April 2, 2025 • 8 mins
In the late 19th century, amidst debates about the most efficient and affordable engine for motor vehicles, the electric car emerged as a contender. Today, we explore the early electric vehicles that are often forgotten.
Presented by State Farm Insurance and Driven by America's Automotive Trust. Learn more at www.americasautomotivetrust.org
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:04):
Before the Mustang Mach-E, Tesla hybrids
before most of the country had pavedroads.
There was debate about whichkind of engine would power motor vehicles.
What was the most efficientand affordable?
What is likely surprisingto many listeners is that in the 1890s,
(00:24):
the electric car had a chanceto take over the industry.
And todaywe're going back to the 19th century
to look at the first electric vehicle.
This is fuel for the future,presented by State Farm
Insurance and driven by America'sautomotive Trust.
I'm Michael Hay.
(00:45):
Let's take a moment to try to understand
what the world looked like in the late19th century.
Imagined cities crowded with horses,literally.
New York City in the 1890swas home to over 100,000 horses.
And the noise?
The newer the disease.
This was a public health issueas cities became more and more populated.
(01:08):
And during this time there was an eagersearch for a cleaner, more efficient form
of urban transport in a lot of the majorcities across the world.
And a lot of themwere looking at electricity for help.
By the
1860s, cities were alreadytrying modes of transportation
that didn't utilize animals like steamtrolleys, tram engines, and cable cars.
(01:31):
Then electricity started to transformcities.
By the 1880s, electric trolleysand streetcars were replacing
horse drawn carriages in citieslike Richmond, Omaha, New Orleans,
and then soon in Los Angeles,followed by most major cities.
And with the success of electric publictransport, a new question emerged.
(01:52):
Could electricity power something smaller,something more personal?
Now, I think it's interesting to knowthat electric motors actually
had been developed earlierin the 19th century.
They had powered small models,even trains.
The first knownelectric locomotive was built in 1837,
in Scotland, by chemistRobert Davidson of Aberdeen.
(02:15):
But to make a battery powered car work,
there's the issue of rechargingthat battery.
And luckily, rechargeable batteriesthat could fit into something like a car
came about with the inventionof the lead acid battery in 1859.
All of this is to say
it's not surprising that electric carswere developed soon after.
(02:38):
Now, the
first electric car is actually debatable.
And that's becausea number of inventors around the world
were coming up with working vehiclesall around the same time.
As an example,there was a small electric tricycle
made in Paris in 1881,but that never had its own patent.
(02:59):
In 1884, Thomas Parker in Englandbuilt a car, but formal
documentation doesn't existabout that until about ten years later.
What we can say pretty certainly,is that the first electric vehicle
in North America came about in 1889, 1890,
when a chemist and inventornamed William Morrison,
(03:23):
an immigrant from Scotland living in DesMoines, Iowa, introduced what many
historians consider the first successfulAmerican electric vehicle.
It looked more like an electrified
horse carriage than a carby today's standards,
but it could carry up to 12 passengersand reach speeds of 14mph.
It was quiet, clean and requiredno gear shifting.
(03:48):
Morrison'selectric carriage debuted at the 1893
Chicago World's Fair, officiallythe World's Columbian Exposition.
It amazed crowds,and it sparked a new wave of interest
in electric vehicle experimentation.
That same year,the American Battery Company,
who had partnered with Morrison, beganmarketing this car as the Electro Beat.
(04:10):
In 1894, two inventors from Philadelphia,Petro Salam and Henry G.
Morris developed a series of electric carsunder the name Electro Bat as well.
These electro bats were bulkyand weighed around 4,400 pounds
due to the weight of the leadacid batteries, but they weren't.
And then they developed a second version,which was lighter,
(04:32):
more agile and commercially viable.
In fact,the electro band was used as a prototype
for some of the first electric taxisin New York City in the mid 1890s.
The Morris and SalaamElectric Carriage and Wagon Company
went on to builda small fleet of electric cabs.
These vehicles,unlike gasoline counterparts,
(04:53):
didn't need manual cranking to start.
They didn't admit noxious fumes, andthey didn't annoy passengers with noise.
By 1897, the London based
electric carriage Companylaunched a similar electric taxi service.
So you can see here.
As the 20th century was starting,electric vehicles were considered
(05:14):
a major part of the car industryand the future,
especially in cities.
And here's something elsesurprising in 1900.
38% of American automobileswere powered by electricity.
Comparethat to just 22% powered by gasoline.
The rest steam.
(05:36):
That's right.
Steam carswere also a real contender at the time,
but electric vehicleshad major advantages.
They were easy to operate.
Didn't require gear changes.
They were cleaner.
And they appealed, especially to urbanitesand women who didn't want to deal
with the mess or bustleof early internal combustion engines
(05:57):
and the land speed recordwas held by an electric vehicle
in the early 20th century.
Not to mention that the first police carwas an electric car in Ohio.
Even Thomas Edison weighed in, developingimproved battery
design specifically for electric cars.
He partnered with Henry Ford in the 19
tens in a failed attempt to mass producean affordable electric vehicle.
(06:21):
But gasoline vehicles were improving fast.
The invention of the electric starterby Charles Kettering in 1912
eliminated one of the main struggles
with gas engines,and that's the hand-crank.
Gasoline was also becoming cheaper,and the refueling infrastructure
was growing thanks to political influenceand investments from oil companies.
(06:43):
By the 1920s, electric vehicleshad all but disappeared.
Ford cars, with their low pricetags, the expanding support
infrastructure, all of these thingscombined to make gas cars the default.
But the early struggles of the electricvehicle movement was really about timing.
In many ways,they were ahead of their time.
(07:05):
And now, over a century later,we're coming full circle.
The quiet, clean promise of electricityhas returned with better batteries,
smarter infrastructureand a global urgency to reduce emissions.
We like to think of electric cars as new,but they're not.
They're a revival of an idea bornin the beginning of the auto industry,
(07:27):
championed by visionarieswhose names we rarely remember.
So the next time
you pass an EV on the road,maybe you're even driving one.
Remember, it's not just about the future.
It's a return to one of our oldest dreams.
A personal vehicle that's clean, quiet
and easy to operate.
(07:48):
Thank you for joining us on fuelfor the future, presented
by State Farm Insuranceand driven by America's Automotive Trust.
Learn more at America's Automotive Trust.
Ford.
Before the Mustang Mach-E, Tesla hybrids
before most of the country had pavedroads.
There was debate about whichkind of engine would power motor vehicles.
What was the most efficientand affordable?
What is likely surprisingto many listeners is that in the 1890s,
(00:24):
the electric car had a chanceto take over the industry.
And todaywe're going back to the 19th century
to look at the first electric vehicle.
This is fuel for the future,presented by State Farm
Insurance and driven by America'sautomotive Trust.
I'm Michael Hay.
(00:45):
Let's take a moment to try to understand
what the world looked like in the late19th century.
Imagined cities crowded with horses,literally.
New York City in the 1890swas home to over 100,000 horses.
And the noise?
The newer the disease.
This was a public health issueas cities became more and more populated.
(01:08):
And during this time there was an eagersearch for a cleaner, more efficient form
of urban transport in a lot of the majorcities across the world.
And a lot of themwere looking at electricity for help.
By the
1860s, cities were alreadytrying modes of transportation
that didn't utilize animals like steamtrolleys, tram engines, and cable cars.
(01:31):
Then electricity started to transformcities.
By the 1880s, electric trolleysand streetcars were replacing
horse drawn carriages in citieslike Richmond, Omaha, New Orleans,
and then soon in Los Angeles,followed by most major cities.
And with the success of electric publictransport, a new question emerged.
(01:52):
Could electricity power something smaller,something more personal?
Now, I think it's interesting to knowthat electric motors actually
had been developed earlierin the 19th century.
They had powered small models,even trains.
The first knownelectric locomotive was built in 1837,
in Scotland, by chemistRobert Davidson of Aberdeen.
(02:15):
But to make a battery powered car work,
there's the issue of rechargingthat battery.
And luckily, rechargeable batteriesthat could fit into something like a car
came about with the inventionof the lead acid battery in 1859.
All of this is to say
it's not surprising that electric carswere developed soon after.
(02:38):
Now, the
first electric car is actually debatable.
And that's becausea number of inventors around the world
were coming up with working vehiclesall around the same time.
As an example,there was a small electric tricycle
made in Paris in 1881,but that never had its own patent.
(02:59):
In 1884, Thomas Parker in Englandbuilt a car, but formal
documentation doesn't existabout that until about ten years later.
What we can say pretty certainly,is that the first electric vehicle
in North America came about in 1889, 1890,
when a chemist and inventornamed William Morrison,
(03:23):
an immigrant from Scotland living in DesMoines, Iowa, introduced what many
historians consider the first successfulAmerican electric vehicle.
It looked more like an electrified
horse carriage than a carby today's standards,
but it could carry up to 12 passengersand reach speeds of 14mph.
It was quiet, clean and requiredno gear shifting.
(03:48):
Morrison'selectric carriage debuted at the 1893
Chicago World's Fair, officiallythe World's Columbian Exposition.
It amazed crowds,and it sparked a new wave of interest
in electric vehicle experimentation.
That same year,the American Battery Company,
who had partnered with Morrison, beganmarketing this car as the Electro Beat.
(04:10):
In 1894, two inventors from Philadelphia,Petro Salam and Henry G.
Morris developed a series of electric carsunder the name Electro Bat as well.
These electro bats were bulkyand weighed around 4,400 pounds
due to the weight of the leadacid batteries, but they weren't.
And then they developed a second version,which was lighter,
(04:32):
more agile and commercially viable.
In fact,the electro band was used as a prototype
for some of the first electric taxisin New York City in the mid 1890s.
The Morris and SalaamElectric Carriage and Wagon Company
went on to builda small fleet of electric cabs.
These vehicles,unlike gasoline counterparts,
(04:53):
didn't need manual cranking to start.
They didn't admit noxious fumes, andthey didn't annoy passengers with noise.
By 1897, the London based
electric carriage Companylaunched a similar electric taxi service.
So you can see here.
As the 20th century was starting,electric vehicles were considered
(05:14):
a major part of the car industryand the future,
especially in cities.
And here's something elsesurprising in 1900.
38% of American automobileswere powered by electricity.
Comparethat to just 22% powered by gasoline.
The rest steam.
(05:36):
That's right.
Steam carswere also a real contender at the time,
but electric vehicleshad major advantages.
They were easy to operate.
Didn't require gear changes.
They were cleaner.
And they appealed, especially to urbanitesand women who didn't want to deal
with the mess or bustleof early internal combustion engines
(05:57):
and the land speed recordwas held by an electric vehicle
in the early 20th century.
Not to mention that the first police carwas an electric car in Ohio.
Even Thomas Edison weighed in, developingimproved battery
design specifically for electric cars.
He partnered with Henry Ford in the 19
tens in a failed attempt to mass producean affordable electric vehicle.
(06:21):
But gasoline vehicles were improving fast.
The invention of the electric starterby Charles Kettering in 1912
eliminated one of the main struggles
with gas engines,and that's the hand-crank.
Gasoline was also becoming cheaper,and the refueling infrastructure
was growing thanks to political influenceand investments from oil companies.
(06:43):
By the 1920s, electric vehicleshad all but disappeared.
Ford cars, with their low pricetags, the expanding support
infrastructure, all of these thingscombined to make gas cars the default.
But the early struggles of the electricvehicle movement was really about timing.
In many ways,they were ahead of their time.
(07:05):
And now, over a century later,we're coming full circle.
The quiet, clean promise of electricityhas returned with better batteries,
smarter infrastructureand a global urgency to reduce emissions.
We like to think of electric cars as new,but they're not.
They're a revival of an idea bornin the beginning of the auto industry,
(07:27):
championed by visionarieswhose names we rarely remember.
So the next time
you pass an EV on the road,maybe you're even driving one.
Remember, it's not just about the future.
It's a return to one of our oldest dreams.
A personal vehicle that's clean, quiet
and easy to operate.
(07:48):
Thank you for joining us on fuelfor the future, presented
by State Farm Insuranceand driven by America's Automotive Trust.
Learn more at America's Automotive Trust.
Ford.
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