Le Jamais Contente is the world’s first electric vehicle and road car to exceed a speed of 100 km/h.
The record for Le Jamais Contente was set by Belgian driver Camille Jenatzy on April 29, 1899, according to Amusing Planet. Essentially, it is a long metal chassis of less than 4 meters, mounted on four wheels with the driver seated on top, similar to riding a horse. The vehicle lacked seat belts, a frame, a body, or any modern safety features.
Camille Jenatzy driving the Le Jamais Contente. (Photo: Amusing Planet).
One hundred years ago, the automotive industry was dominated by electric vehicles, with more electric car manufacturers than today. The first electric vehicle appeared in the 1830s and operated on non-rechargeable batteries. It wasn’t until 1859, with the invention of the rechargeable lead-acid battery, that cars became practical means of transportation. The first passenger electric vehicle with its own power source was tested along a street in Paris in April 1881 by French inventor Gustave Trouvé. By the end of that decade, electric vehicles were setting numerous land speed records.
Jamais Contente was designed by Camille Jenatzy himself. As the son of a wealthy Belgian rubber manufacturer, Jenatzy was one of the first automobile designers. He competed with Count Gaston de Chasseloup-Laubat in an effort to create the fastest vehicle. The two rivals raised the land speed record from 63 km/h (de Chasseloup-Laubat) to 66.6 km/h (Jenatzy), then to 70.3 km/h (de Chasseloup-Laubat), 80.3 km/h (Jenatzy), and finally to 92.7 km/h (de Chasseloup-Laubat).
Jamais Contente, the vehicle that concluded this race, had a shape resembling a torpedo, constructed from partinium, an alloy of aluminum, tungsten, and magnesium. The car was equipped with two Postel-Vinay 25 kW direct-drive motors, operating at 200 V with a power output of 68 horsepower. Jenatzy accelerated from 100 km/h to a maximum speed of 105.88 km/h, breaking the previous record held by Gaston de Chasseloup-Laubat in the Jeantaud electric vehicle (92.78 km/h two months prior).
Describing the sensation of moving faster than anyone before him in a road vehicle, Jenatzy shared: “The car seemed to lift off the ground and shoot forward like a bullet. For the driver, the muscles in the neck and body had to be extremely strong to withstand the air pressure. Every sense was heightened.” Jenatzy’s record lasted for three years before being surpassed by another vehicle. Today, a replica of Jamais Contente is on display at the automobile museum in Compiègne, France.
