History of Electric Cars

Although electric cars seem like the latest thing and certainly something that the majority of drivers will consider owning in the not so distant future, electric vehicles actually have a long and eventful history. 

While when we hear the term ‘electric car’ we automatically tend to think of futuristic Tesla sorts, these vehicles have been around for much longer than many realise, dating back as far as the 1800s! In this era, the first small-scale electric cars were invented in Hungary and the Netherlands. In the 1830s, British inventor Robert Anderson created the first battery-powered carriage. None of these cars were very practical however, as batteries were not yet rechargeable, and it took a long time before vehicles powered by an electrical motor could be feasibly used as a mode of transportation. 

In the 1880’s, Thomas Parker helped to design electric-powered trams and he also produced several electric car prototypes. In the same decade, Scottish-born chemist William Morrison revealed his self-propelled electric carriage which had 4 horsepower and a top speed of 20mph. Rechargeable batteries had also been invented by this point and Morrison’s carriage, which ran on 24 battery cells, reportedly required charging every 50 miles.

The vehicle credited with being the first commercially viable electric car was patented in 1894. This model, named Electrobat, was produced by Philadelphians Pedro Salom and Henry G. Morris. While it was initially slow and weighty, within a couple of years the model had been refined to achieve a top speed of 20mph. The Electrobat was one of the electric cars to beat gasoline Duryea automobiles in a series of five-mile sprint races.

Morris and Salom’s next business move was to build electric Hansom cabs that would rival horse-drawn carriages in New York. They sold this proposal to Issac L. Rice, who incorporated the Electric Vehicle Company in New Jersey. By the early 1900s, the company had produced hundreds of these electric cabs and a battery swapping and recharging station was set up to ensure that the vehicles were able to keep running. Unfortunately the business ran into issues and terminated in 1907.  

In 1899, Belgian inventor Camille Jenatzy became the first electric vehicle builder to create a car capable of more than 60mph, the torpedo-shaped car was powered by dual direct-drive 25kW motors producing around 67 horsepower.  The machine, called La Jamais Contente, was made with lightweight aluminium alloy material and sat on Michelin tires. 

In the late 19th century and early 20th century, electric vehicles emerged from manufacturers whose names you may be more familiar with, including Porsche and Ford. Ultimately, around this time, many automotive companies decided that gasoline cars had a more promising future, as electricity was not widely available outside of city centres and spare batteries were a lot heavier to transport than gasoline in terms of the amount needed to power a car. This is why the electric car craze has been fairly idle until the 1990s reignited the passion and revealed a need for these vehicles to make a comeback.