HISTORY OF ELECTRIC MOTOR VEHICLE || Knowledge Board

• The 1830s - 1890

The first cornerstone in the evolution of electric vehicles was set already at the very beginning of the entire car industry itself. Already in the 1830s, scientists and engineers came up with a series of different breakthroughs in the technology of electrically powered vehicles. In this time, there were several innovations from countries like the Netherlands, Hungary and the United States, who invented the first small-scale models of electric vehicles. The very first functioning electric vehicle was developed around 1832 by the British inventor Robert Anderson. However, this particular one still stood far behind the term of a practical vehicle.

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• 1890-1935

Compared with the gasoline engine, the next benefit was the nonpolluting run of the engine and it became perfect for short distance town traffic. The first mass-produced car possessing an internal combustion engine, the Ford Model T, came into the way of the electric car already in 1908. It represented a very affordable automobile suited for the wide mass, with a price tag of 650 USD, whereas the electric roadsters from that time had an almost triple price tag of 1750 USD. Moreover, in 1912 the electric starter was developed, which made the great disadvantage of the hand crank disappear and boosted the sales of gasoline-powered cars. Electricity, on the other hand, was still not accessible in most of the rural areas at that time and finally around 1935, the electric cars were ultimately beaten by the combustion-engine cars and disappeared for a long time from the market.

• 1935-1990

For the following 30 years, the domination of the combustion engines leads to not developing electric motor technology and overall, the focus was on the combustion one. The cheap prices of oil and continued focus on advancing combustion technology left the electric one in the dark. Later in the 1970s, the world prices started soaring and the oil resources were finally starting to be considered as limited. Hence the searches for alternative sources for propulsion were started.