Why Was Electric Car Invented
Electric cars were invented to provide an alternative to vehicles powered by internal combustion engines, which are responsible for a large amount of pollution. Electric cars are much cleaner and more efficient than gas-powered cars, and they emit no pollutants.
During the 1830s and 1840s, Thomas Davenport built the first working electric motor and electric vehicle, a small locomotive. The car was designed in the 15th century by Leonardo da Vinci as a primitive prototype. In the late nineteenth century, the automobile became a viable form of transportation after years of experimentation. Electric vehicles were invented in 1884 by British inventor Thomas Parker. The material for Davenports electromagnetic design was prohibitively expensive at the time, and electric vehicles would not be available for several decades. Electric vehicles were more popular than gasoline-powered vehicles as the nineteenth century came to a close and the twentieth century began.
The First Ever Electric Car Was Invented In 1837
Robert Anderson, a Scottish inventor, invented the first ever electric car, which had the ability to run off a single charge.
Gatson Plante built on the concept 20 years later, producing the first vehicle to have a re-chargeable battery.
Three others who are also credited with building the first electric car, depending upon the source, include Professor Sibrandus Stratingh of Groningen, Holland, Christopher Becker, and Hungarian inventor Ányos Jedlik.
In 1842, both Thomas Davenport and Robert Anderson invented practical electric cars. Both inventors used electric batteries that were non-rechargeable. In 1865, Gaston Plante of France invented rechargeable lead-acid batteries that made electric cars more practical.
And in 1881, fellow Frenchman Camille Faure improved upon this rechargeable lead-acid battery design that would secure the electric vehicle as a means of locomotion throughout Europe. In 1884, British inventor Thomas Parker, claimed to have created an electric car.
In 1891, in Des Moines, IA, William Morrison built the first electric car with any success in the United States. In 1889, Thomas Edison built an electric vehicle using nickel-alkaline batteries.
In 1895, Americas first automobile race took place on Thanksgiving Day, sponsored by the Chicago Times-Herald. Six cars were entered in the race, four powered by gasoline and two by electricity. The electric cars were built by Morris and Salom of Philadelphia and Sturgis of Chicago.
The Future Of Electric Cars
Its hard to tell where the future will take electric vehicles, but its clear they hold a lot of potential for creating a more sustainable future. If we transitioned all the light-duty vehicles in the U.S. to hybrids or plug-in electric vehicles using our current technology mix, we could reduce our dependence on foreign oil by 30-60 percent, while lowering the carbon pollution from the transportation sector by as much as 20 percent.
To help reach these emissions savings, in 2012 President Obama launched the EV Everywhere Grand Challenge — an Energy Department initiative that brings together Americas best and brightest scientists, engineers and businesses to make plug-in electric vehicles more as affordable as todays gasoline-powered vehicles by 2022. On the battery front, the Departments Joint Center for Energy Storage Research at Argonne National Laboratory is working to overcome the biggest scientific and technical barriers that prevent large-scale improvements of batteries.
And the Departments Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy is advancing game-changing technologies that could alter how we think of electric vehicles. From investing in new types of batteries that could go further on a single charge to cost-effective alternatives to materials critical to electric motors, ARPA-Es projects could transform electric vehicles.
In the end, only time will tell what road electric vehicles will take in the future.
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Characteristic : Being Close To The Customers As Their Demands Change
The needs of customers do not always align with the plans of vertically integrated energy companies. The most obvious conflict is over incentives for energy efficiency, which causes customers to consume less energy and, hence, companies to produce and sell less of their basic product. This dilemma sheds light on how a truly customer-focused energy company might approach its customer offering.
Ultimately, most successful mass-market business models involve a combination of high volume and low margin sales accompanied by opportunistic niche sales with higher value. To be sustainable, the higher value sales need to be based on predicting and then meeting customer wishes. The bundling of services may be within the energy sector or extend beyond. For example, cars or appliances may come with an energy supply agreement.
Again, Tesla is an example here. Its branding is an essential part of its proposition and its customers feel that they are buying into the brand. Strong brands from the nontraditional, newer entrants into the energy sector may hasten the demise of traditional integrated energy companies, whose own brands have, in some cases, been tarnished by concerns regarding misselling to or profiteering at the expense of their customers. Trust in conventional utilities has been negatively affected, as a result.17
Thomas Norman CPP, PSP, CSC, in, 2014
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Solarcity And Tesla Energy
Musk provided the initial concept and financial capital for , which his cousins and Peter Rive co-founded in 2006. By 2013, SolarCity was the second largest provider of solar power systems in the United States. In 2014 Musk promoted the idea of SolarCity building an advanced production facility in , triple the size of the largest solar plant in the United States. Construction on the started in 2014 and was completed in 2017. It operated as a joint venture with until early 2020 when Panasonic departed.
Tesla acquired SolarCity for over $2 billion in 2016 and merged it with its battery unit to create . The announcement of the deal resulted in a more than 10% drop in Teslas stock price. At the time, SolarCity was facing liquidity issues. Multiple shareholder groups filed a lawsuit against Musk and Teslas directors, claiming that the purchase of SolarCity was done solely to benefit Musk and came at the expense of Tesla and its shareholders. Tesla directors settled the lawsuit in January 2020, leaving Musk the sole remaining defendant. Two years later, the court ruled in Musks favor.
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What Was The First Electric Car
As you can see, there were a lot of early prototypes and experiments in electric vehicles. But it was William Morrisons design that became widely known as the worlds first electric car, in the late 19th century.
Between 1888 and 1890, he perfected his design to include gears, steering, and other features. It became famous for being a horseless carriage, able to propel itself down the street without the need to be pulled by horses!
Tiny Startups Tiny Cars
The Sebring-Vanguard company of Sebring, Florida, introduces the CitiCar, which becomes one of the most popular electric cars in many years. More than 4,400 are ultimately sold. Top speed for the CitiCar is 38 miles an hour. For better or worse, cars like this will shape the publicâs image of electric cars as essentially road-going golf carts for a long time.
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Starting With The First Electric Car We Look Back At Where It All Began And How Ev Tech Has Developed
The development of all-new electric cars is firmly at the front and centre of nearly every major manufacturers future plans, with most makers teeing up electric product offensives in the next decade. Its firmly seen as the future, but the EV is hardly a new development. Electric cars have been quietly humming in the background for generations.
A quick glance at the history books reveals production electric cars have been around just as long as their internal combustion-engined counterparts, dating back to the late 19th century. This is no big surprise electricity has been seen as a conceivable means of propulsion since the cars inception, especially compared with alternatives at the time.
The abilities of early cars and the state of early roads meant journeys were typically short, and vehicles for the most part were confined to the boundaries of the city. Here lies an interesting parallel with contemporary electric cars for quick urban journeys they made just as much sense in the motor cars infancy as they do today.
Steam-powered vehicles of the time could take up to an hour to prepare and heat for a journey, while early combustion-engined cars were dirty, unreliable, and difficult to start and operate. By comparison, electric cars were seen as convenient, easy-to-use choices with no gears.
Electric Vehicle Interest Dies Off
As electric cars became more popular, the market demand for electric vehicles grew. However, in 1979 this growth would die off as electric car manufacturers could not keep up with the increasing demands of the consumers.
In addition, gasoline prices decreased, which made electric cars less affordable compared to gasoline-powered cars.
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When Was Electric Car Invented
Robert Anderson developed the first crude electric vehicle around 1832, but electric cars were not widely available until the 1870s or later. The photo depicts an electric vehicle designed by an English inventor in 1884.
Electric vehicles have grown in popularity due to a number of the same factors that made them so popular in the first place. William Morrison, who invented the electric car in the United States around 1890, was credited with coining the term. Electric vehicles accounted for a third of all vehicles on the road by 1900. At the turn of the twentieth century, the horse remained the most popular mode of transportation. When the United States was more prosperous, the newly invented motor vehicle was used. Electric cars were very popular among women, particularly in large urban areas. The Model T was a gasoline-powered car that was widely available and inexpensive when it was founded by Henry Ford.
Tesla Announces Production Of Luxury Electric Vehicle
In 2006 electric car manufacturer Tesla announced its plans to produce a luxury electric vehicle. This electric vehicle, the Tesla Roadster, would be the first electric sports car to travel up to 245 miles on a single charge.
The Tesla Roadster became popular with eco-conscious consumers who wanted a luxury electric vehicle that didnt sacrifice performance. This was a big shift in the image for the industry, which was previously seen as a vehicle for commuters and not recreational car enthusiasts.
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Electric Vehicles Hit Us Market
In 1889, electric vehicles were brought to the US market by William Morrison. Morrison first encountered electric cars in Europe and noticed their popularity, deciding to introduce the technology to US consumers. This was a defining moment in the electric vehicle boom that was to come in the early 1900s.
A Brief History Of The Electric Car
- A brief history of the electric car
Electric vehicles will have an important part to play in reducing emissions from transport and helping the UK reach its net zero targets.
With zero tailpipe emissions, electric vehicles have been growing in popularity in recent years and this is expected to continue, with a ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars coming into force in 2030.
While many consider electric cars to be a relatively new invention, the first vehicles were produced and used in the early 19th century. Here, we take a quick look at the history of the electric vehicle.
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The Transition To Motorized Transport
Around the turn of the 20th century, many people began swapping in their horses and carts for motorized vehicles. As a result, the automobile rapidly grew in popularity and the battle for the future of mobility commenced. The options? Steam, gasoline, or electric.
At that time, there was a fairly even split between the three on American roads: roughly 40 percent of vehicles were powered by steam, 38 percent were electric, and only 22 percent by gasoline.
Steam vehicles had been growing in popularity since the 1870s and held a slim majority over the US market at the turn of the century, yet they had major setbacks which ultimately led to their downfall. Steam vehicles required startup times up to 45 minutes and continuously needed to be refilled with water, limiting their range. In the end, while steam was reliable for powering factories and trains, it proved not to be very practical for personal vehicles.
Around the same time as William Morrison was working on his electric-powered carriage, Gottlieb Daimler and Carl Benz simultaneously developed the world’s first automobiles in 1886 in Germany. However, gasoline-powered cars required the driver to change gears and start the vehicle with a heavy hand crank. They were also far noisier than their steam or electric cousins and emitted pollutants from their exhausts.
However, this momentum would all come to a slow end, with the creation of Fords cost-efficient assembly line and the wider availability of gasoline.
Early Electric Cars Were An Ideal Alternative To Combustion And Steam Engines
Early electric cars found a lucrative market, particularly for use in driving around cities. Some of their main consumers included women who found they were perfect for shorts trips around the city.
One of the first practical electrical cars was created by British inventor Thomas Parker in around 1884. Another famous example of early electric cars was The Flocken Elektrowagen, which was produced in Germany in 1888.
Sadly poor roads outside of urban centers made it difficult for early electric cars to venture far beyond the city limits. As electrification rolled out in the 1910s, charging these early electric cars became considerably easier and greatly boosted their public appeal.
Car manufacturers at the time began to take notice and started experimenting with electrical and early hybrid cars. One notable example was Porsche’s founder, Ferdinand Porsche, who developed his famous P1 in 1898 .
Thomas Edison also threw his weight behind early electric cars, believing in their superiority over other alternatives, and he worked to develop better-performing batteries. Henry Ford partnered with him in around 1914 to explore options for low-cost electrical cars.
Ironically, or perhaps intentionally, Ford’s development of the Model T, specifically his mass production process, would sound the death knell for the early electric cars. A Model T in 1912 cost around $650 apiece – an electric alternative cost almost three times that, at around $1,750.
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How Do Electric Cars Work
Electric cars, or EVs for short, work through the use of an electric motor instead of an internal combustion engine, like gasoline-powered cars. In most cases, EVs make use of a large traction battery pack to power the motor. This battery pack is charged by being plugged into a specially designed charging station or outlet at the users’ home.
As EVs run on electricity, they have no exhaust and do not contain parts like the fuel pump, fuel line, carburetor, and fuel tank, which are needed in gasoline-powered cars.
In general, electric vehicles consist of a series of basic components. These include, but are not limited to, the following:
1. Battery : In most electric drive vehicles, the auxiliary battery provides electricity for start-up and to power vehicle accessories like the clock. This is not to be confused with the main traction battery pack.
2. Charge port: The stored energy in a battery cannot last forever and it needs to be recharged from time to time. This is where the charge port comes into play. It allows the EV to be connected to an external power supply.
3. DC/DC converter: Typically, the traction battery pack will have a higher voltage than many other components in the car. This device converts the higher-voltage DC into lower-voltage DC for safe use.
6. Power electronics controller: This device actively manages the flow of electrical energy delivered to the battery and controls the speed of the electric traction motor .
Why Was Tesla Created
Tesla, originally Tesla Motors, started out in 2003 when a group of engineers, who had a passion for electric cars, wanted to show people that they didnt need to compromise when considering buying one.
They strived to develop their own range of cars that could be, in the companys words, better, quicker and more fun to drive than gasoline cars.
One of the main motivations for starting Tesla was the recent retirement of the General Motors EV1 program. General Motors ran this program for only three years between 1996 and 1999 and produced a limited run of cars.
The vehicles were never released for public purchase, but were considered a great success from an engineering point of view.
Inspired by this, Tesla Motors founding engineers, Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning began the company in July of 2003. They became Teslas CEO and CFO respectively.
The pair funded the startup themselves until the company opened up for Series A funding from external investors.
Musk was already a successful entrepreneur at the time, and had made his fortune working for PayPal. He helped lead the Series A funding and invested millions of his own capital, becoming the companys chairman.
The following year, Lotus signed a contract with Tesla to help design the chassis and bodywork for Teslas first model, the Roadster.
Shortly after, Tesla published its secret plan for the company:
The company was well on its way to disrupting the automotive industry.
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Sales Are Just Beginning To Ramp Up
Global electric vehicle sales continue to increase rapidly. But all plug-in vehicles, including electric and plug-in hybrids, still only make up just over 2% of all passenger vehicle sales globally. More than half of all electric cars sold worldwide are in China, thanks to heavy government incentives.
