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Electric Cars - Burden of The History
Electric Cars - Burden of The History
AndersonSchool
ofManagement
University
ofCali•rnia,LosAnegeks
Thisdissertation
explores
thepathdependent process
bywhichinternal
combustion
emergedat theturnof the centuryastheautomotive
technological
standard.Could an alternativeto internalcombustion- i.e., the electricvehicle
- havebecomethe technological standardfor the AutomobileAge?Drawing
uponmethodsandtheoretical insights fromhistoxT, economics, andenviron-
mentalstudies, the dissertationsuggests thatalternativetechnological
pathways
existed,
butonlyfor a briefperiodof timebefore1902.Duringthiswindowof
oppommity, fledglingelectricand,to a lesser extent,steamvehicles mighthave
playedan importantenoughrolein the automotive system to haveprecluded
thetotaldominance of thegasoline automobile. Butthisdidnothappen,andas
the gasoline-based systemexpanded in scopeand scale,alternatives to internal
combustion wereincreasingly destined to fail.
First,a disclaimer:thisworkdoesnotpurportto be "TheHistox T of the
ElectricVehicle."Postmodern theouraside,the existingliteratureon the
histox
T of the automobile andof electricity is too vastandthe rangeof actors
andeventstoo greatto hopefor a comprehensive narrative.
Rather,drawing
uponmethodological developments in the histoxT of large-scale
technological
systems andthe economics of technological change,I haveidentifieda seriesof
potential"turningpoints"in theevolution of thestandard Americancar,points
at whichthevex T substance of the artifactwasbeingcontested. From complex
culturalandinstitutional questions - i.e.,WouldtheAmericancarbe privately
owned, operated,and maintained,or would motor transportservicebe
providedby hixeddrivers,liveryowners,andfleetoperators? - to seemingly
straight-forward mattersof standardization - i.e.,WouldAmericans driveon
therightor theleftsideof theroad?
- theseissues
weredecisivein establishing
the configuration of the earlyAmericanautomobilesystem.Due to the
interactionsof multiple,independent
usersandconsumers - so-callednetwork
extemalities
- thesetum-of-the-century
decisions
resulted
in a path-dependent
i This dissertation
waswrittenat StanfordUniversity
in the Departmentof History
underthe supervision of Paul David, GabrielleHecht,DonaldKennedy,and Timothy
•ni• (Ch•).
BUSi?4ESS
AND ECONOMIC HISTORY,Volume
Twenty-six,
no.2,Winter1997.
Copyright
¸1997 bytheBusiness
HistoryConference.
ISSN0894-6825.
304
THE ELECTRIC CAR AND THE BURDEN OF HISTORY / 305
process andlentstructure
to thebuiltenvironment thatsurrounds us even
today.Accordingly,
thenarrative
in thefollowing
pages,
asin thelongerdisser-
tationfromwhichthesepagesaretaken,describes
a series
of vignettes,
critical
momentsin the historyof the automobilewhen alternativeoutcomeswere
possibleandthenforeclosed.
Second, thegeneral
readermayrequirea shortoverviewof therelevant
historical
literature.
The full dissertation
containsa completehistoriographic
survey,
andinterestedreadersareinvitedto reviewit there.Several
highlights
arecrucial
to thepurpose
of thelargerwork.Specifically,
animportantimpetus
for thisstudywasto "rescue" thealternativesto internalcombustion fromthe
shadow of orthodoxinterpretations of thehistoryof theautomobile. Accepting
the "standard,"gasolineautomobile(i.e., the 1901 Mercedesor the 1908
Model•) asthelogicalendpointof technological development, scholarshave
tendedto view alternatives like steamersand electriccars as antiquarian
footnotesto the mainstream story,technological curiositiesthat stoodno real
chanceof shaping the courseof Americantechnological history.In thissense,
automotivehistorianshave long laboredunder the weight of their own
intellectual
path-dependence.
Viewedfromafar,the orthodoxinterpretation is a neartautology. The
besttechnology wonbecause it wasthebesttechnology; moreover, because it
had won - and was thereforethe best technology - therewas no needto
questionthe fundamentalcriteriaby which it was selectedas the best
technology. It washeldto be self-evident: theputatively intrinsic
characteristics
of refinedpetroleum (highenergy density)andthelead-acid battery(lowenergy
density)destined the formerto prevailoverthelatter.
To do what?For whom?In whatsocialcontext? Thesequestions have
beenseenaslessimportantthanwhatthewinninginternalcombustion tech-
nologywasuniquelycapableof providing: speed,power,andrange.Yes, the
"standard" automobile cameto possess theseattributes,butwasit preordained
to be so,as the orthodoxviewwouldhaveus believe,or wasthe processof
technological evolutionpotentiallyopento otheroutcomes? The "universal"
car emerges fromthe literature asa given,butwhywasit necessary that only
one fundamental technology would todaypowervehiclesas differentfrom
eachotheras,say,a MazdaMiatais froma ChevySuburban? Thus,in a hostof
subdeandnot-so-subtle ways,the existingliteraturehasshapedour collective
thinkingabout the car and limitedour abilityto imaginethe American
automobile as anything otherthanwhatit is:privatelyowned,operatedand
maintained; drivenon the rightwith a steering columnon the left; using
pneumatic or inflatabletires;and,mostimportant for thisstudy, powered by a
stand-alone, 4-cycle,internalcombustion engine.
This contribution to the literatureaboutthe automobilesuggests that
the automobileitself shouldnot be considered a given.Societycreatedthe
automobile; even the staunchest technological determinist must admit this
fundamental truth. But what did we create it to do? And how did the stable
technologicalconfiguration
that emergedbettersatisfysocialneedsthanthe
available
alternatives?
Why, for instance,
wasit importantthatautomobiles be
306 / DAVID A. KIRSCH
akemativeto horse-drawn
passenger
transportation
service anddemonstrated
sufficient
potential
to encourage
theownersto expandthe fleetfroma dozen
to over 100 electric vehicles.
Over the courseof the followingfouryears,the electricvehicleservice
startedby MorrisandSalomblossomed intothelargest automobile enterprise
of the day.At its heightthe ElectricVehicleCompany wasboth the largest
vehiclemanufacturer andthe largestownerandoperatorof motorvehicles in
the UnitedStates. With multipleassembly plants,operating companies in the
half-dozen largestcitiesin thecountry, andsales agents fromSanFrancisco to
MexicoCity to Paris,the EVC wasalsoone of the firstAmericanmotor
vehiclemakersto moveaway- howevertentatively - from the small-scale
production of custom-made vehicles thatdominated the emerging industry in
the 1890s.Rather,the expansive, multi-divisional corporatestructureof the
EVC anticipated someof the innovations in corporate governance - Alfred
Chandler's managerial revolution - whichwouldspread throughtherestof the
automobileindustryin the decadefollowingthe collapseof the EVC.
Unfortunately, followingits takeoverby the Whitney-Philadelphia syndicate,
the ElectricVehicleCompanyalsobecamesynonymous with trustbuilding,
stockjobbing, financial
chicanery, andtheinfamous Selden patent.
Had the EVC succeeded in establishing profitableoperatingcom-
paniesin majorurbanareas,and hadthosecompanies attractedcustomers,
suppliers, andinfrastmctnre providers to the electricvehiclebandwagon, it is
possible to envisiona radically differenttransportation system today.As it was,
the enterprise wasbesetby problems, fromproduction delaysandwarehouse
firesto shareholder suitsandblistering publicattacks.Akhoughseveral regional
operating companies wereestablished andperhaps 2,000vehicles distributedto
them, by 1902 all had declaredbankruptcy, and the parentcompanywas
reduced to littlemorethana holdingcompany for thecontested Seldenpatent.
The assets of the New York branchweretransferred to a localoperator,and
thevehicles wereusedintermittently for service in andaroundCentralParkfor
severalmoreyears.An unfavorable legaldecision andan economic downturn
wouldultimatelyforceeventhe EVC itselfinto defaultin December,1907,
endingonceandfor allthefounders' dreams of electriccabson everycomerin
everymajorAmericancity.Between itshumblebeginnings anditsignominious
collapse, the EVC demonstrated that electricvehiclescouldprovidevaluable
transportservice.
attributed
thedehyto thedeclineof interest
in passenger
electric
vehicles.
Only
withthecommercialrevivalat theendof thefirstdecade
of thecenturydid the
central stations rediscover the benefits of the electric vehicle load. This
interpretation
misses thepoint.The electricvehiclerevivaloccurred because a
few centralstationsin leadingcitieslikeBostonandNew York neverstopped
usingelectricvehicles.A better causalaccountis needed.Perhapsthe
successfulintroduction of the Edisoniron-nickel batteryexplainspart of the
changeof heartamongthe centralstationexecutives who hadbeentrained
with Edison'sdistrust of thelead-addbatteryringingin theirears.Lookingat
the development of variousindustrial sectors,it is alsopossiblethatat the turn
of the century,the electrical
industry wasstillin themidstof majorstructural
consolidations and technological changesthat blindedmanagement to the
electricvehiclemarket.In 1900 centralstationmanagers were focusedon
scalingup,on expanding production, andonbuilding largerandmoreefficient
electrical
systems.Theintroduction of thefirstturbogenerators ledmanagers to
looktowardslargerturbogenerators, not to thesmall,distributed systems used
in automobiles. And to manyin the industry,the carwas stilljust a toy - a
weekenddistraction - not a serious business proposition. It wasonly as the
centralstationbusiness environment stabilizedandmanagers beganto seethe
automobile asmorethananotherfadthattheindustry beganto lookseriously
at the electric vehicle market.
Might the competition amongsteam,gasoline, and electricvehicles
haveturnedoutdifferently if thecentralstation
industryhadthoughtto create
the EVAA in 1898insteadof 19087Possibly. DavidSiciliaconcluded of the
EVAA that "marketing couldnot guarantee the economic successof a weak
technology;at bestit couldonly inducean Indian summer."But had the
associationexistedin the late 1890s,when all three technologies were, in
certainrespects,
equally"weak,"concerted intervention
by a powerfulindustry
mighthavebeenableto tip the scales towards a morerobustseparate sphere
for the electricvehicle.Instead,a decade-long head start for intemal
combustion wastoomuchfor thecentralstation industry
to overcome.
Kirsch,DavidA., TheElecttic
CarandtheBurden
ofHistory:
Stua•es
inAutomotive
Systems
Rt•aky
inAmetica,
18YO-IYY6(Ph.D.diss.,StanfordUniversity,
1996),UMI 97-14137.