L'Oeuf Electrique (1942): The Adorable Egg-Shaped Electric Car

The year was 1942. Paris was under full Nazi occupation. Fuel was scarce, and horse-drawn transport had returned to the streets. Yet a young designer named Paul Arzens presented a most peculiar creation: L'Oeuf Electrique, the "Electric Egg", a mini three-wheeled two-seater made of aluminum and Plexiglas, with a range of 100 kilometers. It wasn't the Ford Nucleon, but it definitely turned a few heads.

Imagine the City of Light shrouded in darkness. One of the most important hubs of art and sport in Europe... sedated, muffled. The Nazis entered Paris in June 1940, and it was declared an "open city" to prevent the conflict from reducing it to rubble.

All basic resources were redirected for military use, especially fuel. The idea of manufacturing anything seemed like madness, but an artist named Paul Arzens defied the times and turned his interest toward vehicle design. His first works were modifications, including the installation of an automatic transmission in an old Chrysler.

Then he created La Baleine, a cabriolet prototype mounted on a Buick. And in 1942, when there wasn't a drop of fuel for civilian use, he built L'Oeuf Electrique, the Electric Egg.

L'Oeuf Electrique: The Electric Egg

The Egg was the definition of minimalism, yet we still wonder how Arzens managed to obtain the necessary amounts of aluminum and Plexiglas in the middle of the war. The entire front end was unusually large for such a small car, but at the same time it enabled extraordinary visibility.

The aluminum shell was hand-molded and ends in a kind of tail that houses the electric motor and the third wheel. Arzens proved to be very efficient with the Egg: its body weighed just 60 kilograms, while the electric motor added another 30 kilograms.

Of course, everything changed once the batteries were installed, bringing the final weight to 350 kilograms. A full charge allowed the Egg to travel 100 kilometers, reaching a top speed of 70 kilometers per hour, or 60 kph with two people on board.

The Egg never went beyond its single prototype (after all, Arzens didn't have extra material to make more units), and its creator ended up working in 1947 for the Société nationale des chemins de fer français, or SNCF.

There he designed trains and wagons, among which the CC7100 series stands out. One of those machines, CC7107, broke the electric train speed record in 1955, with an impressive 331 kilometers per hour.

Still, Arzens never parted with his Egg, until he passed away in 1990. Whoever wants to see it today will have to visit the Cité de l'Automobile in Mulhouse.