D.E. Johnson - Author
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Books
    • The Detroit Electric Scheme >
      • To Buy The Detroit Electric Scheme
      • Literary Reviews
      • Goodreads Reviews
      • Chapter One
      • Characters
      • Detroit Electric
      • Scenes
    • Motor City Shakedown >
      • To Buy Motor City Shakedown
      • Literary Reviews
      • Goodreads Reviews
      • Chapter One
    • Detroit Breakdown >
      • To Buy Detroit Breakdown
      • Literary Reviews
      • Goodreads Reviews
      • Chapter One - Detroit Breakdown
      • Eloise Hospital
    • Detroit Shuffle >
      • To Buy Detroit Shuffle
      • Chapter One
      • Literary Reviews
  • Bio
  • Contact

Who killed the Electric Car? (Part 3)

2/21/2011

0 Comments

 
Batteries & Cost   

In 1911 you could order a Detroit Electric with Thomas Edison's new nickel-steel batteries. Edison had been promising his new batteries for a decade and unsuccessfully tried to manufacture them numerous times before, but by 1910 he finally had them ready to go. For electric car manufacturers, this was the moment they'd been waiting for. The average mileage on a charge would go from 50 to 100! With the roads being what they were at the time, 100 miles would take you just about anywhere you wanted to go.

In fact, Detroit Electric ran a mileage test in the fall of 1910 with Edison batteries and set a mileage record of 211.3 miles on a single charge. (Chronicled in The Detroit Electric Scheme.) And then Baker Electric one-upped them in December with over 243 miles!

A 1911 Detroit Electric cost between $2,000 and $3,500, depending on the model. The Edison battery added $600 to the cost. Ouch. As a contrast, a Model T roadster cost $600 for the whole car! Of course, it was nothing - at all - like a Detroit Electric. Still, the average cost of a new car in 1911 was $1,130.

Unfortunately, batteries, whether nickel-steel or lead-acid, didn't get significantly cheaper. Gasoline automobile prices kept diving, driven by intense competition and improvements in manufacturing efficiency. The electric car companies never gained that advantage, and their prices stayed very static.

The price gap kept growing, and the self-starter for the gas cars eliminated the greatest advantage the electrics held--easy starting. By the time "The Great War" began, electrics were on the ropes. By 1920 they were all but gone. (Although, believe it or not, Detroit Electric was in business into the 1940's!)
0 Comments

    Author

    D.E. Johnson:
    Author of the Will Anderson Detroit Historical Mystery Series

    Archives

    August 2016
    May 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    December 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    November 2013
    October 2013
    July 2013
    May 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    April 2012
    January 2012
    October 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010

    Categories

    All
    Awards
    Detroit
    Electric Cars
    Historical Facts
    Reviews
    The Writing Life

    RSS Feed

  • Home
  • Blog
  • Books
    • The Detroit Electric Scheme >
      • To Buy The Detroit Electric Scheme
      • Literary Reviews
      • Goodreads Reviews
      • Chapter One
      • Characters
      • Detroit Electric
      • Scenes
    • Motor City Shakedown >
      • To Buy Motor City Shakedown
      • Literary Reviews
      • Goodreads Reviews
      • Chapter One
    • Detroit Breakdown >
      • To Buy Detroit Breakdown
      • Literary Reviews
      • Goodreads Reviews
      • Chapter One - Detroit Breakdown
      • Eloise Hospital
    • Detroit Shuffle >
      • To Buy Detroit Shuffle
      • Chapter One
      • Literary Reviews
  • Bio
  • Contact