Blog 7 -The Surprisingly Long History of Electric Cars

 

The Surprisingly Long History of Electric Cars

 

In an enlightening Ted-Ed lesson written by  Gil Tal and Daniel Sperling of UC Davis that was animated by Lobster Studio, narrator Jack Cutmore-Scott explains the long and surprising history of electric cars.

While many believe that electric cars are a newer invention, it turns out that when the car was first invented there was an electric option. These cars were quieter and cleaner than other vehicles of the time, but they were expensive and the short battery life made them difficult to maintain. As car production grew greater and oil became more affordable, the idea of electric cars went by the wayside, however, in more recent times, the demand for non-petroleum fueled cars has skyrocketed. Perhaps electric cars will become the norm rather than the exception in the days to come.

By the end of the 19th century, nearly 40% of American cars were electric. But these vehicles had a few major problems — early car batteries were expensive and inefficient, and the vehicles were twice the price of a gas-powered car. And so for the next several decades, gas-powered cars dominated the market. Can electric cars reclaim their place on the road?

Electric cars began making news in 2008 when the first Tesla Roadster debuted. Today, more charging stations are being installed as electric cars become popular alternatives to fossil fuel vehicles but EVs aren’t new. The history of electric vehicles goes back almost two hundred years to when, in 1828, “a Hungarian engineer, physicist, and Benedictine priest by the name of Anyos Jedlik created an electric model car powered by an electromagnetic rotating device (essentially, a DC motor).”

And by 1899, you could have bought a battery-powered EV, joining nearly 40% of American car owners who had also gone electric.

This TED-Ed lesson by Gil Tal and Daniel Sperling, with animation by Lobster Studio, shares the surprisingly long history of electric cars.

 “Jedlik’s invention was soon followed by the first electric (horseless) carriage, developed by Scottish inventor Robert Anderson between 1832 and 1839, by attaching a primary cell (non-rechargeable) battery and motor to a typical horse-drawn carriage. At around the same time (1835), Sibrandus Stratingh in the Netherlands (Groningen) and Thomas Davenport in the United States (Vermont) developed their own small-scale, short-range electric cars.

“However, the first successful American EV is credited to a chemist living in Iowa named William Morrison, who developed (sometime around 1890) a six-passenger automobile that could reach a top speed of 14 miles an hour. Though that might seem slow to 21st century sensibilities, it’s about the same speed as the herd of running bulls at the annual Encierro in Pamplona. Such a vehicle must have been impressive to a 19th century audience—indeed, Morrison’s electric car caught the attention of some of the most famous inventors of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Ferdinand Porsche (founder of the sports car company), Thomas Edison, and even Henry Ford, whose Model T would later quash public interest in EVs, all worked towards creating better, more efficient electric cars.”

 

 

Reference: https://www.ted.com/talks/daniel_sperling_and_gil_tal_the_surprisingly_long_history_of_electric_cars