The concept of electric cars, far from being a modern marvel, stretches back over a century. Today, electric vehicles (EVs) are experiencing a surge in popularity, echoing the very reasons that propelled them into the limelight initially. As consumers increasingly seek cost-effective transportation and fuel efficiency, the demand for electric drive vehicles – whether hybrid, plug-in hybrid, or all-electric – continues its upward trajectory. Currently representing over 3 percent of new vehicle sales, projections estimate that electric vehicle sales could potentially reach nearly 7 percent globally by 2020, equating to a staggering 6.6 million vehicles annually, as highlighted in a report by Navigant Research.
This burgeoning interest in electric vehicles prompts us to delve into the past and future of this technology. Join us on a historical journey to explore the fascinating origins of The First Electric Car and its evolution.
The Genesis of Electric Mobility
Attributing the invention of the first electric car to a single inventor or nation is a complex task. Instead, its creation was the result of a series of groundbreaking inventions throughout the 1800s, ranging from advancements in battery technology to the electric motor itself. These collective innovations paved the way for the earliest electric vehicles to take to the roads.
During the initial decades of the 19th century, pioneering minds across Hungary, the Netherlands, and the United States, including a Vermont blacksmith, began experimenting with the idea of battery-powered transportation, crafting some of the earliest iterations of small-scale electric cars. While Robert Anderson, a British inventor, is credited with developing a rudimentary electric carriage around the same period, it was during the latter half of the 19th century that French and English inventors engineered some of the first practical electric cars.
In the United States, the first successful electric car debuted around 1890, thanks to William Morrison, a chemist residing in Des Moines, Iowa. His six-passenger vehicle, capable of reaching a top speed of 14 miles per hour, was essentially an electrified wagon. Despite its basic design, it played a crucial role in igniting public interest in electric vehicles.
Alt Text: William Morrison’s first electric car from 1890, a six-passenger vehicle considered among the first successful electric cars in the United States, sparking early interest in electric vehicle technology.
In the ensuing years, electric vehicles from various manufacturers began to emerge across the American landscape. New York City even boasted a fleet of over 60 electric taxis. By the dawn of the 20th century, electric cars had reached their zenith, constituting approximately one-third of all vehicles on the roads, and maintaining robust sales figures throughout the subsequent decade.
The Initial Rise and Decline of Electric Cars
To fully grasp the widespread appeal of electric vehicles around 1900, it’s essential to consider the broader context of personal vehicle development and the competing technologies of the era. At the turn of the 20th century, the horse remained the dominant mode of transportation. However, as prosperity grew in America, people increasingly turned to the newly invented motor vehicle – available in steam, gasoline, or electric variants – for personal transport.
Steam power, a well-established energy source proven reliable in factories and trains, was utilized in some of the earliest self-propelled vehicles in the late 1700s. Yet, steam technology didn’t gain traction in cars until the 1870s. This delay was partly due to the impracticalities of steam for personal vehicles. Steam cars required lengthy start-up times, sometimes up to 45 minutes in cold weather, and needed frequent water refills, limiting their driving range.
Concurrent with the rise of electric vehicles, gasoline-powered cars emerged, fueled by advancements in internal combustion engine technology during the 1800s. While promising, early gasoline cars were far from user-friendly. They demanded significant manual effort to operate – gear changes were cumbersome, and starting the engine required a hand crank, posing difficulties for some drivers. Furthermore, they were noisy and produced unpleasant exhaust fumes.
Electric cars presented a stark contrast, sidestepping the drawbacks of both steam and gasoline vehicles. They were quiet, easy to drive, and produced no tailpipe emissions, unlike their contemporaries. Electric cars rapidly gained favor among urban dwellers, particularly women. They proved ideal for short city commutes, and the poor road conditions prevalent outside urban areas limited the practicality of any car type for long-distance travel. As electricity access expanded in the 1910s, charging electric cars became more convenient, further boosting their popularity across various segments of society, even attracting interest from “best known and prominent makers of gasoline cars,” as noted in a 1911 New York Times article.
Alt Text: A 1912 Baker Electric Model V Coupe, showcasing the elegance and popularity of early electric cars, particularly among urban residents and women, highlighting their quiet operation and ease of use.
Many innovators of the era recognized the high demand for electric vehicles and explored avenues to enhance the technology. Ferdinand Porsche, the founder of the renowned sports car company, developed an electric car named the P1 in 1898. Around the same time, he also pioneered the world’s first hybrid electric car – a vehicle powered by both electricity and a gasoline engine. Thomas Edison, a prolific inventor, championed electric vehicles as the superior technology and dedicated efforts to developing improved electric car batteries. Even Henry Ford, a friend of Edison, collaborated with him in 1914 to explore the feasibility of a low-cost electric car, according to Wired.
However, it was Henry Ford’s mass-produced Model T that ultimately dealt a significant blow to the electric car’s dominance. Introduced in 1908, the Model T made gasoline-powered cars widely accessible and affordable. By 1912, a gasoline car cost a mere $650, while an electric roadster commanded a price of $1,750. In the same year, Charles Kettering unveiled the electric starter, eliminating the need for the hand crank and further propelling gasoline-powered vehicle sales.
Other factors contributed to the decline of electric vehicles. By the 1920s, the United States had developed a better network of roads connecting cities, and Americans were eager to explore beyond urban limits. The discovery of Texas crude oil led to inexpensive and readily available gasoline for rural populations, and gas stations began proliferating across the country. In contrast, electricity remained scarce in rural areas at that time. Consequently, electric vehicles virtually vanished by 1935.
Gas Shortages Re-ignite Electric Vehicle Interest
For roughly three decades, electric vehicles entered a period of stagnation, with limited technological progress. The abundance of cheap gasoline and continuous improvements in internal combustion engines stifled demand for alternative fuel vehicles.
However, the late 1960s and early 1970s witnessed a resurgence of interest. Surging oil prices and gasoline shortages, peaking with the 1973 Arab Oil Embargo, spurred growing concerns about U.S. dependence on foreign oil and the need to find domestic fuel sources. Congress responded by passing the Electric and Hybrid Vehicle Research, Development, and Demonstration Act of 1976, authorizing the Energy Department to support research and development in electric and hybrid vehicles.
During this period, numerous automakers, both large and small, began exploring alternative fuel vehicle options, including electric cars. General Motors, for instance, developed a prototype urban electric car, showcased at the Environmental Protection Agency’s First Symposium on Low Pollution Power Systems Development in 1973. American Motor Company produced electric delivery jeeps, which the United States Postal Service tested in a 1975 pilot program. Even NASA contributed to raising the profile of electric vehicles when its electric Lunar rover became the first manned vehicle to drive on the moon in 1971.
Alt Text: The 1971 Lunar Rover, an electric vehicle used by NASA astronauts on the moon, showcasing an early example of electric vehicle technology in extreme conditions and contributing to renewed interest in EVs on Earth.
Despite these advancements, the electric vehicles developed in the 1970s still faced performance limitations compared to gasoline-powered cars. They typically had top speeds around 45 miles per hour and a limited range of approximately 40 miles before requiring recharging.
Environmental Concerns Propel Electric Vehicles Forward
The 1990s marked another turning point. In the two decades following the gas crises of the 1970s, interest in electric vehicles had largely waned. However, new federal and state regulations began to reshape the landscape. The passage of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendment and the 1992 Energy Policy Act, coupled with new transportation emissions regulations from the California Air Resources Board, reignited interest in electric vehicles in the U.S.
Automakers responded by adapting some of their existing popular vehicle models into electric versions. This resulted in electric vehicles achieving speeds and performance levels much closer to gasoline-powered counterparts, with many offering a range of around 60 miles.
One of the most iconic electric cars of this era was GM’s EV1, prominently featured in the 2006 documentary Who Killed the Electric Car? Instead of modifying an existing model, GM designed and engineered the EV1 from the ground up. Boasting a range of 80 miles and an acceleration of 0 to 50 miles per hour in just seven seconds, the EV1 quickly garnered a dedicated following. However, due to high production costs, the EV1 never achieved commercial viability, and GM discontinued it in 2001.
With a booming economy, a growing middle class, and low gasoline prices in the late 1990s, fuel efficiency was not a primary concern for many consumers. Despite limited public attention to electric vehicles during this period, scientists and engineers, with support from the Energy Department, continued to work behind the scenes to improve electric vehicle technology, particularly batteries.
A New Dawn for Electric Cars
While the fluctuating fortunes of the electric vehicle industry in the latter half of the 20th century demonstrated the technology’s potential, the true resurgence of electric vehicles began around the start of the 21st century. Depending on perspective, either of two key events ignited the current wave of interest in electric vehicles.
The introduction of the Toyota Prius is often cited as the first pivotal moment. Launched in Japan in 1997, the Prius became the world’s first mass-produced hybrid electric vehicle. Its global release in 2000, and subsequent popularity among celebrities, significantly elevated the car’s profile. Toyota utilized nickel metal hydride batteries in the Prius, a technology supported by Energy Department research. Rising gasoline prices and growing concerns about carbon emissions have since propelled the Prius to become the best-selling hybrid worldwide over the past decade.
(Historical Note: Before the Prius’s U.S. debut, Honda released the Insight hybrid in 1999, making it the first hybrid sold in the U.S. since the early 1900s.)
The second transformative event was the 2006 announcement by Silicon Valley startup Tesla Motors of its plan to produce a luxury electric sports car capable of traveling over 200 miles on a single charge. In 2010, Tesla received a $465 million loan from the Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office – a loan Tesla repaid nine years ahead of schedule – to establish a manufacturing facility in California. Tesla has since gained widespread acclaim for its vehicles and become the largest auto industry employer in California.
Tesla’s announcement and subsequent success spurred major automakers to accelerate their own electric vehicle programs. In late 2010, the Chevy Volt and the Nissan LEAF were launched in the U.S. market. The Volt, the first commercially available plug-in hybrid, features a gasoline engine to supplement its electric drive when the battery is depleted, allowing for electric driving for most commutes with gasoline backup for extended range. The LEAF, in contrast, is an all-electric vehicle (or battery-electric vehicle, EV), powered solely by an electric motor.
Alt Text: The 2010 Nissan LEAF, one of the first modern mass-market all-electric vehicles, marking a new beginning for EVs and addressing range and charging concerns that had hindered earlier models.
Over the following years, other automakers introduced electric vehicles in the U.S. However, consumers still faced the historical challenge of charging infrastructure. Through the Recovery Act, the Energy Department invested over $115 million to help build a nationwide charging infrastructure, deploying over 18,000 chargers across residential, commercial, and public locations. Automakers and private businesses also installed chargers at key locations, bringing the current total of public electric vehicle chargers to over 8,000 locations with more than 20,000 outlets.
Simultaneously, new battery technologies, supported by the Energy Department’s Vehicle Technologies Office, began to emerge, improving the range of plug-in electric vehicles. Building on battery technology used in early hybrids, Department research also contributed to the development of lithium-ion battery technology used in the Volt. More recently, Energy Department investments in battery research and development have driven down electric vehicle battery costs by 50 percent in the last four years, while enhancing battery performance (power, energy, and durability). This cost reduction, in turn, is making electric vehicles more accessible to consumers.
Consumers today have unprecedented choices in electric vehicles, with 23 plug-in electric and 36 hybrid models available in various sizes, from the Smart ED to the Ford C-Max Energi to the BMW i3 luxury SUV. As gasoline prices continue to rise and electric vehicle prices become more competitive, electric vehicles are gaining popularity, with over 234,000 plug-in electric vehicles and 3.3 million hybrids currently on U.S. roads.
The Road Ahead for Electric Cars
Predicting the future trajectory of electric vehicles is challenging, but their potential to contribute to a more sustainable future is undeniable. Transitioning all light-duty vehicles in the U.S. to hybrids or plug-in electric vehicles using current technology could reduce dependence on foreign oil by 30-60 percent and decrease carbon emissions from the transportation sector by up to 20 percent.
To facilitate these emission reductions, President Obama launched the EV Everywhere Grand Challenge in 2012 – an Energy Department initiative uniting leading American scientists, engineers, and businesses to make plug-in electric vehicles as affordable as gasoline-powered vehicles by 2022. In battery technology, the Department’s Joint Center for Energy Storage Research at Argonne National Laboratory is working to overcome the major scientific and technical hurdles hindering large-scale battery improvements.
Furthermore, the Department’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) is advancing transformative technologies with the potential to revolutionize electric vehicles, from investing in new battery types for extended range to cost-effective alternatives for critical electric motor materials.
Ultimately, the future path of electric vehicles remains to be seen. However, their journey from the first electric car to today’s increasingly sophisticated models demonstrates a long and evolving history of innovation and a promising future in sustainable transportation.
