You may have noticed the growth in popularity of electric vehicles. Electric vehicles are quickly becoming more commonplace in our modern car market. Have you ever wondered where electric vehicles come from? We look at some of the industry’s historic cars and see where electric vehicles fit in.
We don’t know exactly when electric vehicles started
According to the US Department of Energy, it is difficult to pinpoint a moment in history when the electric car was invented. We can’t point to a specific inventor or place where it all started. Instead, it’s more of a series of advances that paved the way from the battery to the electric motor in the 1800s.
According to EVBox, British inventor Robert Anderson is believed to have demonstrated the first electric vehicle at an industry conference in 1835. Anderson’s crude vehicle used a disposable battery powered by crude oil.
While Anderson and other inventors were making progress in understanding electric vehicles, it wasn’t until the 1880s that the first practical electric car was invented. American chemist William Morrison took a traditional Surrey horse-drawn carriage and converted it for a battery. This carriage could hold up to 12 people and go at 20 mph.
The turn of the 20th century placed much more emphasis on the future of motorized vehicles and their growing popularity. Consumers could choose between steam, gasoline and electric engines. Steam and gasoline vehicles had their own problems, such as reliability and pollution. This made electric cars a competitive option, especially in urban areas.
This growth and innovation quickly came to a halt when Henry Ford developed his more cost-effective assembly line and gasoline became more widely available. This started the internal combustion engine boom that lasted from 1914 to 1970.
However, gasoline shortages and rising prices in the 1970s brought electric car innovation back to the fore. Although there wasn’t much public interest in electric vehicles initially, scientists worked tirelessly to find alternative transportation options. The launch of the Prius in 1997 marked a major turning point as the first mass-produced hybrid.
With the growth in lithium-ion battery capacity and reliability, we now almost see mass-market auto manufacturing jumping on the electric vehicle bandwagon. Some car manufacturers have even promised to stop making internal combustion engines altogether.
Anderson’s electric motor may not have been the first
It was in the 1830s that Scotland delivered what is believed to be the first electric motorized vehicle through its innovator, Anderson. Anderson built his motorized carriage sometime between 1832 and 1839, according to Car and Driver. The batteries, or galvanic cells, used in Anderson’s vehicle were not rechargeable. So it was more of a parlor trick than a true electric vehicle.
Another Scot named Robert Davidson is a big contender for the first motorized electric vehicle. He built a prototype electric locomotive in 1837. A newer version in 1841 could travel 1.5 miles at 4 mph while pulling 6 tons before needing new batteries. Davidson named his battery locomotive Galvani. However, alarmed railroad workers felt that the invention threatened their jobs by having steam engines and destroyed Galvani.
There is an impressive range of electric vehicles in 2023
As more consumers seek zero-emission vehicles, automakers are developing electric cars in different body styles and price points to meet the demand. The 2023 brings an impressive lineup, according to Car and Driver, to meet a wide variety of needs. Here are a few to consider, listed with their MPGe rating and base price.
- Chevrolet Bolt EUV (115 MPGe | $28,795)
- GMC Hummer EV (47 MPGe | $112,595)
- Ford F-150 Lightning (70 MPGe | $86,694)
- Rivian R1S (71 MPGe | $79,800)
- Audi e-tron Sportback (78 MPGe | $75,195)
- Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo (80 MPGe | $137,450)
- Jaguar I-Pace (85 MPGe | $72,575)
- Volvo C40 Supercharged (87 MPGe | $56,395)
- BMW i7M (89 MPGe | $120,295)
- Mazda MX-30 (92 MPGe | $34,695)
