Electric cars were introduced more than a century ago, and now, electric vehicles are regaining appeal for many of the same reasons they gained favor in the first place. Whether hybrid, plug-in hybrid, or all-electric, demand for electric drive cars will continue to grow as prices continue to fall and people explore methods to save money at the pump. Currently accounting for more than 3% of new vehicle sales, electric vehicle sales might reach over 7% – or 6.6 million vehicles per year – globally by 2020, according to research by Navigant Research.
With the increased interest in electric cars, we are examining the history and future of this technology. Join us as we retrace the history of the electric automobile.
The electric vehicle's birth
It isn't easy to attribute the creation of the electric automobile to a single individual or nation. Instead, a succession of advances in 1800 resulted in the first electric car being driven on the road.
In the early twentieth century, inventors in Hungary, the Netherlands, and the United States – including a Vermont blacksmith – experimented with the notion of a battery-powered vehicle and built some of the earliest small-scale electric vehicles. And while British inventor Robert Anderson invented the first primitive electric carriage during this time, it was not until the second half of the nineteenth century that French and English innovators produced some of the first practical electric automobiles.
In the United States, the first practical electric automobile debuted about 1890, courtesy of William Morrison, a scientist from Des Moines, Iowa. His six-passenger vehicle, capable of reaching speeds of up to 14 miles per hour, was just an electrified wagon, but it sparked interest in electric cars.
Over the next several years, electric vehicles from various automakers began to appear around the United States. New York City even had an electric taxi fleet of more than 60 vehicles. By 1900, electric automobiles had reached their peak, accounting for around one-third of all cars on the road. Nevertheless, they maintained a high level of sales over the next decade.