The Electric Car Was Introduced in 1828. So Why Aren’t We All Driving Electric?
A 191-Year Challenge
by Anastasia Shubareva
Hearing the term “Electric Vehicle” (EV), we tend to think about groundbreaking 21st-Century technologies from global transportation leaders like Tesla or BMW. It’s less known, however, that EV technology actually dates back to the early 19th Century (the year 1828, to be exact), when the first small-scale electric car was introduced.
Several thought-provoking discoveries followed during this decade — from Robert Anderson’s first electric carriage in 1832, powered by non-rechargeable primary cells, to William Morrison’s first successful electric six-passenger vehicle, capable of going as fast as 14 miles per hour, compared to internal-combustion engine (ICE) vehicles’ maximum speed of 12 mph.
In the following years, several adjacent inventions rose to popularity, leading in 1899 to a period during which electric cars, briefly, actually outsold other types of cars in the U.S. In 1900, EVs accounted for one-third of all vehicles on the road; New York City even had its own fleet of more than 60 electric taxis. More astonishing is the fact that by the end of the 20th century, EVs were not only popular on the road, but also in space, due to NASA’s electric-powered Lunar rover used for its first Moon mission.
Reading about the forward-thinking inventions of the past, one might assume that in the 191 years that followed, electric vehicles would have dominated the automotive industry. The harsh reality today is that only 3 percent of new vehicles sold in the US are EVs, while fewer than 1% of all US households currently operate an electric vehicle. Even though progress in the EV industry is constantly part of public discussion, particularly due to Tesla’s innovations in the high-speed EV luxury category, societal fears and preconceptions are deep-rooted, hindering consumers’ ability to take the final step toward a more sustainable future.
So between the glorious days of the EV and today, what happened?
Let’s start with the most common purchase barrier for any good: price. In 1908, Ford’s mass-produced gasoline-powered Model T put an end to the lucky streak of the electric vehicle by introducing a more affordable transportation option running on what was then considered to be a limitless resource that, rather than having to create, could simply be pulled from the ground. In 1912 the price difference between gasoline cars and electric roadsters had reached over $1,100, bringing the EV’s popularity to a grinding halt.
In the 1920s, the discovery of Texas crude oil led to an uptick in the availability of cheap gasoline in rural areas, where electricity was exceedingly rare and made possible, at the time, only for urban environments; at this time, most American households were still running without electricity. Even today, battery technology is expensive to install, raising the prices of electric vehicles further.
But there’s a difference between the cost of purchasing a battery-powered vehicle and the cost of operating it. A recent 2018 study from the University of Michigan’s Transportation Institute showed that the operational costs of EVs are approximately half those of gas-powered cars, presenting an opportunity to change consumers’ mindsets by focusing on the benefit of cost savings in the long run.
There’s another problem, however, with changing public opinion. Even if opinions changed as quickly as one might like, the limited availability of EV charging stations remains a massive roadblock (no pun intended) to EV adoption. This problem, often referred to simply as “range anxiety,” is overwhelmingly the most difficult to overcome. After all, businesses don’t want to install EV chargers unless there are EV drivers around to use them. And prospective EV drivers, likewise, are wary of purchasing EVs with so few charging stations on the roadside.
Several governmental initiatives aim to improve this current state of EV infrastructure; the Energy Department’s Recovery Act, for instance, invested over $115 million to install over 18,000 residential, commercial, and public chargers across the country. Currently, over 21,000 charging stations are distributed across the US, making EV driving more accessible and convenient than it has ever been before.
Overcoming the challenges inherent in EV adoption will not be easy, but creative innovations throughout the EV industry have left room for optimism. In March, Norway celebrated a “historical high” of 58.4% battery-powered new cars sold. In addition, the growing product depth of leading manufacturers offers solutions to all consumer needs ranging from the compact two-passenger Smart EV to the luxury SUV BMW i3. The road ahead might remain long, but current trends and sales forecasts show that the EV revolution is finally here to stay, and will — within our lifetimes — be able to end the 191 year-long struggle of the electric vehicle.
This article is sponsored by Greenspot Smart Mobility, a leading EV charging station and shared EV platform. To learn more about current cost and environmental benefits of EV charging infrastructure and Shared Electric Vehicles, visit www.JoinGreenspot.com
