VK 45.01 (P)

But the engines and drive train were generally new and unorthodox designs for a tank (other than some brief experiments in the very early years), and due to being underdeveloped were prone to break down or require frequent maintenance.

It was also difficult for the Third Reich to obtain additional amounts of quality copper to build whole new fleets of vehicles with electric drives in addition to the increasing demands of the U-boat fleet (which used very similar diesel-electric transmissions, which worked perfectly well); while it was easy enough to obtain quality copper to build a single prototype, once series production began, this became more difficult.

These problems, and the fact that trials proved the tank to be less maneuverable than its competitor, were the reason why Henschel's identically armed and more conventional VK 45.01 (H) H1 prototype, which became the Tiger I, was adopted for production instead.

[2] The VK 45.01 (P) chassis was later chosen to be the basis of a new heavy Jagdpanzer (although designated a Panzerjäger) which would eventually be called the Ferdinand and mount the new, longer, 88 mm Pak 43/2.

The 57 to 59 tons combat weight in combination with 640 mm wide "slack-tracks" (KGS 62/640/130) using no return rollers, produced a ground pressure of about 1.06 kg / cm2.