1914 Detroit Electric Car
video Saturday, April 2nd, 2011Most people think that electric cars are a recent phenomenon. The truth is that in the early 1900’s the electric car was a common site on the American road.
In 1907 the Anderson Carriage company produced their first electric car. The Detroit Electric was rated at 80 miles per charge with the record of over 211 miles on one charge. 104 years latter we have electric cars that can go well over 100 miles on a charge. The early electric car had a top speed of 20 mph while today’s electric cars can do over 125 mph mph.
The Anderson Carriage Company started producing carriages in 1884. They changed their name to the Anderson Electric Car Company in 1911. In 1920 the name was changed again this time to The Detroit Electric Car Company. The company filed for bankruptcy after the stock market crash in 1929.
Notable people who owned Detroit Electrics cars included Thomas Edison, Charles Proteus Steinmetz, Mamie Eisenhower, and John D. Rockefeller, Jr. who had a pair of Model 46 roadsters. Clara Ford, the wife of Henry Ford, drove Detroit Electrics from 1908, when Henry bought her a Model C coupe with a special child seat, through the late teens. Her third car was a 1914 Model 47 brougham.
The price of a Detroit Electric in 1914 was about $2,650 and if you wanted to upgrade to the Edison Nickel Iron batteries that went up about $600. At the same time you could buy a new gasoline Ford Model T for that same $600.
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