The History of Electric Cars
In the past few years, most car manufacturers turned to developing their electric vehicle programmes as the demand for electric cars grew and will keep growing in the near future. Many perceive the electric car as a new concept but it has been around for a very long time, and we decided to do a deep dive on the history of electric cars.
The first concept of an electric car, and first attempts at building vehicles with batteries go back to the late 19th century, not too long after the inception of cars with internal combustion engines (ICE). It’s hard to pinpoint the exact moment the first electric vehicle was born, but there are a number of contributors to its development. The first electric motor is credited to Ányos Jedlik, a Hungarian inventor, who created the prototype in 1827/28, but only came forward with the invention decades later. Furthermore, a French physicist, Gaston Plane, invented rechargeable lead-acid batteries in 1859, but Thomas Parker was the first to combine the two in a carriage and present the first production electric car in 1884, built in London. On the other side of the pond, William Morrison from Iowa creates the first electrified wagon which resembles a carriage but sparks interest from the public.
Electric cars were somewhat popular in London at the time, with Walter Bersley’s Hummingbird taxis roaming the streets of the British capital. Additionally Ferdinand Porsche’s first ever car which he built in 1898, the P1, was electric and also resembled a carriage with large use of wood. However, to see the success of early electric cars, we have to give credit to the US. In 1897, New York taxi drivers became the first recipients of commercial electric carriages and had 60 electric cabs in exploitation. Some sources state that by 1900, ⅓ of all cars in the US were electric and in 1899 & 1900 electric cars outsold traditional ICE vehicles.
The early 1900s brought popularity to electric vehicles due to better performance and lack of smell, noise, vibrations and hard-to-change gear system which were present in ICE vehicles. Their popularity eventually attracted Thomas Edison who was introduced to Henry Ford and saw his plans for the development of an engine-powered car. Edison believed that electric vehicles are a superior mode of transportation and began manufacturing nickel-iron batteries for multiple uses, as well as automobiles. Edison’s plan was to convert four touring cars to electric powered vehicles, and although he encouraged Ford to build an ICE vehicle, he began denouncing them and promoting electric cars as the future. Electric cars were specifically popular with upper-class women who disliked the petrol smell of regular cars and their nose; it was also rumoured that “prominent makers of gasoline-powered cars in this country (US) use electrics to drive between their homes and their offices”.
One of the first and prominent electric car manufacturers was Oliver P. Fritchle. He started out as a repairman for automobiles, but quickly realised he could make a better electric car. His first sale came in 1906 and in 1908 he set up a production plant in Denver, Colorado. He claimed his car could cover 100 miles on a single charge and set out to travel 1800 miles from Lincoln, Nebraska to New York City while charging overnight. His trip was heavily publicised and his electric cars became incredibly popular with female celebrities and upper class individuals. The success led Fritchle to open a sales office on Fifth Avenue in New York City.
In 1908 Ford released his Model T and the mass produced model made gas-powered cars affordable and widely available. However, by 1910 owners of electric vehicles could install charging stations on their property, and many car repair shops provided overnight charging services.
In 1912 the car production in the USA peaked, producing over 187,000 vehicles that year. The demand for them rose again as better roads were being built and Texas became a rich source of crude oil. On the other hand Fritchle produced around 194 cars a year, which made it impossible to compete. In 1912, an average gasoline-powered car cost $650 while an electric vehicle cost around $1,750. During the same year the electric starter was introduced and the demand for gas-powered vehicles increased even more.
By 1935 electric vehicles had almost disappeared from the city streets, and it took the oil crises of the 1970s to spark new interest and development of electric cars. In 1976 Congress passed The Electric and Hybrid Vehicle Research, Development, and Demonstration Act, in spite of which the new electric cars only reached a speed of 45 m/h and could drive up to 60 miles without recharging. Additionally NASA’s Lunar rover was fully electric and aided in increasing interest for electric vehicles in the ’70s. More large automakers began developing their electric programmes, but the most successful car became the Sebring-Vanguard CitiCar with a 60 mile range. With 2,000 units produced in the beginning, Sebring-Vanguard became incredibly popular and grew into the 6th largest automaker in the US by 1975. Towards the tail end of the ’70s the interest in electric vehicles started to decrease again, due to the limited performance and low range, whereas their gas-powered counterparts did not possess the same issues.
For the next 15 years gas-powered cars were dominant on the market, however new federal regulations of the mid ’90s empowered automakers to turn their heads to electric again by modifying popular models into electric vehicles, helping them achieve speeds and performance closer to that of their petrol-powered counterparts. In 1996 GM released its EV1, an electric vehicle designed from scratch causing it to gain a cult following. In 1997 Toyota introduced the mass produced Prius and by 2000 they were being driven worldwide, becoming popular with celebrities and once again raising the profile of electric vehicles.Toyota was using a nickel metal hydride battery, a technology supported by the Energy Department. Behind the scenes, most engineers and scientists were focused on increasing the battery capacity for electric cars.
The big breakthrough came in 2006 when a California based start-up, Tesla, announced that they will be producing a luxury electric sports car with a range of 200 miles. The Roadster was based on Lotus Elise chassis and sold over 2,450 cars worldwide. This increased the demand for electric vehicles again, as an electric sports car was a novelty. The US Energy Department invested into a nation-wide charging infrastructure, providing 18,000 residential, commercial and public chargers. In 2010, Chevrolet released its hybrid Volt, and Nissan released LEAF, the former becoming the first commercially available plug-in hybrid, while the latter is an all-electric, no emissions vehicle. The most expensive part of an electric car is its battery which was also the main concern for many automobile owners due to the overall high price. By 2013, the US Energy Department had invested significantly into development of electric technologies achieving a price drop of almost 50% in under 4 years. Such advancements made electric vehicles more desired and affordable for an average individual. In the past 10 years, electric cars have become more affordable and popular, leading nearly all automakers to pursue their electric programmes and start shifting the focus to greener energy and sustainability. Not only have traditional brands began developing their electric vehicles, but completely new companies have emerged in the market with the likes of: Rivian, Polestar, Lucid Motors, Nio and others. Here at Charge Cars we took a different approach and decided to reinvent the icons of the past, starting with the 1967 Fastback Mustang.
References:
Barber, M. (2017) Before Tesla: Why everyone wanted an electric car in 1905, Curbed. Available at: https://archive.curbed.com/2017/9/22/16346892/electric-car-history-fritchle (Accessed: 18 October 2021).
Electropaedia History of Science, Technology and Inventions. Key Scientists and Engineers and the Context and Explanations of their Contributions (no date). Available at: https://www.mpoweruk.com/history.htm (Accessed: 18 October 2021).
Strohl, D. (no date) Ford, Edison and the Cheap EV That Almost Was | WIRED. Available at: https://www.wired.com/2010/06/henry-ford-thomas-edison-ev/ (Accessed: 18 October 2021).
The History of the Electric Car (no date) Energy.gov. Available at: https://www.energy.gov/articles/history-electric-car (Accessed: 18 October 2021).
‘U.S. Automobile Production Figures’ (2020) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=U.S._Automobile_Production_Figures&oldid=981800154 (Accessed: 18 October 2021).
