A glimpse at the short-lived victory of EVs a century before debut of first Tesla sedan

EARLY ELECTRIC CARS: About a century before the debut of the all-electric Tesla Model S, the 1914 Detroit Electric Model 47, above, and the 1911 Detroit Electric Model L-1, below, were popular. They are on display at Glenmont, inventor Thomas A. Edison's West Orange estate. The Model 47 had a range of 80 miles between charges at the station visible behind the 4-passenger vehicle, which was driven by Edison's wife.

NO NEED TO CRANK START: Electric cars such as the 2-passenger 1911 Detroit Electric Model L-1, above, were popular with women and physicians, because they were easy to start: Just turn on the batteries. Until, the development of the electric starter, "early gasoline cars had to be started by cranking the engine with a handle in the front of the car," according to the National Park Service. "This took a certain amount of strength and could take some time."

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

WEST ORANGE, N.J. -- I got a good laugh when a park ranger opened the doors to the garage where inventor Thomas A. Edison kept his electric cars.

As the owner of a 2015 Tesla Model S, I have heard the company drum into the head of devotees to charge their EVs overnight in their garages just as they do their smartphones, so they'll reduce the chance of running out of range.

And now, inside the poured-concrete garage at Glenmont, the Edison estate, the park ranger pointed out the charging station the staff used to give Mrs. Edison's 1914 electric car its top range of 80 miles.

"During development testing, one vehicle ran 211 miles on a single charge," according to the National Park Service.

THE EDISONS AT GLENMONT: A 29-room red-brick-and-wood mansion known as Glenmont was the home of Thomas and Mina Edison until the inventor's death in 1931. She remarried and lived there until her death in 1947. Glenmont, part of the oldest gated community in the United States, now is a National Historic Site administered by the National Park Service.

TOGETHER AGAIN: Thomas and Mina Edison are buried side by side in a simple plot behind their home.

Rechargeable batteries

Edison, who personified the age of invention, experimented for 10 long years before he introduced the rechargeable nickel-iron-alkaline storage battery for electric automobiles in 1910.

But "with [the] demise of electric cars, the battery eventually [was] used in other industrial applications," according to the National Park Service.

The invention of an electric starter for gasoline cars likely was one factor in the death of electric vehicles or EVs. 

The first electric starter was installed in a Cadillac in 1912, ending the need to crank start the gas engine, and within 5 years nearly every gas car had such a starter.

Porsche EV in 1898

That's not a typo: 

Dr. Ferdinand Porsche, founder of the sports car company that carries his name, developed an electric car called the P1 in 1898.

Around the same time, he created the world's first gas-electric hybrid car, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. (Click on the link to "The History of the Electric Car" below.)

Now, Porsche (the car company) has taken the wraps off of the 2020 Taycan, its first all-electric car, and the sticker shock is reverberating around the world ($150,900 to $241,500).

Remember how many auto writers -- so poorly paid they accept bribes of free travel, lodging and fine dining to see new car models -- smeared the Tesla Model S as too "expensive"?

Rise and fall of EVs

"At the turn of the 20th century, the horse was still the primary mode of transportation," according to 'The History of the Electric Car.'"

"But as Americans became more prosperous, they turned to the newly invented motor vehicle -- available in steam, gasoline or electric versions -- to get around.

 "Electric cars didn't have any of the issues associated with steam or gasoline. They were quiet, easy to drive and didn't emit a smelly pollutant like the other cars of the time."

In what must have been a bitter pill to swallow for Edison and others who championed the electric car, it was Henry Ford -- one of Edison's friend -- whose "Model T made gasoline-powered cars widely available and affordable."

"By 1912, the gasoline car cost only $650, while the electric roadster sold for $1,750," and that same year, Charles Kettering "introduced the electric starter," eliminating the need for the hand crank and spurring gas-vehicle sales.

By the 1920s, better roads, cheaper gas, and more and more filling stations hurt electric car sales, and "electric vehicles all but disappeared by 1935,"

READ: The History of the Electric Car

1,093 PATENTS: Thomas Edison earned 1,093 U.S. patents in his lifetime, most for inventions that came from his industrial and research development laboratory in West Orange, above, preserved as Thomas Edison National Historic Park. A poured-concrete battery factory across a side street has been converted into luxury apartments called Edison Lofts.

EDISON'S OFFICE: The 3-story brick building held a research library, machine shops for building models, space for experiments, various research projects and Edison's office, according to the National Park Service.

CREATIVE CAT NAPS: Although Edison's palatial home was only a short distance from the complex, the inventor is said to have napped in his library, above.

RAISING THE HOOD: Edison showing the rechargeable batteries in an electric car. The photo is on the side of a National Park Service van.

CHARGING STATION: I plugged in my Tesla Model S for a few minutes at one of the National Historical Park's two charging stations. The chargers, paid for by BMW, add only 10 miles of range per hour, showing what other EV owners go through when they don't have Tesla's nationwide network of much faster Superchargers to rely on.

ON THE CLOCK: A Chevrolet Bolt EV also was plugged in nearby, possibly by a National Park Service employee.

INVENTOR OF THE LIGHT BULB: A statue of Edison shows him raising his best-known invention, the lightbulb, but he also perfected the phonograph, developed motion pictures, and invented a stock ticker and a telegraph device that sent 4 message at the same time, among many other inventions.