Project EVIE Blog

Think of the electric car as a purely modern invention? That the Prius, the 90′s, Hollywood, celebrity drivers, and the California Air Resources Board (CARB) was the start of it all? Think again. EV’s go back as far the 19th century. (Though you’ll be easily forgiven for thinking otherwise – admittedly, anything in, from, or associated with the 90′s and California seems to have this kind of ahistorical effect on people).

Yep, the invention of the first electric vehicle is credited to as far back as the 1830′s. Advancements in battery technology in the 1860′s and then 1880′s led to several European countries electrifying their railway systems, installing electric tramways, and supporting the use of electric cars. As a matter of fact, in what seems today like an extremely prescient move, Switzerland, that most ruthlessly wise of all countries (except perhaps for Israel), decided to electrify their entire rail network in order to reduce their dependence on foreign energy!

By the 1890′s, electric fever had reached the United States. Several EVs were on show at the famous Chicago Worlds Fair of 1893, and in 1897 the first fleet of electric taxis hit the streets in New York City. By 1900, over a quarter of the 4,192 cars produced in the US were electrically powered. And meanwhile, our national wizard-laureate, Thomas Alva Edison, was beginning his decade long research into battery technology.

Thomas Edision and the electric car.

In the early 1900′s, EVs continued to gain popularity in the States, even as their circulation in Europe began to taper. Sales peaked in 1912, a year when there were a total of 33,842 electric cars registered in the US (for comparison, in 2007 there were 55,730). That meant that in 1912 38% of all automobiles in America ran on electricity, compared with 22% on gasoline, and 40% on steam.

Several factors contributed to the EV’s success in the States. There was none of the deafening, bone-shuddering vibration there was in gas-powered cars, and they didn’t require any gear changes, which was a constant source of disquietude for any owner of a Model T or the like. Perhaps the most major advantage EVs held over gasoline cars though, was that you didn’t need to start it up manually with a hand crank. But it’s also in the hand crank, sadly, that the EV met its premature demise.

You see, getting your car going back then with a hand crank could be an extremely difficult, and dangerous endeavor. Not only was it physically demanding, but there was the risk that the moment you started the engine, the hand crank would begin spinning round with the crankshaft at an extremely fast and powerful pace, potentially hitting the cranker. Broken thumbs and wrists were common, yet much worse and more ghastly could also occur.

So, obviously enough, this was a major downside for gas-powered cars. Folks weren’t too keen on receiving the third-world punishment for stealing for simply trying to start their cars. This major selling point for the EV though, disappeared in 1912 when the electric starter was invented, allowing gas-powered cars to start at the turn of a key.

This simple invention, the electric starter, turned the tide against the electric car, and soon enough, gas-powered cars, now with their ease of ignition, and superior range, became the consumer choice. And there you have it, how ironic it is that the electric car was killed in the States by the electric starter!