Electric Cars: What you never knew.

[Gregory Matthews]

Contrary to what you may think, the Nissan Leaf and the Chevy Volt are simply part of a long history of electric cars/vehicles.

Electric vehicles/cars came into production in the U.S. in the 1880's when gasoline was not sold on every street corner.

A modern production of one could be considered to be the 1961 Henny Kilowatt which was based upon the Renault Dauphine.

In 1908, Oliver Parks Fritchle drove a Victoria Phaeton electric car 1,800 miles between Lincoln, Nebraska and New York City, in a contest which he organized with other vehicles participating. That journey included uncertain maps, unpaved roads, getting lost and much more. It took Oliver 29 days to complete the trip. During the trip, he had one flat tire and had to change his camel hair brake linings once.

Fritchle was an engineer who developed what became the modern battery used in automobiles today.

He established his own car company, located in Denver, Colorado, at East Colfax and Clarkson St. His cars, sold for from $1,500 to $4,000 in the early 1900's.

The Colorado History Museum, presently has a Fritchle Electric car. It was car # 283 out of about 500 that were sold. When it was given to the museum, in the late 1980's, it drove to the museum under its own power in a snowstorm.

The Fritchle Electric car had a range of about 100 miles, before requiring a battery charge and is could reach a speed of 25 mph. It was weather proof and large enough for a woman to sit upright while wearing a large hat.

My information for the above has come from: a) A DENVER POST article of August 13, 2014, written by Corrie Sahling. b)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Parker_Fritchle and c) Other sources.

NOTE: I guess that electric vehicles may not be a modern as we might think.