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| Porsche P1, the first car designed by Ferdinand Porsche. |
Not all of us realized that the electric cars
were among the earliest cars invented before petrol cars became popular in the
early of 20th century. For various reasons the electric cars had
been abandoned (perhaps suppressed) to allow petrol engine cars to take over.
The electric cars were pricier, with lower
speed limits and shorter range, while petrol cars become more available to the public.
Perhaps its demand by the market that make electric cars became less popular in
the early 40’s until late 50’s. Still the production of electric cars only in
the small quantities – the must be many other factors that caused the
situation.
Anyway here we are just want to look at the earliest
electric cars produced back then for us to have better understanding why they
should become popular again. Some in the list here were the cars produced in
large quantities and many others produced in small numbers.
Baker Electric
Was the earliest electric cars produced in
large quantities. The first card was a two seater and sold to Thomas Edison as
his first car. The nickel-iron batteries used in this car also was invented by
Thomas Edison and some of them still can be use until today. By 1907, Baker had
seventeen models and the price was getting higher. Baker’s cars also became part
of the White House fleet of cars. Anyway by 1913 the company was overtaken in
sale by Detroit Electric and, in 1914, merged with fellow Cleveland automaker
Rauch and Lang to become Baker, Rauch & Lang.
Studebaker Electric
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| Studebaker Omnibus one of the electric vehicle produced by Studebaker Brothers. |
Studebaker Electric was produced by Studebaker
Brothers Manufacturing Company of South Bend, Indiana. This company produced
electric vehicles from 1902 to 1912. Studebaker Electrics was produced in wide
variety of body styles included the Stanhope, Victoria, and Surrey. A
four-passenger model was introduced in 1904. The production of Studebakers was
ended by 1912 as the demand on gasoline engines had increased.
Detroit Electric
An electric car produced by the Anderson
Electric Car Company in Detroit, Michigan. The cars were produced from 1907 –
1939 and revived in 2008 to produce modern electric cars by Detroit Electric
Holding Ltd. of the Netherlands. There were 13,000 electric cars were produced within
1907 – 1939 by the Anderson Electric Car Company. The sales were increased by increasing
price of gasoline during the World War 1. Detroit Electrics were owned by few
notable people included Thomas Edison, Lizzie Borden, Charles Proteus
Steinmetz, Mamie Eisenhower, and John D. Rockefeller, Jr., Henry Ford bought Model
C coupe for her wife Clara Ford.
Porsche P1
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| Porsche P1 on restoration after 112 years. |
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| The series of gears for Porsche P1. |
Porsche P1 was the first car designed by
Ferdinand Porsche before he and his son created the company, Porsche. The car was produced in 1898 and resembles a wooden crate or an old horse-drawn
carriage even though it is actually an electric powered vehicle. It was equipped
with 3 hp electric motors and 5 hp by overcharging it. The car could be driven
for three to five hours with the range up to approximately 49 miles. What make
Porsche P1 so different was the series of gears with 12-speed controller: six
for forward gears, two for reverse and four to brake the car. It was found
after 112 years in warehouse in Austria and now on display at the Porsche
Museum in Stuttgart, Germany.
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