Electrical Innovation

Electrical Innovation. Thomas Edison National Historical Park.

If buses are desirable for intercity traffic, the electric one is the only practicable one. It is noiseless, odorless, and can be stopped and started quicker than the gasoline vehicle, and is also more economic in operations. , -Thomas A Edison, 1913

, At the turn of the twentieth century, the question of whether automobiles would be powered by gasoline, electricity, or steam remained open. Nearly 30 percent of the automobiles produced in the United States in 1900 were electric, and although Thomas Edison had predicted that automobiles would replace horses in 1895, he doubted that vehicles would be powered by electricity., Four years later, he changed his mind and began experimenting on storage batteries in the summer of 1899. His goal was to create a lightweight and long lasting battery. He spent ten years and nearly $2.5 million developing a marketable nickel-iron storage battery for electric vehicles among other things., Edison was enthusiastic about automobiles, owning a variety of electric, gas and steam powered cars through the years including a modified electric Locomobile, a c.1911 Detroit Electric runabout, a c.1913 Detroit Electric Model 47 Brougham, and a 1922 Model T, which are now on display in the garage at Glenmont., Although the Edison battery found commercial success in other industrial applications, it never enjoyed the widespread adoption in the automotive industry Edison had intended. The relatively low cost, mass produced gasoline powered vehicles, especially the Ford Model T became the standard for the automobile industry and postponed the advent of the electric car for nearly a century.