The History of Electric and Hybrid Cars

Hybrid and all-electric cars are quickly becoming the most energy and wallet-efficient vehicles for consumers of all backgrounds. But are they really that new? Take a look into history and you’ll find electric motors popping up as early as the mid-1800s. As early as 1832, electric motors were being used in carriages and locomotives, and the first lead-acid batteries—later used to power automobiles—were in the works. But it wasn’t until the 1890s that the first successful electric cars were built in the United States and showcased to the public. William Morrison built the first electric car in the United States that was successfully tested and by 1893, nearly a half dozen makes and models of the electric car were on display in Chicago. Even taxi companies aren’t new to the electric taxi. The first electric taxis, made by the Pope manufacturing company were introduced to New York City in early 1897 and by 1899, even Thomas Edison was in on the action, although he would never fully develop his ideas. By 1900, more than 28% of all vehicles manufactured in the United States were electric and more than one-third of all drivers in Chicago, New York City and Boston were sitting behind the wheel of this improved status icon.

Eight years later, Henry Ford changed the course of automobile history with his fuel-powered Model T and by the 1920s, the electric car was out of the picture. It wasn’t until 1966, when the United States Congress issued its earliest bills concerning pollution and the need for consumer electric vehicles, gas prices started and environmental awareness swept the nation, that electric cars became popular again. In 1972, the first hybrid vehicle, made from a Buick Skylark by Victor Wouk was introduced in response to Federal Clean Car Incentive Program in 1970. Vanguard-Sebring made their own electric vehicle, the CitiCar in 1974 but the company and the Incentive Program both disappeared before 1980.

Although Congress passed the Electric and Hybrid Vehicle Research, Development and Demonstration Act in 1976, it wasn’t until 1988 that GM started research and development on the first consumer electric car, EV1. And California’s Zero Emission Vehicle Mandate of 1990 which demanded 2% of vehicles in the state to be ZEV by 1993 and 10% by 2003, remained unattained in both 1993 and 2003. The first commercially mass-produced hybrid car, the Toyota Prius, finally hit the market in 1997 and sold more than 18,000 in the first year alone. Between 1997 and 2000 Honda, GM, Ford, Nissan, Chevy and Toyota released all-electric vehicles for consumer lease but production was discontinued early on and most electric vehicles had been recycled by 2004.

By 2006, limited production of all-electric and plug-in hybrids was underway. And today, you can find a hybrid on nearly every car lot you go to, whether it be Ford, Kia, Honda, Toyota, Volkswagen, BMW, Chevy, Dodge, Jeep, Lincoln, Mercury—the list goes on. Although it hybrids and electric cars have been more than 150 years in the making, they are here to stay and have nothing but a bright future as oil prices grow and environmental awareness becomes key.