The earliest electric vehicles came before gasoline cars

The first electric car was built in the 1890s, not in recent decades. Thomas Davenport, a blacksmith in Vermont, created a battery-powered carriage around 1890 using non-rechargeable batteries. A few years later, in 1894, Charles Jeantaud in France built an electric vehicle that could travel farther and faster. By the early 1900s, electric cars outsold gasoline cars in the United States — they were quieter, easier to start, and did not require hand-cranking like early gas engines.

The shift away from electric vehicles happened gradually. As gasoline became cheaper and more plentiful, and as Henry Ford's assembly line made gas-powered cars far less expensive to manufacture, electric cars fell out of favor by the 1920s. The last major American electric car manufacturer stopped production in 1916. For nearly a century, electric vehicles remained a niche technology until battery improvements and environmental concerns revived interest in the 1990s and 2000s.

Key Takeaways

  • Thomas Davenport built the first electric carriage around 1890 in Vermont using non-rechargeable batteries.
  • Charles Jeantaud created an improved electric vehicle in France in 1894 that demonstrated longer range and better performance.
  • Electric cars were more popular than gasoline cars in the early 1900s because they were quieter and easier to operate.
  • Cheaper gasoline, mass production of gas engines, and the lack of a rechargeable battery technology made electric cars obsolete by the 1920s.

Thomas Davenport's battery-powered carriage

Thomas Davenport was a blacksmith in Springfield, Vermont, who experimented with electric motors and batteries in the 1880s. Around 1890, he built a small carriage powered by non-rechargeable batteries — the kind that could not be plugged in and restored to full charge. His vehicle worked, but the batteries died quickly and could not be replaced easily, making it impractical for regular use.

Davenport's work was important because it proved the concept was possible, but it did not lead to a working transportation system. The real barrier was battery technology. Without a way to recharge batteries at home or at a station, electric vehicles remained curiosities rather than practical transportation. Davenport's carriage is now recognized as a pioneering effort, but it did not spark a wave of electric car manufacturing at the time.

Charles Jeantaud and the first practical electric car

In 1894, Charles Jeantaud, a French inventor and carriage builder, created an electric vehicle that improved on Davenport's design. Jeantaud's car used better batteries and a more efficient electric motor, allowing it to travel farther on a single charge. His vehicle demonstrated that electric cars could be practical for short urban trips, and it attracted attention from manufacturers and investors across Europe and America.

Jeantaud's work sparked a wave of electric car development. Other inventors and companies began building their own models, and by the late 1890s, electric vehicles were being manufactured and sold in several countries. The technology was still expensive and limited in range, but it was no longer purely experimental. Jeantaud's contribution was showing that electric cars could work reliably enough to be worth manufacturing and selling to customers.

Why electric cars dominated the early 1900s

Between 1900 and 1915, electric cars outsold both gasoline and steam-powered vehicles in the United States. They were quieter than gas engines, did not produce the loud explosions and vibrations that made early gasoline cars unpleasant to drive, and they did not require the dangerous hand-cranking needed to start a gas engine. Women in particular were marketed electric cars because they were seen as safer and easier to operate than the temperamental gas-powered alternatives.

Electric cars were also more reliable for short trips around town. Most people did not drive long distances — they used cars for local errands and commuting. An electric car could handle a day's worth of driving in a city and be recharged overnight at home. Wealthy households and urban residents could afford them, and they became a status symbol in cities like New York and Boston.

How gasoline cars replaced electric vehicles

The decline of electric cars happened for three reasons: cheaper gasoline, the assembly line, and the electric starter motor. In the early 1910s, oil discoveries in Texas and Oklahoma made gasoline abundant and inexpensive. At the same time, Henry Ford's assembly line manufacturing process made gasoline cars dramatically cheaper to produce. A Ford Model T cost around $300 in 1908, while a comparable electric car cost $1,000 or more.

The electric starter motor, invented by Charles Kettering in 1912, removed the main advantage of electric cars — ease of starting. Gas engines could now be started with a button instead of a hand crank, making them as convenient as electric cars. Combined with lower prices and the ability to travel longer distances on a tank of gasoline, gas-powered cars became the obvious choice for most buyers. By 1920, electric cars had nearly disappeared from the market.

The gap between the 1920s and the 1990s

Electric vehicles remained almost completely absent from the market for seventy years. The technology existed but was not developed because gasoline was cheap, gas cars were reliable, and there was no reason for manufacturers to invest in electric alternatives. A few experimental electric cars were built in the 1960s and 1970s during oil crises, but they were slow, had short range, and were not produced in meaningful numbers.

The revival of electric cars began in the 1990s as battery technology improved and environmental concerns about air pollution and climate change grew. Modern lithium-ion batteries, which can be recharged hundreds of times and hold much more energy than older battery types, made electric cars practical again. Companies like Tesla, founded in 2003, proved that electric cars could be fast, desirable, and competitive with gasoline cars on range and performance.

Frequently Asked Questions

Did anyone build an electric car before Thomas Davenport?

Inventors experimented with electric motors and carriages in the 1880s, but Davenport is credited with building the first working electric carriage around 1890. Earlier experiments existed, but they were not fully functional vehicles. The line between "experiment" and "first car" depends on how you define a working vehicle.

Why did electric cars disappear for so long if they worked well?

Gasoline became cheap and plentiful, gas cars became much less expensive to manufacture, and the electric starter motor removed the main advantage of electric cars. There was no economic reason for companies to keep making electric vehicles when gas cars were faster, cheaper, and could travel farther. Battery technology also did not improve significantly for decades.

Are modern electric cars completely different from the ones made in the 1900s?

The basic principle is the same — a battery powers an electric motor that drives the wheels — but modern cars use lithium-ion batteries instead of lead-acid batteries, have computers to manage power delivery, and can travel hundreds of miles on a charge. Early electric cars could travel 40 to 100 miles before needing to recharge, which was fine for city driving but not for long trips.

Did any company keep making electric cars between 1920 and 1990?

No major manufacturer produced electric cars for consumer use during this period. Some industrial vehicles like forklifts and golf carts used electric motors, but passenger cars were almost entirely gasoline-powered. A few experimental prototypes were built during oil crises, but they were not sold to the public in any significant numbers.