9 Electric Cars 100 Years Old or More
1901 Riker Torpedo
Andrew Riker, the founder of Riker Electric Vehicles, made the Torpedo in 1901 to be the fastest car on the road. On Coney Island November 16, 1901 a Torpedo was driven one mile in 63 seconds, about 57 mph.
Studebaker, 1902-
Electric Studebakers were made starting in 1902. They made the bus pictured above and bodies for electric taxis. They also made cars which were available in a variety of styles. Thomas Edison is pictured below in his 1903 Studebaker.
1906 Krieger
This vehicle was made in Paris, and it is presumed to have been owned by US Senator George P. Wetmore of Rhode Island. The Krieger actually had regenerative braking which could be used to recharge the batteries while coasting downhill. It had a tiller/steering wheel in the very front, and hubcaps!
1909 Babcock
A Babcock electric vehicle set a mind-blowing record for its time. In October of 1906 the New York Times reported one driven by F.A. Babcock Jr. traveled 100 miles on a single charge. It averaged about 14-18 mph for the journey between Jersey City and Philadelphia. Only stock batteries were used. The previous record was 40 miles.
1909 Bailey
The Bailey electrics were known for durability. One was driven through four New England states in the same run as an endurance test. A Bailey was also driven up part of Mt. Washington in New Hampshire. The peak is over 6,000 feet.
There were many more electrics on the road during the period. They were quieter and emitted less pollution directly than their gasoline counterparts.
Image Credits: 1900 RIker - Smithsonian, 1909 Babcock - Infrogmation, 1909 Bailey - Frick Auto Museum, Riker Torpedo - Owls Head Transportation Museum. All others public domain, or unknown.
It is amazing to me how so many of the lifestyle changes we need to make are simply stepping back in time to a more sustainable era. Its sort of like personal health…if something goes wrong , so much of the solution is simply revisiting the lifestyle that you had before you started to get sick.
The electric cars were great and the piece informative. I will be writing about the modern electric car in the coming month and this will give me prospective.
It’s amazing that we all think electric vehicles are a futuristic development. So often great ideas are ignored due to profit motives and a lack of visionary insight. While it’s taken more than a century, the world will look much different a century from now.
Was there not also an electric Porsche from around this time period? Or was that a little later?
i agree with you about lack of visionary insight due to profit motives. With the availability of different technologies today, It seems like a slap in the face that other modes of transportation are not available to the mass society.
We could save a lot of money with electric cars, electricity is everywhere and we dont have to depend from other countries to have it, is here! is even in us humans, if in USA in 2 or 3 years 70% are electric cars, gas prices we drop to 25 cents a gallon again
All good technology is bought up and is in safe’s being kept from the world. Nobody wants to work any more, or pony up money to make things better, they just want to party. Not thinking we all live on the same boat Mother’s Earth. Mother’s love can go very far…..but you can only push her so far.
I find it amazing that we have been able to have electric cars for 100 years let alone the last 20 or 30 years where weve been able to equal almost what a petrol car would do in terms of performance and yet were all killing ourselves with petrol fumes,I reckon theres a crime in there somewhere
Its true, the reason why electric cars seem so futuristic is that oil companies have been making so much money, SOOOO much money they have paid off the government to keep using gas/oil powered companies for as long as I have been alive and longer.
Its just sad, not only crushing our environment, but now affecting America’s economy as the ignorant likes of GM are just now trying to make hybrids when Japanese companies have been selling them for much time. GM wants our tax money too to develop a hybrid car, I say too bad GM, you run an ignorant buisness you don’t get bailed out so easy.
Ignorance and greed from oil companies is what has left us in this mess. Why are we in Iraq? Cause oil makes so much money it causes war, WAR, WAR! You think iraq needed our help more than other countries, well America doesn’t help countries where it can’t make a profit, atleast in the Bush Era.
Prove me wrong Obama, and do right, I voted for you for Christ Sake.
Sorely missing is the Pope electric automobile. Most notable about the Electric Automobile: President Teddy Roosevelt rode in it upon his visit to Hartford, CT in 1903, making him the first US President to ride in an automobile.
http://media.photobucket.com/image/pope%20electric%20car/route66rambler/Rambler%20Timeline%20Galleries/Automobiles/1903/1903PopeElectric.jpg