• Home
• Blog
• A History of Electric Cars

Along with the rest of the world, the transport industry is facing calls to drastically decrease its carbon footprint. Electric vehicles powered by renewable energy are one of the ways that this can be achieved.

Electric vehicles have been around for a surprisingly long time. The first vehicle is thought to have been developed as long ago as 1832! At the beginning of the 20^th century, electric vehicles accounted for 1/3 of all the cars on the road. So what happened?

The release of the gas powered Model T by Ford made driving a car affordable and achievable and naturally consumers flocked to buy one. The discovery of cheap crude oil in Texas made driving even cheaper. By 1935, electric vehicles had all but vanished from the roads.

Rising oil prices and the space race in the 60s and 70s brought interest in electric vehicles back. The futuristic style of this era suited electric cars, but they were still seriously limited by battery capacity, making them unsuitable for many people.

In the 1990s, the introduction of Clean Air Acts in many countries renewed interest in electric vehicles, but the limitations of available technology and low gas prices meant that they weren’t attractive to many customers. GM developed the EV1 car, one of the first that was built to be electric rather than a modified gas car. Despite the enthusiastic cult following it gained, it was never commercially viable and was discontinued in 2001.

One of the most recognisable electric vehicles, the Toyota Prius, became the first mass produced hybrid vehicle in 2000. The popularity of this vehicle helped the spur on the resurgence of interest in electric vehicles in the 21^st century. Another huge boost came from the success of a Californian start up, and now a household name, Tesla Motors. Their success encouraged other manufacturers to see the appeal of electric cars, and as a result almost every major manufacturer now has an electric or hybrid model in their range.

It is thought that the upward trend will continue as battery technology improves and electric vehicles catch up to the performance of diesel and petrol powered cars. Investment in these technologies is driving down the price of electric power, while rising oil prices push up the cost of fossil fuel cars.

So is it time to embrace electric in the transport industry?