Electric cars have always been around in one form or another, and when the auto industry was still in its infancy, electric vehicles were actually quite popular. To kick off a new series of articles looking at the green cars of yesteryear, we decided to go all the way back to the very beginning of the American car culture, when a little company called Detroit Electric was selling a 100% electric car with an advertised driving range of 80 miles.
That 80 mile range is about the same range that many more modern EVs have today, with their lithium-ion batteries. The Detroit Electric EV used a rechargeable lead-acid battery, though for $600 (about the cost of two Ford Model Ts) you could upgrade to an Edison battery that used nickel, lead, and sodium-hydroxide. Edison claimed these batteries had a shelf life of 100 years or more.
While the Detroit Electric had a top speed of just 25 mph (the Model T could go up to 45 mph), it is rumored that one particular Detroit Electric travelled more than 200 miles on a single charge. Impressive, no doubt, though the high cost ($2,650) meant that most people couldn’t afford to own an electric car. The most common customers were women and old folks, who had a hard time starting combustion engine-powered cars (this was before the advent of electric starters, mind you). Henry Ford even bought two Detroit Electrics for his wife, Clara.