The vehicle hums quietly, the passer-by notices nothing. Robert anderson only one possibility remains: he steps hard on the wooden switch on the floor. The horn sounds. The pedestrian turns around in wonder and amazement. There goes a electronic tricycle by.
The history of the electric car starts with the british anderson: he builds his electrically powered vehicle between 1832 and 1839 in aberdeen, the port city in the northeast of scotland. As early as 1835, he presented it at an industrial exhibition. It manages a good 12 kilometers per hour. The steering is a little ponderous, but the drive is almost as quiet as in the new tesla. The car pioneer used a disposable battery. To generate electricity, he uses crude oil. That’s how anderson managed to make his e-car long before the famous three-wheeled, gasoline-powered benz motor car from 1886 onto the road. It’s proof that cars didn’t run on gasoline from the start.
With lead battery and 18 km/h
There is another forerunner: In 1881, the frenchman gustave trouve his "trouve tricycle" – three-wheeled and electric. Driven by two motors, it drives through paris and draws its energy from several lead accumulators. After all, it managed 18 kilometers per hour and had an range of 14 to 26 kilometers.
And which is the first german e-car? The flake electric car from 1888. The four-wheeled electric car manufactures the machine factory A. flakes in coburg.
By 1900, there are more e-cars than gasoline-powered cars
First came the electric car, then the gasoline-powered car – and long before that, the steam-powered car. The beginning is in 1769 nicholas cugnot with an artillery tractor. It uses wood, coal or coke as fuel. Around 1900, the situation looks like this: 40 percent of all cars are powered by steam, 38 percent by electricity and only 22 percent by gasoline. Around 1900, the USA
- 688 steam cars
- 575 electric vehicles
- 929 gasoline-powered vehicles
By about 1920, the electric car is a real competitor to the internal combustion engine. As early as 1898, the "la jamais contente" first electric car to exceed 100 kilometers per hour, holding the speed record for a short time. But what happened that the stromer could not prevail?
Illustration of "la jamais contente" with designer camille jenatzy. Photo: wikipedia
The hook on the electric cars of the 20th century. The first car of the twentieth century
The advantages of electricity versus steam and gasoline were the same then as now: easy to handle, pleasantly quiet and clean. Even the nowadays known fear of limited range is not the problem.
Something else is decisive in the race between e-cars and gasoline-powered cars: in 1911, the american engineer charles F. Kettering a starter motor with which internal combustion engines can be started without any problems – unlike e-cars. These have further disadvantages: they are not only more expensive, but also heavy than gasoline engines, which is due to batteries. One hurdle was also the complicated and lengthy recharging process, which required stationary generators. No comparison with today: modern charging solutions from providers such as vattenfall incharge guarantee a simple and fast charging process. Added to this is the steady expansion of the charging infrastructure.
In contrast to electricity, petroleum was inexpensive at the time, which caused gasoline filling stations to spring up all over the place. One factor that should not be underestimated, both then and now, is that the advertising. gasoline engines are marketed early on as a sign of speed and power. Today, they have lost much of their appeal – and the new e-cars are catching up.