Pferdestärke

Pferdestärke is the German word for horsepower, a unit of power. It is commonly abbreviated as PS. One Pferdestärke is equivalent to approximately 735.5 watts or 0.9863 of an imperial horsepower. This unit was originally defined by James Watt to compare the output of steam engines with the power of draft horses.

The definition of Pferdestärke is based on the power required to lift a mass of 75 kilograms by 1 meter in 1 second. This makes it a metric unit, although it is not part of the International System of Units (SI). While the SI unit for power is the watt, Pferdestärke remains in common usage in many European countries, particularly in relation to engine power in vehicles.

The transition to using watts as the standard unit for power is ongoing, and many manufacturers now display both PS and kW (kilowatts, the SI unit) on their products. However, Pferdestärke is still widely understood and used in everyday contexts, especially in the automotive industry, for describing engine performance.