How Old is This Electric Car?

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(HBO6 @ Dec 29 2006, 10:38 AM) [snapback]368193[/snapback]</div>

Every year in early November there is a rally of old cars (pre-1918?) which runs between London and Brighton (about 60 miles). I watched it a few years ago and saw one of these 1896 cars. It passed within a few feet of me on Brighton front and I was astonished and impressed at how quiet it was. It was the only car in the Rally that I can now remember.

 

Electric cars were initally marketed to women for a few reasons.

--The electric starter motor had not been invented, and many people were hurt every day by a reluctant ICE backfiring and breaking the arm of the person trying to start the car (Kettering, the guy who is credited with inventing the electric remote starter motor, lost his wife when her arm was broken in such a manner and subsequently became gangreneous (sp?)).

--Most folks who drove gas cars at the time also brought with them mechanics; some thought that it might be improper to send a woman out, alone, with only a mechanic....and not her husband to serve as escort.

--All the other controls that were used to operate a gas powered car at the time tended to be mechanical (including the brakes, which, until the advent of hydraulics in the 1930s, were mechanical and operated on the rear wheels only) and consequently VERY heavy and unweildy to operate. Also, a significant amount of understanding (and willingness to understand) was required to successfully start and operate an ICE powered car (when to advance and retard the ignition timing, for example, in a Model T)...and this tended to better suit men than women.

The electric car circumvented all of these issues...and since ICE powered cars were in their infancy an facing teething problems all their own, the electric car, even with all of its limitations, was seen as a serious contender.

Also, if I could make one unsubstantiated observation: the road conditions at the time favored torque (rotational force at a low engine speed) over horsepower (power that comes as a function of RPM)...and electric cars offered TONS of torque.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(HBO6 @ Dec 29 2006, 01:58 PM) [snapback]368284[/snapback]</div>

It was. All cars were.

Back then, America was a class divided society, with a few at the top, lots at the bottom, and almost no one in the middle.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Pinto Girl @ Dec 29 2006, 02:25 PM) [snapback]368294[/snapback]</div>

Are these the "good old days" we're striving to bring back?

 

When the Peterson Automotive Museum had their "Beyond Petroleum" display there was a Gas/Electric hybrid from about 1917 or so. On the main floor was an electric from about that time. It was a 3-seater, with the third seat in the front passenger position, but facing backwards. The driver sat in the rear seat and used a tiller. Way cool.