When were Electric Cars Invented

Figure 1. An electric car from 1896.

Electric cars are among the fastest-growing type of vehicles in terms of sales in several Western countries. Many consumers still know little about electric cars, and most people see them as a relatively new type of vehicle that has some ways to go before they become common. However, electric cars' history goes back to the 19th century, as people began to experiment with electricity and mobility.

The Early History of Electric Cars

Robert Anderson, a British inventor, is often credited with building the first electric carriage built in the 1830s. It is not clear when this exactly happened, but it occurred sometime around 1832-1839. Similar efforts around that time occurred in the Netherlands and Hungary, where there was a lot of interest in developing transport using electricity. This included work by Professor Sibrandus Stratingh of Groningen, Holland, and the Hungarian inventor Ányos Jedlik.

These early vehicles were effectively carriages that could move a short distance on some electric charge and be steered by a large stick-like device. Effectively, many of the first cars were electric, as people experimented with different ways to power them.

The first more practical electric vehicle, which we can call a type of car, occurred in 1842, developed by Thomas Davenport and Robert Anderson. These represented vehicles that could now move through better steering were comparable to some of the early carriage cars around this period. One practical problem was that these cars did not have batteries, which meant they could not go very far. That problem was already solved in 1865, where Gaston Plante from France created the first rechargeable lead-acid batteries.

As interest in the automobile began to surge in the 1880s, electric cars were seen as the keyway in which vehicles would navigate roads. This led to further developments in battery technologies, and by 1881, electric cars could more reliably navigate for some distance between charges and became practical in cities. Electric cars were among the first cars created by early car manufacturers that emerged, including famous brands such as Mercedes.

In 1897, New York decided to make their taxi fleet electric through cars created by the Electric Carriage and Wagon Company of Philadelphia. Many cities in Europe and the United States began using electric vehicles to form public transit (Figure 1). By 1898, land speed records of over 68 mph were set by electric cars. Electric cars were still at this stage seen as likely dominating the increasingly growing car market. By 1900, about 30 percent of all cars were electric.

Already in 1899, however, people realized that gasoline gave a longer range. Hybrid vehicles began to be created to combine the benefits of electric cars with gasoline-powered vehicles. Nevertheless, by this point, vehicles' journeys were usually short distances, and trains still typically carried people over longer distances. Oil was exploited but not widely distributed yet. This gave the electric car an advantage in costs, and generally, electric cars were easier to operate than their gasoline cousins, requiring no starting crank and constant gear shifting.

Later Developments

Figure 2. Arguably the Model T led to the collapse of the electric car and research into car batteries.

What also gave early electric vehicles an advantage over gasoline cars throughout the 1890s and into the early 1900s was that despite improvements of the internal combustible engine that happened throughout the mid to late 1800s, gasoline cars were seen as 'dirty.' They were also noisy, and changing gears was not made much easier in cars during that era.

Consumers praised electric cars for being easy to drive and having no noise, while they did not burn any dirty smelling fuel. For a while, even into the early 1900s, electric cars seemed to be the way forward. Arguably, what changed was the introduction of the Model T, introduced in 1908 and often seen as a revolutionary car in bringing cars to the masses. The car also destroyed the position of the electric car. The affordability of the Model T, at about $650, versus an electric ($1750), in 1912 resulted in a crash in electric car sales throughout the 1910s-1920s (Figure 2).

By 1912, gasoline-powered vehicles also incorporated an electric starter, making them just as easy to start as electric cars. This advance further deteriorated sales of electric cars, relegating them to near extinction. The discovery of oil in places such as Texas in the early 1900s and increasing road networks connecting large cities further helped decline electric cars. Oil prices in the 1920s and 1930s were low, making it affordable for people to power their cars. By 1935, electric cars were largely extinct from roads throughout the world.

Modern Electric Car

From the early 1900s to about the 1960s, electric car batteries effectively did not change. Only in the 1970s, during the first major oil crisis that led to the rapid increase in oil prices, electric cars and electric batteries became of interest. Even in the early 1970s, electric car capabilities were not that much more effective than their early industrial age predecessors.

Arguably electric cars from the late 1890s were more effective. The fastest electric cars in the 1970s typically could not go over 45 miles per hour, far slower than the record set in 1898, and had a range of only about 45 miles. There were now increased science and technology symposiums on low pollution power systems that began to emerge in the science communities. The United States began to take the lead in research on electric cars in the 1970s. The 1970s was also the era when environmental damage began to become of greater concern, with the founding of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) by President Nixon in 1970 and the Clean Air Act's passing.

In 1976, Congress passed the Electric and Hybrid Vehicle Research, Development, and Demonstration Act, which renewed research into electric batteries and hybrid vehicle research conducted by the Department of Energy. During the 1970s, electric cars reemerged again on the roads, with cars such as the Sebring Vanguard. This was a form of "city car" that only traveled 40-50 miles per hour and had a range of nearly 60 miles. Such cars were small, two-person vehicles that made them impractical for many. In other countries, such as Germany, electric cars also began to make a slow comeback, including BMW's 1602 E, which had a range of 30 miles.

Although improvements were made in battery technologies, limitations for most cars were speed and range. This ultimately made electric cars not popular with the wider public. That set the stage for the minor comeback to mostly collapse in the 1980s and going into the 1900s, when oil prices dropped significantly once again.

In the 1990s, California did pass a bill that car manufacturers could sell vehicles in the state with a zero-emission option. This likely helped the creation of the EV1, perhaps one of the first more practical electric cars. GM's EV1 car, which traveled up to 80-100 miles and could accelerate from 0 to 60 in 7 seconds, made it one of the best electric cars to emerge from research funding from the 1970s. This remained perhaps the best electric car available and represented another small comeback in the 1990s when the car's production developed. GM had spent over 300 million dollars to help make the EV1 a viable vehicle. However, GM stated he never made money from this car, and eventually, it was killed off in 2001, with cars being recalled from their leasers. The car was only leased in a few states. Only slightly over 1000 of these cars were made.

By the 1990s, Japan had become a global leader in battery research. During this time, in 1997, a new car emerged, the Toyota Prius that changed the perception of efficient vehicles. The Prius, a brand that is still being made, is a hybrid that switched between electric and gasoline sources. In the early 2000s, the Prius began to be exported, which coincided with a sharp rise in gasoline prices and renewed environmental interests. The Prius' performance-matched many gasoline vehicles, selling over 10 million vehicles by the 2010s. This now also prompted companies to look for alternative vehicles that required no gasoline.

The Emergence of Tesla and the Renewed Push for Electic Cars

A new car company, primarily Tesla, has finally created a strong market for electric cars. In 2008, Tesla began production of the Roaster. The Roadster, unlike previous electric cars, had a long-distance battery. The Roaster could travel up to 200 miles without recharging, but the price of over $100,00 made it out of reach for many. The car was intended to entice early adopters who could afford an expensive 2 seater. While it may not have practical, it created a buzz around Tesla and allowed the company to release several new more normal vehicles. Since the Roadster, Tesla has sold several new models in including the Model S, Model X, and Model 3. In 2020, Tesla sold almost 500,000 vehicles and became the most valuable automaker in the world.

Buoyed by Tesla's success, other companies such as Nissan, BMW, Chevy, and others began to manufacture electric cars. These new cars, along with the Tesla Model 3, helped bring prices down to more affordable ranges for average consumers. By 2020, most of the cars being sold or going to be produced in the future will have battery ranges well over 200 miles. Volkswagen plans to sell 15 different electric car models by 2025. Other companies are beginning to follow suit. In time, it is quite likely that electric cars will not only rival gasoline cars but surpass them.

Summary

Early cars were more easily operated as electric vehicles, as many 19th century automobiles were cumbersome, dirty, noisy, and less preferred by consumers. That changed by the 1910s, resulting in the near-death of electric vehicles. When research once again picked up in the 1970s, electric cars were not much better in range than their 1890s-1900s peers. It was only since the 1990s, particularly the Prius effect, that it increased interest in electric vehicles and those with alternative fuels. Today, some European countries have begun to introduce eventual bans on all gasoline vehicles at a future date. This might now be a major lifeline given to the more rapid development of electric vehicles.

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