FROM WHEELS TO EVs…
How did vehicles pulled by horses evolve to vehicles running on electricity?
“Necessity used to be the mother of inventions and innovations. Now, inventions and innovations arise to solve the mess made by prior creations.” From wheels to electricity to semiconductors, let’s connect all the dots to understand the electric revolution and where we are leading!
As it is known that transportation has become a remarkably integral part of society and economy; it all started with the simple creation by the Mesopotamian civilization, wheels! Ancient Greeks developed the idea of carrying loads through wheels after almost 2000 years. Animals like horses were used to pull the carts made by wheels; society became dependent for thousands of years on horse-drawn vehicles. In the 1890s, the drawbacks of using horse-drawn vehicles were apparent like- the accumulation of horse manure on the streets, piles of horse manure built-up next to stables that attracted flies, horses’ bodies were left rotting on the streets for several days before being dismembered and removed.
In the 1830s, steam locomotion and railway links between cities were created. More transportation between cities required more transportation within the cities, which in turn increased the dependency on horse-drawn vehicles. All this led to experimenting with newer modes of transport. Steam technology was the most trusted by the people as it verified its worth by powering factories, mines, trains. Gasoline and electrical engines were also available simultaneously. Even so, Cugnot’s steam-powered Dampfwagen is widely accepted to be the world’s first automobile.
The steam engine has its drawbacks, such as long warmup time and constant need to be fed with water.
The era of ‘internal combustion engines.’
The first IC engine was created in 1860 and is still prevalent today! After the development of the four-stroke engine by Nicolaus Otto and the diesel engine by Rudolf Diesel, many cool models were in abundance in the market during the 1900s such as The Ford model T.
But again, this market flourishing creation has its drawbacks. In addition to the exhaust fumes and loud noises, these were difficult to drive.
The mess created by this creation has led to the idea of electric vehicles!!!
Electric Vehicles- Ideal replacement to combustion and steam engines?
The major cause of air pollution is the burning of fossil fuels, switching to electric cars would thus make a big dent in global emissions. It will also reduce noise and traffic congestion. The cost of the electricity required to charge an EV is around 40% less than the cost to use petrol for a similar-sized vehicle driving the same distance
History of EVs!
Besides Benjamin Franklin’s discovery of electricity, reliable rechargeable batteries are also required to develop electric cars!
Inventors like Anyos Jedlik and Thomas Davenport build early models of electric vehicles which lacked self-contained rechargeable power sources and, therefore, had limited utility as a mode of transport, even if scaled up.
These models were the proof that electricity can be used for transportation.
Gaston Plante developed a lead-acid battery in 1859 which was further improved by Camille Alphonse in 1881. This led to further innovation in electricity and locomotion!
The very first electrical ‘car’ in the world weighs no more than three kilograms. It can drive for twenty minutes when the battery is fully charged and carry 1.5 kilos. No small feat for a design from 1835 by professor of chemistry and technology Sibrandus Stratingh. Sadly, his development of the car came to a halt when he died unexpectedly in 1841. He was only 56 years old.
Johann Kravogl exhibited his electric motorcycle at the Paris World Fair of 1867, where it attracted a silver medal but no angel investors. This was an electrically-powered two-wheeled cycle that was not very reliable for driving on the street.
In 1880, Gustave Trouvé fitted a small electric motor and the recently-developed rechargeable battery to a tricycle, thus inventing the world’s first outboard engine. Fun Fact- There is an award instituted in the memory of Gustave Trouvé, Gussie’s electric boat award, it is the world’s only international award exclusively for electric boats.
The key invention on the road to a full e-car was done by that British Inventor, Thomas Parker. He worked on improvements on the lead-acid battery invented by Gaston Planté and built the first production electric car.
The first successful electric automobile, The Electrobat, was developed by mechanical engineer Henry G. Morris and chemist Pedro G. Salom in 1894 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1896, Morris and Salom founded the Morris & Salom Electric Carriage and Wagon Company, evidently the first electric car company in America. Also in the U.S., William Morrison of Des Moines, Iowa, developed a six-passenger electric car (wagon) that was capable of reaching 23 km/h.
The consumers began to draw their attention towards electric vehicles after A.L. Ryker introduced the first electric tricycles to the U.S. in 1895. He formed the Riker Electric Motor Company in 1888 to make electric motors, and a year later formed the Riker Motor Vehicle Company in Elizabeth, New Jersey. The company was absorbed by the Electric Vehicle Company in 1901.
Golden Age for EVs
Electric vehicles had several benefits over their early-1900s competitors. They did not have the vibration, smell, and noise associated with gasoline cars. They also did not require gear changes, they did not suffer from long start-up times of up to 45 minutes on cold mornings. 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. As a result, interest in electric cars was rising throughout the later 1890s and early 20th Century.
Electric battery-powered taxis started to become available around the time — notably Walter C. Bersey’s fleet of London cabs, which was introduced in 1897. The EV companies focused on women consumers as these cars were easy to drive, in the early 1900s, when electric vehicles were comfortably outselling gasoline cars, the idealized driver was female. In 1898, the first-ever speed record was set in an electric car!
Henry Ford confirmed rumors that he was developing a low-cost electric car in conjunction with his very fellow friend Thomas Edison. Their main motive was to build a lightweight storage battery that would operate for long distances without recharging. But the car was repeatedly delayed, as Edison tried and failed to develop an alternative to the heavy, bulky lead-acid batteries used to power electric cars. Eventually, the entire project was abandoned.
Dark ages!
Due to less electrical infrastructure, their mass production was not possible. After large deposits of petroleum were discovered, combustion engines spiked the market. Large reservoirs of petroleum and crude oil push electric vehicles to end the Golden Age. Many makers stop building EV’s. The technology prevailed for specific uses such as forklift trucks, milk floats in the UK, golf carts, and some niche vehicles, like the Henney Kilowatt.
Rebirth of EVs in the 20th century.
The General Motors EV1 was an electric car produced and leased by General Motors from 1996 to 1999. It was the first-ever mass-produced and purpose-designed electric vehicle of the modern era from a major automaker and the first GM car designed to be an electric vehicle from the outset.
The attempts to revive electric cars as commercial products failed until the emergence in the 90s of the rechargeable lithium-ion battery.
In 1997, Toyota introduced Toyota Prius, a car built by Toyota which has a hybrid drivetrain, combining an internal combustion engine with an electric motor.
By 2003, Alan Cocconi and Tom Gage, two electric-car enthusiasts, had built an electric roadster called the Tzero, powered by 6,800 camcorder batteries, capable of 0–60mph in less than four seconds and with a range of 250 miles. Tesla was founded to commercialize that technology.
It is the first production car to ever be launched into space.
Many governments around the world legislate to promote EVs and phase out combustion engines within the next few decades.
With better technology, government policies, charging equipment technologies, charging infrastructure, and good market strategies, we can achieve roads with less traffic, no engine noises, and most importantly less air pollution.
Sources-
A Brief History of Motion: From the wheel to the car to what comes next, book by Tom Standage
https:// interestingengineering.com
Written by: https://chinmaikhare011.medium.com/
