SHOPSMART AUTOS – CUSTOMER INFORMATION – JUNE 15, 2021 (PT.2)
Gasoline vs Electric Cars: Not Much Has Changed in 100 Years
Why Did Electric Cars Lose Popularity in the Early 1900s?
The biggest barrier to electric cars was the lack of infrastructure. Sound familiar? At the turn of the century, most homes, even those of wealthy families, lacked electricity. In 1900, C.E. Woods, author of “The Electric Automobile: Its Construction, Care and Operation,” proposed a network of public pay-per-use chargers that would allow a person to drive from New York to San Francisco. His idea was that after four hours of driving, both battery and occupants would be exhausted, so why not plug in the car and go enjoy a meal? His charge-while-you-eat vision would finally be realized, in some part, by Tesla’s Supercharger network—but then as now his idea was hamstrung by the lack of standard EV plugs. Battery technology was also a limitation, and range and weight were not the only problems. Lead-acid batteries of the era were exceptionally maintenance-intensive. Even Salom and Morris, veterans of the trolley industry, thought battery maintenance would be beyond the scope of private owners. Maintenance required removing a 500- to 1,000-pound battery every few days to check the acid in each cell with a hydrometer, top off low cells, replace dead cells, remove the sludge from the bottom of the cell jars, and periodically clean or replace the positive plates. Charles Duryea, a dissatisfied EV owner who would develop America’s first gasoline-powered car in 1894, complained that “a set of batteries was worse to take care of than a hospital full of sick dogs.” Salom and Morris developed a fleet of cabs for New York City, but soon ran into trouble. The batteries were developed for stationary use in power stations; as it turned out, they weren’t up to the rough ride and deep-discharge cycles of cab service. Even with proper maintenance, they failed after a few months, and word of the failures quickly spread in the motoring press. A near-decade-long “dark age” set in during which interest in EVs waned—much like the decade between General Motors’ EV-1 and the first Tesla cars. Then as now, without a better battery, EVs were a non-starter.
When was America Electrified?
The timing was unfortunate, as urban electrification spread rapidly. By 1905, electricity was considered a must-have for retail shops and offered massive cost savings to industries. As supply surged and prices dropped, electric companies began loaning and even giving away appliances. They began to see electric vehicles as a potential profit center and load leveler. Demand for power was almost non-existent at night, a problem that overnight EV charging could solve. Though motoring was still expensive, automobile touring was becoming the nation’s new pastime. And since such touring required range, gasoline had the clear advantage over electricity. What the electric car needed was a hero, and Edison—arguably the Musk of his day—stepped into that role.
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