The history of e-mobility

The electric car: It's been a road full of ups and downs

The year 1821 is considered the birth of electromobility. In that year, the English researcher Michael Faraday - who is also the creator of the eponymous Faraday cage - realized that electromagnetism can generate permanent rotation. He thus laid the foundations for electric driving. From the 1830s onwards, the first electric vehicles were already available, some of which were powered by batteries and others by electric motors. In 1832, for example, the Scotsman Robert Anderson made an electric cart, and in 1839 an electric vehicle was introduced. A few years and companions later, the U.S. government subsidized experiments by Charles Grafton Page, to whose idea the electric locomotive can be traced. In 1851, the first test run took place, temporarily reaching 31 km/h. This was followed by the important invention of rechargeable lead-acid batteries (1859) and various exhibitions, at which new inventions on the subject of electric mobility were constantly being presented.

In 1881, Frenchman Gustave Trouvé presented the "Trouvé Tricycle" at the International Electricity Exhibition in Paris. The bicycle with three wheels is considered the first historically recognized electric vehicle. It achieved a speed of twelve km/h and a range of between 14 and 26 kilometers. Just a few months later, the English research duo William Edward Ayrton and John Perry produced another electrically powered tricycle. The "Ayrton & Perry Electric Tricycle" already had a much higher performance: It reached half a horsepower and a range of 40 kilometers on one charge. Unlike Trouvé's model, there were no pedals, but a complete electric drive and lighting. Due to the lively enthusiasm, numerous innovations and vehicles followed, such as a carriage, which was the brainchild of German inventor Werner von Siemens. The so-called "Elektromote" is today considered the forerunner of trolleybuses.

The definition of a car is that it is a machine with at least four wheels that can transport people. For this reason, 1888 is considered the official launch year of electric cars. Because before that, they were mainly smaller transport aids that were not designed to carry people. Others had only three wheels. In that year (1888), the machine factory A. Flocken produced the first four-wheeled passenger car with electric drive, the so-called "Flocken Elektrowagen". Around the same time, a similar innovation was developed in Russia: engineers Pavel Nikolayevich Yablochkov and Ippolit Vladimirovich Romanov presented their electric passenger car.

The downturn of the e-car

From 1910 onward, the boom slowed down. On the one hand, gasoline engines with their starters were much easier to start; electric cars always required cranking. Range was also a problem for electrically powered vehicles. Cars with internal combustion engines managed significantly longer distances, whereas e-cars had to be charged more frequently. In addition, oil was particularly affordable at the time.

As a result, vehicles with internal combustion engines began to displace the once popular electric cars from the 1920s onward. Even Ford - the heavyweight of the industry - was now increasingly producing combustion engines, whereupon other manufacturers also increasingly turned away from electric cars. For the general public, electrically powered vehicles were henceforth a niche; especially in the USA, one could still encounter some - the so-called "milk floats", for example. These were electrically powered trucks used for the delivery of milk bottles.

Due to the unchanging routes, electrically powered vehicles remained relevant, especially in public transport. To bypass the sensitive and heavy accumulators in the vehicles, overhead lines were invented as energy sources. This is how streetcars, trolleybuses as well as electric locomotives still receive their energy today.

The comeback of e-mobility

Above all, the oil crisis that emerged in the 1990s as a result of the Gulf War provided a departure for new shores. People became increasingly concerned about the impact of their actions and developed a heightened environmental awareness, primarily due to growing air pollution and concerns about climate change. In addition, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) passed legislation with the intention of spurring innovation and increasing reliance on zero-emission vehicles. As a result, new models were produced in the early 1990s. However, after CARB's legislation was relaxed, many manufacturers' drive to innovate waned and the makes were taken off the market again.

Young start-ups - such as Smiles AG or Fine Mobile GmbH - and also some long-established manufacturers such as Toyota, Mercedes or General Motors from the mid-1990s onwards are responsible for a renewed flourishing of e-mobility.

The Tesla Roadster ushered in a new era in 2006, as it was the world's first mass-produced electric car with a range of around 350 kilometers, making it suitable for use on highways.

To mark the 125th anniversary of electromobility, a number of manufacturers launched important models in 2013. In the future, government regulations could ensure that the more environmentally friendly variants are given a new lease of life.

Since fall 2016, there has been a widespread expansion of fast-charging stations in Europe, which enable charging for a range of around 300 kilometers within a few minutes. In addition, there is a proposal in Germany to stop registering vehicles with internal combustion engines from 2030. In Norway, there have already been more new registrations of vehicles with electric motors since 2017, compared to those powered by oil-derived energy. Concrete plans for promoting e-mobility and phasing out vehicles with internal combustion engines currently exist in the Netherlands, France and the United Kingdom.

There are many reasons for switching to electrically powered vehicles. In addition to the environmental aspect, the fact that such cars require less maintenance also speaks in their favor. After all, they do not need oil, filters or spark plugs. In addition, electric cars are not a noise nuisance.