The History of the Electric Vehicle
The history of the electric vehicle began in the mid-19th century. An electrical automobile held the vehicle land speed record until 1900. The high cost and low top speed of electric vehicles compared to later internal combustion vehicles caused a worldwide decline in their use. Now at the beginning of the 21st century, interest in electric and other alternative fuel vehicles is increasing due to growing concern over the negative aspects of gasoline vehicles, including the damage to the environment caused by their emissions and the sustainability of the current hydrocarbon-based transportation infrastructure.
The invention of the electric vehicle is attributed to various people. In 1828, Anyos Jedlik a Hungarian who invented an early type of electric motor, created a tiny model car powered by his new motor.
Electric Vehicle model by Anyos Jedlik, the inventor of an early type of electric motor (1828, Hungary)
In 1834, Vermont blacksmith Thomas Davenport, the inventor of the first American DC electrical motor, installed his motor in a small model car, which he operated on a short circular electrified track. In 1835, Professor Sibrandus Stratingh of Groningen, the Netherlands and his assistant Christopher Becker created a small-scale electrical car, powered by non-rechargeable primary cells. In 1838, Scotsman Robert Davidson built an electric locomotive that attained a speed of 4 mph (6.4 km/h). Between 1832 and 1839, Robert Anderson of Scotland invented a crude electrical carriage. A patent for the use of rails as conductors of electric current was granted in England in 1840, and similar patents were issued to Lilley and Colten in the United States in 1847. Rechargeable batteries that provided a viable means for storing electricity on board a vehicle did not come into being until the 1840s.
The invention of improved battery technology, including efforts by Gaston Plante in France in 1865, as well as his fellow countryman Camille Faure in 1881, paved the way for electric cars to flourish in Europe. An electric-powered two-wheel cycle was put on display at the 1867 World Exposition in Paris by the Austrian inventor Franz Kravogl. France and Great Britain were the first nations to support the widespread development of electric vehicles. The lack of natural fossil resources in Switzerland resulted in the tiny European nation's rapid electrification of its railway network to reduce its dependence on foreign energy. In November 1881, French inventor Gustave Trouve demonstrated a working three-wheeled automobile at the International Exhibition of Electricity in Paris. English inventor Thomas Parker, who was responsible for innovations such as electrifying the London Underground, overhead tramways in Liverpool and Birmingham, and the smokeless fuel coalite, claimed to have perfected a working electric car as early as 1884.
Electric trains were also used to transport coal out of mines, as their motors did not use up precious oxygen. Before the pre-eminence of internal combustion engines, electric automobiles also held many speed and distance records. Among the most notable of these records was the breaking of the 100 km/h (62 mph) speed barrier, by Camille Jenatzy on April 29, 1899 in his 'rocket-shaped' vehicle Jamais Contente, which reached a top speed of 105.88 km/h (65.79 mph). Also notable was Ferdinand Porsche's design and construction of an all-wheel drive electric car, powered by a motor in each hub, which also set several records in the hands of its owner E.W. Hart.