Electric cars first emerged 200 years ago and then disappeared!
What would be your answer if someone asks you, “Where do you see yourself 20 years from now?” The answer would be something along these lines: Having a successful career, a full-fledged family, owning your own home and a car too.
Now, when it comes to choosing cars, there are too many options to spoil you with. From various brands to make, model and colour, it’s almost impossible to decide. How about electric cars though? Ever thought of having one? After all, they are now quite common and are increasingly becoming popular, due to their environment-friendliness (do not emit any greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change) and convenience (low maintenance and easy to drive).
Electric cars were born in the 19th century. Yes, that’s right. It’s not as modern an invention as you think. Let us now look at the inception story, up close.
Birth of the first crude electric vehicle
The year was 1832 when contemporary Scottish inventor Robert Anderson invented the first ever crude electric vehicle in his hometown. Well, it was a carriage! Guess what fuelled the carriage? Non-rechargeable primary power cells.
Fast forward to the 1890s and electric vehicles started growing in popularity as compared to gas or steam-powered automobiles of those times. Electric vehicles were quieter, quite easy to drive and did not emit smelly pollutants. Maybe that’s why they became common among the urban population, especially the noble class and the women.
World welcomes the first successful and practical electric car
By the turn of the century, electric cars not only become a sensation across the streets of Europe but also reached the heart of USA. Thanks to William Morrison, an American chemist and engineer, the world welcomed the first successful and practical electric car around this time. It was a six-passenger electrified wagon with a speed of 14 miles per hour.
Soon, the phenomenon called electric car caught the eye of American inventor Thomas Edison who in 1901 was quick to realise the popularity of electric-powered cars and built an innovative battery that further escalated the speed.
Rise and fall of electric cars
Until 1920, electric cars gave quite a competition to other fuelled cars, but soon became out of sight as gasoline-powered vehicles took their place. Gasoline in those days were both cheap and readily available and was highly suitable for manufacturers making internal combustion engines. However, after 1970, the price of gasoline became sky high!
In 1971, when gasoline was increasingly becoming expensive due to acute shortage, NASA decided to build a lunar rover powered by electricity. Needless to say, this quickly brought back electric cars into popularity. In fact, it was this lunar roving vehicle that enabled a longer stay on the moon for the crewed Apollo 15 mission.
Soon, automobile producers started to experiment with electric-powered vehicles. For instance, in 1973, a company named General Motors developed the first ever modern prototype of an urban electric car. It was even exhibited at the first symposium that happened the same year on Low Pollution Power Systems Development.
The world is introduced to CitiCars
It was in the mid-1970s that an automaker named Sebring-Vanguard launched the first ever electric car for the public called CitiCar. It was a wedge-shaped, compact car that ran at a speed of 50-60 miles per hour.
Now, fast forward to mid-1990s, General Motors unveiled EV1, an electric vehicle that was designed from ground up, and was a first of its kind.
Toyota unveils first mass-produced hybrid car
With the turn of the century, global automobile giant Toyota launched the world’s first mass-produced hybrid car, that could run on both gas and electricity. Named Prius, the car became an overnight rage worldwide. Soon, other companies like the Tesla Motors followed suit and the rest, as they say, is history. Never again did electric cars go out of sale!