Electric Cars Through The Years

T hroughout the course of history, the evolution of electric cars has embarked on a long and storied journey. In this article, we’ll take you on a tour, exploring the evolution of Electric cars.

Whilst Electric Cars have recently begun to gain popularity and challenge the conventional Internal Combustion Engine (ICE), in reality, Electric Cars, or EVs for short, have been in the industry for over a century! So here’s a look at electric cars through the years!

At the start of the 20th century, the ratio of Electric cars was greater than ICE vehicles. However, with the introduction of Ford’s moving assembly line that was built upon a transport system relying on gasoline, the rampant electric cars were challenged. It wasn't until the next century that EVs came back stronger than ever.

Short History Of Electric Cars

The history of EV’s can be disintegrated into 5 prominent stages; The origination of Electric Mobiles( 1830-1880), Shift to Automated Transport (1880- 1914), Rise of ICE (1914-1970), Rejuvenation of EV’s (1970-2003), The Electrification( 2003-2020), and finally, The milestone (2021 and onwards). 

The Origination of Electric Mobiles(1830-1880)

Throughout the 1800s, inventors all over the world were combining technologies in an effort to create a motorized vehicle powered by Electricity. British Inventor Robert Anderson is said to be the first person who displayed the first electric vehicle at an industry conference. Few other prototypes were developed following Anderson’s EV, especially a huge breakthrough made by Glaston Plante in the 1860s who made the first rechargeable lead-acid battery. 

In the late 1880s, William Morrison put together the previous prototypes and developed the first “practical” electric car. Morrison’s attempt at converting the conventional horse-drawn carriage into fitting a battery that could carry 12 people at the speed of 19 miles/h. This truly was a breakthrough for electric mobility. 

Shift to Automated Transport (1880- 1914)

With the advent of the increasing popularity of motorized transport, people shifted to using motorized transport instead of horses and carts. At that time, however, EV’s were not the only form of transport available, steam and gasoline-powered vehicles were still prevalent. 

However, steam vehicles needed to be filled with water constantly and required 45 minutes before startup, therefore was not practical in its use. On the other hand, Gasoline-powered vehicles were noisy, and the driver had to constantly change gears with a hefty hand lever. 

Therefore, EV’s proved to be a better option as they did not require such long startup times or have to constantly change gears. They were more environmentally friendly and practical in comparison with their counterparts. As a result, EVs became increasingly popular and relevant in urban areas where electricity was readily available. 

However, with the advent of Ford’s cost-saving moving assembly line, EV’s prevalence came to a halt.  

Rise of ICE (1914-1970)

EV’s entered a state of turmoil when the Internal Combustion Engine was introduced and later mass-produced. Gasoline-powered vehicles became cheap and increasingly available due to the discovery of gasoline in various parts of the world in comparison with electricity which was not as readily available as its counterpart. 

Over the next course of 30 years, there were mild developments in electric cars, and by 1930, they were almost completely off the market.

Rejuvenation of EV’s (1970-2003)

Perhaps the ’70s proved to be a knight in shining armor for EV’s. Due to the increasing use of gasoline and oil, these resources were incredibly exhausted, and hence, in 1973, an Arab Oil Embargo was imposed. 

Automakers started to look for alternative options for the previously fuel-powered vehicles. Various institutes put in a lot of effort to rejuvenate EV’s, a major example of this can be seen when General Motors created a prototype for an urban electric car. However, the public showed great disinterest as electric cars had a limited range and were far behind gasoline-powered cars.

In 1990, Toyota’s Prius officially became the world’s first and only mass-produced hybrid electric car. This was a turning point as it was a global success and was also hyped up by celebrities. 

The Electrification (Revolution) ( 2003-2020)

Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning saw an opportunity following the success of Toyota’s Prius and in 2003, formed Tesla motors. The success shared by Tesla motors has ignited automakers to speed up their work. Nissan LEAF in 2010 became the world’s top-selling EV which was completely electric! With these developments in the industry, there was an advent of new battery technologies in the market and the cost of EVs became affordable for consumers. 

The Milestone (2021 and Onwards)

Undoubtedly, there has been astounding growth in Electric Vehicles. Without question, it's obvious that the general public sees EV’s to play a crucial role in the future. All over the world, Electric vehicles have almost completely replaced ICE. Government, businesses, and the general public see EV’s as an integral part of their journey to a sustainable future.

Norway has completely been wiped off of sales of ICE cars. Europe recently took over China as being the global driver of EV’s in 2020. This growth won't be slowing down anytime soon.
That was all you needed to know about electric cars through the years!

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