c. 1900
IMAGE: LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
Electricity is the thing. There are no whirring and grinding gears with their numerous levers to confuse, no dangerous and evil-smelling gasoline and no noise.
THOMAS EDISON
c. 1895
IMAGE: GENERAL PHOTOGRAPHIC AGENCY/GETTY IMAGES
Electric cars are not a recent innovation. They have been around as long as vehicles powered by internal-combustion engines.
First produced in the 1880s, electric cars gained popularity in the following decades for their ease of operation, and for being less smelly and noisy than their gasoline-powered counterparts.
With top speeds of only about 20 miles per hour and a limited range, they were primarily used by affluent drivers to get around cities. They were marketed to women in particular, as a quiet, clean car without fumes or a hand crank. Some even came disguised with fake radiators to make them more palatable to the male market.
1882
IMAGE: ULLSTEIN BILD/GETTY IMAGES
c. 1899
IMAGE: NATIONAL MOTOR MUSEUM/HERITAGE IMAGES/GETTY IMAGES
1899
IMAGE: NATIONAL MOTOR MUSEUM/HERITAGE IMAGES/GETTY IMAGES
1899
IMAGE: HULTON ARCHIVE/GETTY IMAGES
1906
IMAGE: BETTMANN/CORBIS
1907
IMAGE: ULLSTEIN BILD/GETTY IMAGES
1909
IMAGE: SCHENECTADY MUSEUM; HALL OF ELECTRICAL HISTORY FOUNDATION/CORBIS
Sales of electric cars peaked in the early 1910s as more and more homes became wired for electricity. In the United States, 38% of cars were electric at this time.
However, the popularity of electric cars cratered as numerous developments — expanded road infrastructure, petroleum discoveries, the invention of the electric starter and the muffler — made gasoline-powered cars a more affordable and practical option.
c. 1910
IMAGE: CORBIS
Now it is possible for an owner of an electric to install his own charging plant in his stable.
NEW YORK TIMES, C. 1910
c. 1910
IMAGE: SCHENECTADY MUSEUM; HALL OF ELECTRICAL HISTORY FOUNDATION/CORBIS
c. 1912
IMAGE: SCHENECTADY MUSEUM; HALL OF ELECTRICAL HISTORY FOUNDATION/CORBIS
c. 1920
IMAGE: INTERIM ARCHIVE/GETTY IMAGES
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