Build Your Own Electric Vehicle, Third Edition, 3rd Edition

CHAPTER 3Electric Vehicle History

Precedent said, it cannot be done. Experience said, it is done.—Darwin Gross, Universal Key

While modern technology has made electric vehicles (EVs) better, there is very little new in EV technology. Today’s EV components would be instantly recognizable in those that roamed our streets a century ago. As a potential EV builder, buyer, or converter, you should be happy to know that EVs have a long and distinguished heritage.

Let’s delve briefly into some basic historical facts about EVs:

• The electric motor came before the internal combustion engine.

• EVs have been around since the mid-1800s, were manufactured in volume in the late 1800s and early 1900s, and declined only with the emergence and ready availability ...