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Electric Vehicles - Past, Present and Future.One of the first things I wanted to do when begining my search for the ideal electric vehicle for me and my family, was to go back into the past and see where they came from, what they looked like, and what really worked. So, in this section I intended to have a look at the Past, Present and Future of Electric Cars, Electric Scooters, Electric Bicycles and any other All-Electric Vehicles I come across - but I decided to keep to Electric Cars! Let's Start with the Past: One of the first amazing facts I found out is that Electric Vehicles actually go all the way back to the 1800's, which is not what I was expecting! The first electric vehicles were trains. Later on - after improvements to battery technology and because they were quieter and ran smoother than other cars - the use of electric cars started to grow hugely.  They were popular for a while back then but ended up too expensive and not fast enough to keep up with the fuel-burning car.
The biggest blow to them was probably the mass production of Henry Fords’ petrol powered cars which cost about half of what the electric cars did.  The electric car put up a good fight though because at one point they even outsold internal combustion engine (i.c.e.) cars and amazingly held the land speed record until 1899! Also if you think the Toyota Prius was the first hybrid car, think again as the first hybrid was made in 1916.  After that, however, it was all downhill for quite a while. The Electric Car really vanished on the roads from the 1930's until resurfacing again in the 1960/70's when the need to an alternative to petrol-powered cars started to become obvious again. But, come on - would you buy a car that looked like this???  Roll on to the 1990's and GM builds the first production EV from the ground up in quite some time - and kills it off again in 2003! (something to do with cheap, cheap petrol). It really wasn't until nowadays - the 2000's - that Electric Cars REALLY started to appear on the horizon again. Which brings us up to ...... The Present. Right - I've covered what I consider to be the current state of affairs as to Electric Cars available now at this link. So, why not have a gander over there - and come right back. Coz next up, let's have a look at ..... The Future. So, where next? What's happening over the next few years in the world of Electric Cars? The truth is - nobody seems to really know! A LOT OF PEOPLE want the Electric Car to succeed for all sorts of reasons - reduced carbon emissions, we are running out of oil etc. The problem is - battery technology and overall infrastructure seems to need to come a long way before the Electric Car is seen in any great numbers around the Cities and Country roads.  That much said, there are quite a few plans for All-Electric Vehicles, Plug-in Hybrids (unlike the Prius at the moment - which you cannot plug in - all from mainstream manufacturers.
So, here's a glimpse of what's around the corner (at least from where I'm standing!):  Firstly, 2010 seems to be the year that's all over the media. It seems that everybody (Daimler, GM, Nissan, Mitsubishi, Ford, Toyota to name a few) has an Electric Car ready for launch in 2010! In fact, it seems like a bit of a goldrush. You know - I really can't see into my crystal ball very clearly! We seem to be in a world of what my Dad calls "marketing hype" - stuff made up to sound good and get people all excited over stuff that's not there and may never be made.  So ... I don't know where the future of Electic Cars is going. They seem to have a future - except we won't really see how it pans out until 2010 has come and gone. My guess is that people who drive Toyota Prius's at the moment will switch to plug-in versions when they come out.
But, in the meantime I think that Electric Vans for city deliveries and Electric Bicycles will be the majority of what we see around.  UNTIL ... Oil starts to REALLY jump back up in price and people stop driving LONG distances. But still need some sort of city transport. Maybe then ... the time of the Electric Car will have really arrived! In the meantime - I'm really looking forward to coming back here in 2012 and writing a GREAT RECENT SUCCESSFUL HISTORY of the Electric Car! Back from History and Future of the Electric Car to All Electric Vehicles Homepage |
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