In any case, the Toledo was far ahead of its time, because Seat only came on the market in 2019, 27 years later, with an EV: the Mii Electric. Furthermore, the brand is currently fully engaged in the rollout of plug-in hybrid models and this year the Cupra el-Born will be on the market, an EV that shares its platform with the Volkswagen ID3.
Over time, this electrification will most likely play an increasingly prominent role. Nowadays, with all government measures regarding fuel cars, it is no longer just a marathon regulation that forces car manufacturers to develop EVs.