Photo: Everyone's Magazine via graydortmotors.com
It is strange how, back in the early 1900s, when the fancy new automobile was slowly replacing animal drawn carriages, the electric car was losing ground to the petrol-powered one. Low oil prices and various interests made sure that the EV, despite being quicker, simpler, cleaner and more reliable, eventually lost the battle and were swept under the rug for 80-90 years, until it reappeared on the mass market in the 1990s.
The car in the picture, an example of the kinds of EVs one could buy at the turn of the last century, is a Detroit Electric, made by Anderson Electric Car Co. back in 1912. Not very many technical details can be found, but in one of its ads, the car’s range was described as “more than ample for the day’s run”, and the makers prided themselves on the fact that the car had “no concealed chains or gear reductions”, hinting at the refreshing simplicity of the electric drivetrain.
Let's get back to the present for a second. We need to be aware of the impact the EV will eventually have on the automotive world, and when (not if) they gain world-wide acceptance as the main means of locomotion and propulsion, only then would we have finally renounced oil, which is something we should have done over 90 years ago.
Let's get back to the present for a second. We need to be aware of the impact the EV will eventually have on the automotive world, and when (not if) they gain world-wide acceptance as the main means of locomotion and propulsion, only then would we have finally renounced oil, which is something we should have done over 90 years ago.
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