Recently, at a social gathering, my significant other was chatting with a friend about electric cars. He tried to pull me into the conversation, but I was chatting with someone else.
He thought I would be interested in this topic, both because I drive an electric car and because he remembered me talking about the EV history — that they were designed centuries ago.
While I comprehend the first reason, I have no memory of knowing EV history. However, I also don’t doubt that at some point I knew this information, and since have forgotten. I don’t have the best memory, but I do love to consume history and science facts.
My annoying bad memory has a silver lining — I get to enjoy learning interesting information multiple times!
I’ve now re-learned that electrical vehicles were first designed in the 1820s. Their development came about with a series of advancements (the development of batteries and the electric motor especially). Inventors in Europe and America developed electric vehicles throughout the 1800s.
In the United States, a chemist in Iowa produced the first successful electric personal vehicle which debuted around 1890. It could seat six people and had a top speed of 14 miles per hour.
Gasoline cars were being developed at the same time. They had a few drawbacks. They had to be hand-cranked to start and shifting gears was a little tricky. EVs started easily and drove easily, didn’t emit smelly fumes, and were quiet.
At the time, the demand for personal vehicles was growing mostly in cities (so limited range wasn’t really an issue), due to rough roads in rural areas. Cities also had increasingly easy access to electricity. Cars were especially popular with women, to run errands around town.
Ferdinand Porsche developed an electric car as well as the first hybrid car. Thomas Edison worked to create a better EV battery and partnered with Henry Ford to explore options for a low-cost electric car.
By 1900, electric vehicles were popular and widespread in the United States. Car manufacturers across the nation were making them, New York City had a fleet of 60 electric taxis, and electric cars made up a third of all vehicles on the road.
After over a decade of growth and popularity, a number of factors tipped the scales in favor of gasoline cars. In 1908, Henry Ford introduced the Model T. This now iconic car had a lower price point than its electric counterparts and was easier to start with the invention of the electric starter to replace the hand crank.
At the same time, road infrastructure expanded and Americans wanted to get out and explore, necessitating a car with a longer mileage range. Texas crude oil was discovered and gas stations popped up around the country.
Electric cars became a sort of dark age phenomenon, with little innovation for decades. Limited technology dampened a renewed interest in personal EVs in the 1970s. In the 90s another rise in interest also ebbed.
The release of the hybrid Toyota Prius sparked the latest rise in interest in electric vehicles. Then of course the startup of Tesla Motors kept the momentum growing.
I drive, and love, a Chevy Bolt — it has a range of 100 to over 200 (winter vs. summer) miles, and I charge it from a regular outlet outside my home.
I wish I’d remembered all this history when the topic came up recently, but I am glad to know it again and enjoyed learning it for a second (or more!) time.
ALDONA BIRD is a journalist, previously writing for The Dominion Post. She uses experience gained working on organic farms in Europe to help her explore possibilities of local productivity and sustainable living in Preston County. Email columns@dominionpost.com.
