page_title: Electric car
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Electric car / History
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Le tricycle électrique de Gustave Trouvé, premier véhicule électrique de l'histoire qui fut exposé au public
context_page_description: An electric car is an automobile that is propelled by one or more electric motors, using energy stored in rechargeable batteries. The first practical electric cars were produced in the 1880s. Electric cars were popular in the late 19th century and early 20th century, until advances in internal combustion engines, electric starters in particular, and mass production of cheaper petrol and diesel vehicles led to a decline in the use of electric drive vehicles.
  From 2008, a renaissance in electric vehicle manufacturing occurred due to advances in batteries, and the desire to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve urban air quality. Charging an electric car can be done at a variety of charging stations, these charging stations can be installed in both houses and public areas.
  Several countries have established government incentives for plug-in electric vehicles, tax credits, subsidies, and other non-monetary incentives, and long term policies to promote the adoption of electric vehicles. Compared with internal combustion engine cars, electric cars are quieter, have no tailpipe emissions, and lower emissions in general.
context_section_description: The invention of the first model electric predecessor vehicle is attributed to various people. In 1828, the Hungarian Ányos Jedlik invented an early type of electric motor, and created a small model car powered by his new motor. Between 1832 and 1839, the Scot Robert Anderson built a crude electric-powered carriage, powered by non-rechargeable primary power cells. In 1834, Vermont blacksmith Thomas Davenport built a similar contraption which operated on a short, circular, electrified track. The following year, in 1835, Professor Sibrandus Stratingh of Groningen (The Netherlands) and his assistant Christopher Becker from Germany also created a small-scale electric car, powered by non-rechargeable primary cells.
  Other prototypes of electric cars were probably built before, but it was not until the batteries were improved by French inventors Gaston Planté (in 1865) and Camille Faure (in 1881) that electric cars really took off.
  In November 1881, Gustave Trouvé presented an electric car at the Exposition internationale d'Électricité de Paris.
  In 1884, over 20 years before the Ford Model T, Thomas Parker built a practical production electric car in Wolverhampton using his own specially designed high-capacity rechargeable batteries, although the only documentation is a photograph from 1895 (see below). The Flocken Elektrowagen of 1888 was designed by German inventor Andreas Flocken and is regarded as the first real electric car. Electric cars were among the preferred methods for automobile propulsion in the late 19th century and early 20th century, providing a level of comfort and ease of operation that could not be achieved by the gasoline cars of the time. The electric vehicle stock peaked at approximately 30,000 vehicles at the turn of the 20th century.
  In 1897, electric cars found their first commercial use as taxis in Britain and the US. In London, Walter Bersey's electric cabs were the first self-propelled vehicles for hire at a time when cabs were horse-drawn. In New York City, a fleet of twelve hansom cabs and one brougham, based on the design of the Electrobat II, were part of a project funded in part by the Electric Storage Battery Company of Philadelphia. During the 20th century, the main manufacturers of electric vehicles in the US were Anthony Electric, Baker, Columbia, Anderson, Edison, Riker, Milburn, Bailey Electric, Detroit Electric and others. Unlike gasoline-powered vehicles, the electric ones were less noisy, and did not require gear changes.
  Advances in internal combustion engines (ICE) in the first decade of the 20th century lessened the relative advantages of the electric car. Their much quicker refueling times, and cheaper production costs, made them more popular. However, a decisive moment was the introduction in 1912 of the electric starter motor that replaced other, often laborious, methods of starting the ICE, such as hand-cranking.
  Six electric cars held the land speed record. The last of them was the rocket-shaped La Jamais Contente, driven by Camille Jenatzy, which broke the 100 km/h (62 mph) speed barrier by reaching a top speed of 105.88 km/h (65.79 mph) on 29 April 1899.
caption: Gustave Trouvé's personal electric vehicle (1881), world's first full-scale electric car to be publicly presented
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