THE FIRST ELECTRIC VEHICLE

The history of the electric vehicle began in the mid-1800s. An electrical vehicle held the vehicular land speed record until around 1900. The high cost and low top speed of electric vehicles compared to later internal combustion vehicles caused a worldwide decline in their use, and only relatively recently have they re-emerged into the public eye.

Between 1832 and 1839, Robert Anderson of Scotland invented the first crude electric carriage. A small-scale electric car was designed byProfessor Stratingh of Groningen, Holland, and built by his assistant Christopher Becker in 1835. Practical and more successful electric road vehicles were invented by both American Thomas Davenport and Scotsmen Robert Davidson around 1842. Both inventors were the first to use non-rechargeable electric cells. Frenchmen Gaston Plante invented a better storage battery in 1865 and his fellow countrymen Camille Faure improved the storage battery in 1881. This improved-capacity storage battery paved the way for electric vehicles to flourish.

The first commercial application of an electric car came in 1897 when the Electric Carriage & Wagon Company of Philadelphia built a fleet of New York taxis. Until 1899, electric cars held the land speed record. At the turn of the twentieth century, they were produced by Anthony Electric, Baker Motor Vehicle, Detroit Electric, Woods Motor Vehicle and others and at one point in history outsold gasoline-powered vehicles.

Early production of EVs, like all cars, was accomplished by hand assembly. In 1910, volume production of gasoline powered cars was achieved with the motorized assembly line. This breakthrough manufacturing process killed off all but the most well-financed car builders. Independents, unable to buy components in volume died off. The infrastructure for electricity was almost non-existent outside of city boundaries – limiting EVs to city-only travel. Another contributing factor to the decline of EVs was the addition of an electric motor (called the starter) to gasoline powered cars – finally removing the need for the difficult and dangerous crank to start the engine. Due to these factors, by the end of World War I, production of electric cars stopped and EVs became niche vehicles – serving as taxis, trucks, delivery vans, and freight handlers.

Information provided by the U. S. Department of Energy