Electric Cars Were More Popular than Gasoline Fueled Cars at First
Many people believe that, historically, gasoline has been at the forefront of automobile fuel. However, this isn’t exactly the truth. “TIL that by 1900, electric cars were so popular that New York City had a fleet of electric taxis, and electric cars accounted for a third of all vehicles on the road.” – Obscure Fact by RemoteStretch6.
So why are we relying so heavily on fossil fuels if electric cars aren’t a new invention? There are many controversial explanations, but let’s get into a brief history instead of opinion. Instead of pinpointing one inventor, historians agree that it was many different breakthroughs and inventions that contributed to the birth of the electric car.
In the early 1800s, innovators in Hungary, the Netherlands and the United States began toying with the concept of a battery-powered vehicle and created some of the first small-scale electric cars. Here in the U.S., the first successful electric car made its debut around 1890 thanks to William Morrison, a chemist who lived in Des Moines, Iowa. Of course, the top speed being only 14 miles per hour, it was little more than a glorified wagon. In addition to this, there were so many options between steam, gasoline, and other options, that it was hard for the electric car market to truly take off. While the electric car was preferred by many and it even beat the competition in many aspects, the Ford Model T dealt the final blow in 1908. The mass production, affordability, and availability of the new Ford automobile set the trajectory for transportation.
Also Read: Ford Halts Model T Production (1927)