Click it and Unblock the Notifications
A Small Glimpse At The History Of Electric Cars
The first electric car was invented way back in 1828 by a Hungarian named Anyos Jedlik. It was a small-scale model that could not actually carry people. But it definitely proved the possibility of an electric vehicle. His invention was followed by improvements and increments in size in the following years.
The invention of the DC battery lead to the development of more electric cars. The DC battery was followed by the non-rechargeable battery that provided more flexibility. Further improvements in battery technologies to a wider use of electric cars in the late 19th century. However with the lack of proper storage facilities for batteries, the electric vehicles were not as practical as necessary.
Electric cars remained popular until the arrival of petrol powered cars. In fact electric cars out sold petrol cars in 1900 in the United states of America. People liked them as they were easier to start when compared to petrol and steam powered cars. Further they did not have the foul smell and smoke making them a much easier car to maintain.
The electric car was all but exterminated with the arrival of the petrol engine. But the real blow to electric cars in America came when crude oil was discovered in Texas. With petrol being available at a lesser and price and petrol cars having greater range the electric vehicle ceased to be the preferred mode of transport.
There were several attempts to build a more practical electric car over the years but none of them could make an impression until the end of the 20th century. All electric cars posed two basic problems - price and range. Electric cars became more expensive to build because of the expensive batteries. Further the same batteries did not offer the necessary range to make the car a more practical option against petrol cars.
The heightened environmental concerns in people and the fear of crude oil wells drying up provided a much needed boost to the electric car. Mainstream carmakers, who were only scoffing at electric cars as impractical and expensive, started developing battery powered cars.
While electric cars remained away from full scale production, their battery technology was used to develop hybrid cars. Cars such as the Toyota Prius have become so popular that the Japanese carmaker has sold more than a million cars globally. Fully electric cars are yet to provide the range and practicality that petrol cars offer. However new cars such as the Nissan Leaf have provided a glimpse of how electric cars can be used as conventional cars.
The electric car concept was introduced in India through the Reva i. The Reva i is a small two seater with a range of 60 kilometres. The company, now under the ownership of Mahindra has developed a new electric car that is expected to be launched in early 2013. The new car will have a range closer to 100 kilometres, will have four adult seats and more space.
Continue with Google