ELECTRIC CARS

It is known that the birth of electric cars took place in mid 1830’s.It took hundreds of years for its development and the process of development is still in progress.

France and England were the first nations to develop the electric

vehicle in the late 1800s. It was not until 1895 that Americans

began to devote attention to electric vehicles. Many innovations

followed and interest in motor vehicles increased greatly in the late

1890s and early 1900s. In 1897 the first commercial application

was established as a fleet of New York City taxis.

It was Robert Anderson of Scotland who was the first to invent crude  electric  carriage between year 1832 and 1839. Professor Stratingh of Groningen, Holland, designed a small scale electric car  which was built by his assistant Christopher Becker in 1835. In the year 1842 American Thomas Davenport and Scotsmen Robert invented the more practical and successful electrical road vehicle in which non rechargeable electric cells were used. Frenchmen Gaston Plante invented a better storage battery in 1865 and his fellow countrymen Camille Faure improved the storage battery in 1881.

Before the pre-eminence of internal combustion engines, electric automobiles held many speed and distance records. Among the most notable of these records was the breaking of the 100 km/h (62 mph) speed barrier, by Camille Jenatzy on April 29, 1899 in his 'rocket-shaped' vehicle Jamais Contente, which reached a top speed of 105.88 km/h (65.79 mph). Before the 1920s, electric automobiles were competing with petroleum-fueled cars for urban use of a quality service car.

Developmental works were carried out with full enthusiasm between 1890’ and 1900 , which resulted in the first commercial application established as a fleet of New York City taxis built by the Electric Carriage and Wagon Company of Philadelphia.

The early electric vehicles, such as the 1902 Wood's Phaeton, were little more than electrified horseless carriages and surreys. The Phaeton had a range of 18 miles, a top speed of 14 mph and cost $2,000. The initiation of mass production of internal combustion engine vehicles by Henry Ford made these vehicles widely available and affordable in the $500 to $1,000 price range. By contrast, the price of the less efficiently produced electric vehicles continued to rise. In 1912, an electric roadster sold for $1,750, while a gasoline car sold for $650.

The years 1899 and 1900 were the high

point of electric vehicles in America, as they outsold all other types of

cars.

 Despite their relatively slow speed, electric vehicles had a number of advantages over their early-1900s competitors.those were the cars which unlike gasoline cars did not make noise,they do not have vibrations while moving and they don’t even releases the smell of gasoline.The most difficult part of driving the gasoline cars was their requirement of gear shifting ,which was lacking in  electrical cars. While steam-powered cars also had no gear shifting, they suffered from long start-up times of up to 45 minutes on cold mornings. The steam cars had less range before needing water than an electric's range on a single charge. The cars were also preferred because they did not require a manual effort to start, as did gasoline cars which featured a hand crank to start the engine. Electric cars were often marketed as suitable vehicles for women drivers due to this ease of operation.

In 1911, the New York Times stated that the electric car has long been recognized as "ideal" because it was cleaner, quieter and much more economical than gasoline-powered cars.

Electric cars are generally more expensive than gasoline cars. The primary reason is the high cost of car batteries. US and British car buyers seem to be unwilling to pay more for an electric car.This prohibits the mass transition from gasoline cars to electric cars. While basic electric cars cost under $1,000, most early electric vehicles were ornate, massive carriages

designed for the upper class. They had fancy interiors, with expensive materials, and averaged $3,000

by 1910. Electric vehicles enjoyed success into the 1920s with production peaking in 1912.

Electric vehicles had all but disappeared by 1935. The years

following until the 1960s were dead years for electric vehicle

development and for use as personal transportation.

The energy crises of the 1970s and 80s brought about renewed interest in the perceived independence electric cars had from the fluctuations of the hydrocarbon energy market. In the early 1990s, the California Air Resources Board (CARB), the government of California's began a push for more fuel-efficient, lower-emissions vehicles, with the ultimate goal being a move to zero-emissions vehicles such as electric vehicles. In response, automakers developed electric models, including the Chrysler TEVan, Ford Ranger EV pickup truck, GM EV1 and S10 EV pickup, Honda EV Plushatchback, Nissan lithium-battery Altra EV miniwagon and Toyota RAV4 EV.

The global economic recession in the late 2000s led to increased calls for automakers to abandon fuel-inefficient SUVs, which were seen as a symbol of the excess that caused the recession, in favor of small cars, hybrid cars, and electric cars. California electric car maker Tesla Motors began development in 2004 on the Tesla Roadster, which was first delivered to customers in 2008. As of January 2011 Tesla had produced more than 1,500 Roadsters sold in at least 31 countries. The Mitsubishi i MiEV was launched for fleet customers in Japan in July 2009, and for individual customers in April 2010, followed by sales to the public in Hong Kong in May 2010,and Australia in July 2010 via leasing. As of November 2010 Mitsubishi reported 5,000 units produced.