Briefs · Emerging Technologies
When Electric Cars Were for Women
The first electric cars were not for tech bros. They were for women.
At the turn of the last century, electric cars vied with steam and petrol, and nobody knew which would win. Before the electric starter arrived in 1911, petrol engines had to be cranked by hand and were loud and foul-smelling; electrics started with a key and ran clean and quiet. Carmakers decided those virtues made EVs perfect for women — General Electric ran ads of stylishly dressed women plugging in their cars — and for doctors making night house calls.
Fannie Goodnow, an early adopter, drove a 1908 Bailey Victoria Phaeton (US $2,000, about $73,000 today) with a 64–80 km range, charging it with a mercury-arc rectifier that took 12 hours to fill a drained battery. Bailey sold its factory in 1915, having built 500–600 EVs.
Conclusion: the EV is not new. It is a comeback.
Read the original at IEEE Spectrum
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