Right at the turn of the 20th century, along with several months in 1899 immediately preceding the turn of the century, Electric Cars became the top sellers in Commercial Auto Sales. This blossoming of the electric car actually dates back to 1881, when Gustav Trouve showcased his tri-pod, or three-wheeled vehicle, at the International Exhibition of Electricity in Paris; ten years later, in 1891, when William Morrison functionally produced the introductory mode; but not until 1895 did he and A.L. Ryker introduce the first of these electric cars to the United States.
Circulation of these electric tricycles, bicycles, and cars had existed in Europe (namely, France and Great Britain), however, since the early 1880’s. Back a bit further, dating back to 1832, when Robert Anderson of Scotland began to develop the unrefined introduction of the "Otto Cycle," or even back to 1835 when Sibrandus Stratingh and Christopher Becker of the Netherlands designed a rather primitive electric rendition of vehicles, the true inception of this established chain of autos really starts there.
Or even earlier, in 1828 when the Roman Catholic Priest, Ányos Jedlik, introduced an abstract model of something which resembled an electric skateboard. None of these never quite took off, nor did they become widespread commercial giants even after-the-fact, but eventually became more known for the nostalgic qualities of being "the first" of the electric auto. Electric autos invented by Thomas Davenport of the United States and Robert Davidson of Scotland gained more notoriety for their use of non-rechargeable electric cells, though those never became broadly used either. In the U.S., sales of those electric cars hit a climax in 1912, and then soon thereafter the market became inundated with gasoline-powered vehicles. Namely, the Baker, the Studebaker, the Otto Cycle, the Columbia, and the Riker were the big names in the Electric Car industry until Henry Ford introduced the Model T and gasoline-powered autos took center stage due to their flashy, aggressive roar and unparalleled speed.
No doubt, of course, these wind-up electric cars outsold others of the steam-powered and gasoline-powered variety for a period of time preceding this dynamic explosion of aggression and affordable commercialism. The battery-powered Studebaker Electric cars were sold until the peak of the electric car industry in 1912; others which continued to be made by A.L. Ryker and William Morrison, Anthony Electric, Electric Carriage and Wagon Company of Philadelphia, were produced until 1914, when Henry Ford came on the scene and produced gasoline powered cars featuring internal-combustion engines with the four-stroke cycle. These hit their first high point in 1916, when these first gasoline-powered cars became commercially marketed at $360.00 each.
This brought an end to the popularity of the electric car, and to this date the electric car has yet to see its return. The reason steam-powered cars never hit a peak was due to the lengthy start-up times. Depending on the weather outside, this could be quite the obstacle just to get the car started. In many cases it took up to 45 minutes to start; for those who lived in, say, Wisconsin or the other Northern states, forget about it — just starting the car could take seemingly hours. The lack of gear shifting was a plus, no doubt, but the Electric Cars also required no gear shifting and had so many more benefits than those of the steam variety.
The steam cars had less range before needing water than an electric car’s range on a single charge. The only good roads of the period were in town, causing most travel to be local commuting - a perfect situation for electric vehicles, since their range was limited. Accordingly, with competition as it was, steam-powered autos hardly even held a candle in the wind. Gasoline powered vehicles of that time, before Henry Ford and the introduction of the Model T, produced far too much static and created far too much of a hassle for the average citizen who had already become habituated to a different means of travel anyway: they produced unbearable amounts of noise; generated too much heat; gear shifting became an excessively laborious process to repeatedly perform; and these cars discharged terrible odor. The frequency of these burdens combined forced these early drivers to question whether or not they truly merit their own worth.
Read more about the Electric Car here:
The Electric Car: Why the U.S. car industry may survive More on the Electric Car: From the XP-883 to the Volt: analysis and history of the electric car
For more extensive research on the topic , Paul A. Hughes has published an excellent article here:
A History of Early Electric Cars [http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Crete/6111/electcar.htm]
Copyright 1996 Paul A. Hughes Last updated September 1996.
