Electric Propulsion [History]

In the beginning of the 20th century, there were three candidate propulsion systems to replace the horse and buggy for personal transportation: steam, electric, and internal combustion engines. There were several reasons why the internal combustion engine won out. One was the invention of the electric starter first put in production in 1912. The driver no longer needed strength to crank the engine. Together with the Bosch ignition, major contributions made to the car business by the electrical engineers were combustion engine and electrical starters. Electric lights followed and then the radio in the 1930-the Motorola. But what really spelled the death of the electric car was the discovery of low-cost petroleum, the ability of oil refiners to crack heavy crude into gasoline, and the development of powerful, efficient engines using custom-made fuels in the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s. Greatly contributing, of course, was the genius of manufacturers such as Henry Ford, which reduced the cost of making mass-produced automobiles so that many could afford them. The next set of vehicles was a trio of electric, hybrid, and conventional vehicles designed and built to meet the needs of urban commuters. These vehicles also demonstrated that the conventional vehicle had the lowest cost and highest performance and could meet emissions requirements, which in the 1970s was the primary driver.