16 Chapter 2 Columbia Automobile Company, Anderson (which later became Detroit Electric), Edison, Studebaker Electric, Pope Manufacturing Company, and Riker Electric Vehicle Company (Kirsch, 2000; Schiffer, 1994), just to name a few. And the EV offered many benefits to the early consumer. Compared to the early ICEs, it was quiet, generated no harsh vibrations, and no smell. It also did not require the complex manual shifting that was necessary in the ICEs of the time as the EV used a single electric motor. The EV also did not require the manual starting of the ICE, which was a major advantage to female drivers.
By the early 1910s, most homes in large US cities were being wired for electricity. In the early cities of the 1800s and 1900s, the short driving range was also not a major challenge to gaining early market acceptance. All of these factors helped to push the electric vehicle to a high level of early market acceptance. However, there were also some major challenges with both the technology and infrastruc- ture of the time, largely due to technological limitations of the day. For instance, the early DC motors limited the speed of the vehicles to about 20 miles/h.
From an infrastructure standpoint, electricity was being installed in many private homes about this time but a vast majority of the areas were without either private or public power services. But even with the technologies of the day, many of the EVs were able to achieve electric drive ranges between 50 and 100 miles—not too much different than those of today. As the price of gasoline dropped and it became very widely available, range began to become an issue. Additionally, ICE automotive technology was improving at a rapid pace.
The introduction of Henry Ford’s low-priced Model T in 1908 and the introduction of the automatic starter by Charles Kettering in 1911 both had significant impacts on the electric vehicle. Finally, the last coffin nail of the EV was firmly pounded into place as the US highway system expansion began connecting American cities. These were several of the main factors that caused the electric vehicles to become obsolete very early in their life. While several models continued to be produced into the 1940s by the 1950s, there were no longer any electric vehicles in production in the United States.
Modern Vehicle Electrification As the oil embargo of the 1970s began to make companies again look for more fuel-efficient options, most of the major automakers began experimenting with various types of electrifica- tion, turbines, and a variety of different fuel types. During the 1980s, the major automakers continued doing research into vehicle electrification but no products made it to market during either of these periods. It was really not until we entered into the 1990s that the major automakers work on hybrid and electric vehicle solutions began to produce results.
In parallel with these advancements, the first commercial lithium-ion battery cells were introduced to the market in 1991 and were