9 Electric Cars 100 Years Old or More
1891 Morrison
Made by William Morrison in 1891, some say the Morrison was the first electric vehicle in America. It had a four horsepower engine , and could carry 6-12 passengers. Top speed was about 20 mph. The batteries needed to be recharged every 50 miles.
It has been said the car was actually completed in 1887 and was driven in a Des Moines parade in 1888. If that is true, the Morrison was first built 122 years ago, and it was built in America, where today they are almost no electric cars on the roads.
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Electrobat 1894-1899
Electrobats were made for several years in Philadelphia. The first ones were very heavy and used steel tires to support a large lead battery. They employed twin 1.5 hp motors and had a top speed of 20 mph. They could go 25 miles on one charge.
1900 Riker
A bulky enclosed cabin four passenger sedan that was made about the turn of the century, the Riker featured electric sidelamps, wooden-spoked wheels, and a voice tube so passengers could communicate with the driver. Cabin windows could be raised and lowered. 48 battery cells were onboard, with an electric engine near each rear wheel. The driver’s seat was about 6-7 feet in the air.
Better link to the Pope Electric Vehicles Corporation:
http://www.timeline.route66rambler.com/tbjnco.html
It wasn’t a lack of “visionary insight” that stunted the growth of electric vehicles- it was cheap oil.
You are all morons. The existence of these cars amply demonstrates the reason electric cars never succeeded - range. Simply put, there is no way to match the energy density of gasoline with batteries. In fact, it’s not even a competition. The internal combustion engine has become ubiquitous because it was the best option. Cheap, abundant, and highly energetic fuel that is easy to transport and store is a rare thing and our standard of living would have suffered if it was never available to outclass the potential of electric vehicles.
Also, these vehicles all had electric MOTORS, not engines you presumptive fool.
“four passenger sedan that was made about the turn of the century”
So it is what, about 8 years old? Oh, you mean the turn of the 20th century!
Wow!!! How many of you ever do any research for facts before posting?
Electric cars were available in the 19th century. Suitable batteries are a product of the 21st century. Electric cars lost out to petroleum cars for two reasons, performance, and range, which could be included in the performance category.
Ferdinand Porsche designed the Volkswagen for Hitler’s peoples car before WWII. The first car bearing his name was introduced after WWII. It was essentially a pretty VW, but it quickly became what we now know as a Porsche.
Ford did have a good performing electric car as a prototype in the late mid 20th century. It was built in England and the battery used liquid sodium and liquid sulfur as the electrolytes. This was considered too dangerous because the battery had to be kept above 500 deg. F. to keep the electrolytes liquid and then there is sodium’s penchant to burst into flames, or just explode, when exposed to water.
The patent listed here indicates a date about 1980.
http://www.freepatentsonline.com/4245012.html
Then there is the little factor that most of the electricity in the U. S. is generated from coal. Our submarines and air craft carriers have been powered by nuclear generated electricity for 50 years or so, but our elected democrat representatives and senators have prevented us from using this power source even though there has never been a case of a U. S. sailor suffering from radiation burns because of this source of power. And if you wish to claim that I am picking on Democrats, you better believe it. I lived in CA for 10 years while they made it so costly that the power companies just gave up. Now I must admit that Harry Reid is one of my senators.
Electricity is a great power source and it can now be used for many transportation needs, but as long as we have Obstructive liberals like Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi as members of congress, we have major problems.and major unnecessary costs. The technology in diesel-electric trains could be used in over the road trucks to provide the range and allow battery only use in cities. But, it will be a long time yet until we can move 40 tons of goods from LA to NYC with only battery power.
I see with puzzlement most comments don’t seem to take into account history. The reason gas powered cars replaced early electric cars was simple: greater efficiency of the gas engines which accelerated while electric car technology staganated, (specially on battteries), and abundance of gasoline. Gas cars became lighter, faster, had more range and eventually could be made significantly cheaper. Even today, with all our new technology we are still having problems with battery development.
You folks who think electric is the be all and end all to cutting off the oil companies; The bulk of our electricity is generated in power plants fired by OIL and NATURAL GAS produced by the OIL COMPANIES you so disdain. Also, all of our railroad infrastructure is electric powered by on board diesel driven generators. (by the way, diesel comes from the Oil Gas companies too) We could put windmills and solar panels on every spare square inch of available space and still not produce what a few good nuclear plants could at a fraction of the price.
The energy it takes to fill these batteries is just as inefficient as their petroleum counterparts. Gasoline vehicles and gas pumps were a more efficient way to travel long distances without downtime. There was no conspiracy by the big oil companies, it was just common sense for long journeys overland. There needs to be a better solution, and if electricity was the best solution then it would have been adapted long ago. Let’s top living in the past and look for a cleaner alternative solution people!
Electricity can be generated by Wind and Solar. Solar could power a charger to recharge an electric vehicle.
Some of the posters here don’t appear to have read that a 1909 Babcock drove 100 miles on a single charge! With 100 years of constant research and development, surely there would be better battteries available today.