Electric Vehicle (EV):200 years old Tech

Low Oil & Gas cost & Electric Starter invention killed Electric Vehicle 100 years back !!!

Clara, Henry Ford's wife, actually preferred an EV over a Ford gasmobile. Her preferred brand seemed to be 1914 Detroit Electric.

In our modern era, we may assume that electric cars are new technology. The Chevy Bolt, Nissan LEAF, and all Tesla vehicles are certainly cutting-edge automobiles, right? But there was a period in America a long time ago when about 30% of all cars were electric. (Today, only approx 1% vehicles runs on electricity.) By 1900, in the United States, 38% of US automobiles, 33,842 cars, were powered by electricity (40% were powered by steam, and 22% by gasoline).

An electric car that can go over 200 miles on a single charge? What modern day miracle is this? What if we told you that this modern day miracle is almost 100 years old? How about a plug in electric car from the early 1900’s? In 1914 a Detroit Electric went 241 miles on a single charge setting a new record! To be fair the car had a top speed of 25 MPH but that was almost 100 years ago and the new electric cars can go maybe 100 miles on a charge, on a good day, downhill, with a little breeze and a nice smooth road. In 1914 they were travelling over dirt roads or maybe at best cobblestone.

With recent advancements, electric cars are back. But it’s important to note that many of their key benefits are the same today as they were back in the early 20th century.

For example, they are much simpler, cleaner, safer, and nicer to drive. Henry Ford’s wife knew this, as did many women of the early 20th century. Clara Ford apparently wouldn’t drive the Model T. She stuck to her electric car instead, a 1914 Detroit Electric. 

In fact around 1914, Henry Ford and Thomas Edison were working together on an electric vehicle. Unfortunately, if not tragically, this project fell by the wayside. One can only imagine what might have happened if Henry Ford had begun producing some simple, affordable electric cars along with the gasmobiles his company turned out in huge numbers. One of his experimental EVs actually used a Model T frame.

Girls dig electric cars. At least that was the marketing message back in 1915, when petrol-powered autos were beginning to decisively pull away from electric ones. Battery-powered vehicles retained popularity among female drivers in cities, who valued them for their reliability — they wouldn’t blow up, as gas cars were known to do on occasion — and ease of use. The Detroit models could run 80 miles on a single charge, with a top speed of about 20 mph. Developed about 100 years ago?!

In 2012 Toyota was advertising “regenerative braking”, the Detroit Electric started using that in 1915…. The real killer for the electric car was the invention of the electric starter or at least the first working one in 1911 by Charles F. Kettering of Dayton Electric Laboratories (DELCO). It was first used in 1912 by Cadillac.

Well-dressed society women could simply drive to lunch, to shop, or to visit friends without fear of soiling their gloves, mussing their hair or setting their dresses on fire.

These were women’s shopping cars. There was no gas or oil, no fire, no explosions — you just sort of got in and you went. There were thousands of these in New York, from about 1905 to 1915. There were charging stations all over town, so ladies could recharge their cars while they were in the stores.

A cleaner ride. A smoother ride. A safer ride. No oil, no grease, no gasoline. These same benefits exist again today. Got an electric?

Eventually, electric cars fell out of favor because gasmobiles cost less, the electric starter was invented, and gas and oil became cheap and plentiful, so affordable long-distance travel was made possible.

1828: Hungarian inventor Ányos Jedlik, who had invented an early electric motor, builds a small, model car powered by this motor.

1834: Vermont blacksmith Thomas Davenport and his wife Emily build a small, model electric car that runs on a circular, electrified track. The Davenports use silk from Emily’s wedding dress as wiring.

1835: In the Netherlands, Professor Sibrandus Stratingh of Groningen and his assistant, Christopher Becker, build a small electric car powered by primary cells (nonrechargeable batteries).

1837: Thomas & Emily Davenport, and colleague Orange Smalley, receive the first American patent for an electric machine/motor.

and the story goes on and on !!!

Source: #Big4 #ElectricVehicle #EV #BCG #LIFE #Cleantechnica #EVassociation #B&V #TESLA