"News" from the electric car
04/09/2024
We recently came across an article on the subject of electric cars that surprised us. Here is an excerpt:
"The high price of gasoline is turning more and more people's attention to electric cars. When examining this problem, when weighing up the pros and cons, one must first and foremost bear in mind that the electric car has a limited radius of action. The sensational news that came out of America a few years ago about lightweight, cheap, high-capacity batteries has turned out to be a big, airy-fairy. It is still not possible to make long trips with electric vehicles.
It is therefore important to remember that this is a vehicle that can only be used for certain purposes. From this point of view, it is then necessary to examine whether the electric car offers advantages over the gasoline car. The problem of whether to use gasoline or electricity can therefore only be discussed in those areas where there is a real possibility of competition between the two modes of operation."
Now this text is not from modern times but from 1921, so it is 103 years old. The fact that some of what is said is still relevant today must come as something of a surprise.
The report from back then went on to say that there was not too much electricity, but rather too little. This is also still true today.
Back then, the typical range of an electric car was 50 km and then the battery was exhausted. With a spare battery (!), the range could be doubled. So 100 km was possible and feasible.
The advantages of the electric car were also correctly named at the time:
"The particular advantages of the electric car lie in its constant readiness to drive, its cheap operation and the speed with which the car can be manipulated. This is particularly important for customer service in cities. The tests carried out in England over a distance of 1600 m, with stops every 9 m, are interesting. The horse-drawn vehicle took 33 minutes and 31 seconds, the gasoline-powered vehicle 14 minutes and the electric vehicle 11 minutes and 10 seconds."
Today, nobody will compare a Tesla with a horse-drawn carriage, but they will of course compare it with the "ICE" vehicle (ICE = Internal Combustion Engine).
The hopeful closing words are also interesting:
"So it is not impossible that a lightweight yet powerful battery will be invented over time, especially for electric vehicles, where weight plays an important role."
Well, it took over 80 years, but today's lithium-ion batteries would certainly have impressed the developers of the time. However, even with them, not everything is rosy and full of hope, as one or two car manufacturers who have so far focused primarily on electric cars for the future are already considering backtracking. Or were all these announcements really just April 1st jokes?
