Ahead of Time: Tracing the History of Electric Vehicles

With vehicle electrification picking up pace, the winds of change are sweeping the automotive industry. Electric vehicles (EVs) have become the buzzword in the climate space today, playing an important role in emission reduction and in achieving net-zero targets worldwide. Although EVs may seem to be a new-age technology, they indeed have a long-standing history. Here, we take a closer look at the historical twists and turns that shaped the electric mobility sector.

The rise and fall (1920s–1960s)

EVs had an edge over fossil-fuel vehicles owing to a lack of vibrations, noise, or starting problems. With the nascent road network that existed back then, EVs were suitable to cover low travel distance and thus became popular, making up a third of all vehicles plying in the US by 1900. EV production peaked in 1912. However, its growth faced an unexpected setback in the 1920s, as the road network connecting cities in the US expanded and increased travel distances. Further along, internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles started gaining popularity with the discovery of crude oil in Texas and the electric starter and Henry Ford’s innovation in the mass industrial production of automobiles that made ICE vehicles cheaper than EVs. Eventually, EVs began to lose their appeal and gradually disappeared from the streets by 1935, with no production until the 1960s.

The greener era (1960s–2000s)

As the clouds of oil dependence and vehicular emissions loomed over most nations, alternate fuel vehicles gained renewed interest. Several segments in the automotive sector undertook initiatives to convert existing vehicles to electric and build new ones. Some prominent examples include Battronic Truck Corporation and Sebring Vanguard that produced commercial electric trucks, buses, and cars and US Electricar and Solectria Corporation that converted existing vehicles to electric ones.