We may be on the verge of a widespread switch in the auto industry from gasoline-powered cars to electric ones.
While wondering if such a massive switch will occur, I began to look into what happened to the early electric vehicles. First developed in the 1880s, electric cars were popular for several decades. An electric car won a celebrated race in Chicago in 1895, [1] and in a 1904 brochure, 21 of the 88 automobile models listed were electric. [2]
The disappearance of the electric vehicle illustrates capitalism’s “creative destruction,” a term coined by economist Joseph Schumpeter to explain how new products and services sweep away the old. (We would use the term “disruptive technology” today. ) Overall, the advent of the “horseless carriage” caused creative destruction, as it demolished entire industries— horse breeding, horse feed, carriages, saddles and, of course, buggy whips.
But why was the electric car swept up in that destruction? The usual answer is that the technology was inferior. Batteries were too heavy, too weak, and had to be constantly recharged. True, but I don’t think technology was the main reason. Continue reading “What Happened to the Electric Vehicles of 1904?”