Electric Cars were presented over 100 years prior. Furthermore are seeing a rise in recognition today for a large number of similar reasons they were first well known for.
Electric cars first appeared in the mid-19th century. Electric vehicles (EV), those that use electric motors instead of gasoline motors, have become very popular. Those who strive to protect the environment and go green love electric vehicles.
People used to get 3 options while buying a car in 1899,
They could purchase steam-fueled vehicles, depending on gas – controlled boilers. Also, they could drive the extent that they needed. Given they likewise needed to haul around additional water to refuel and need to wait for 30 minutes for the motor to warm up.
Other than that, they could buy a car powered by gasoline which emitters loud noises and foul-smelling exhaust while driving. The internal combustion engines of these cars were hand-operated.
So their best bet was option number three :
An electric car powered by batteries. These cars were quick to start, clean for the environment, and very quiet to run as compared to gasoline cars and steam-powered cars. And if someone lived somewhere with access to electricity, it was easy to refuel overnight.
Nearly 40 % of Americans preferred electric cars by the end of the 19 century.
Electric cars came as reliable alternatives for the people living in cities with early electric systems.
There was a major problem with electric cars i.e. batteries. Earlier car batteries were highly expensive and were inefficient.
Inventors like Thomas Edison tried to build batteries capable of storing more electricity. And others built batteries exchange stations in urban areas to swap out dead batteries with charged ones.
The measures stated above weren’t enough to make long trips on electric vehicles and were over twice the price of a car that was powered by gasoline. So many people couldn’t afford these luxury items at that time.
At the same time, gasoline prices were lowered due to oil discoveries. And many new advances made into internal combustion engines made them more appealing to people
New electric starters removed the need for hand cranking. Engines became quieter with the help of mufflers and vibration was reduced by rubber engine mounts.
In 1908, Ford released the Model T a gas-powered car that was cheap and a high-quality vehicle that captured the public imagination.
By 1915, the percentage of electric cars on the road had decreased severely as compared to gas-powered vehicles.
Internal combustion engines ruled the roads for the next 55 years. Electric cars were nowhere to be found aside from some special purpose vehicles.
However, in the 1970s, the tide began to turn. U.S authorities were concerned about oil availability and renewed their interest in alternative energy sources.In the 1980s, studies related to car emissions, with smog in cities like Los Angeles encouraged the government and environmental organizations to reconsider electric cars. But at this point car companies had almost spent most of their fortunes on internal combustion engines without devoting any resources to solve the century-old battery problem.
On the other hand, other companies were developing increasingly efficient batteries to power a new wave of portable electronic devices. Energy-dense nickel-metal hydride batteries hit the market soon followed by lithium-ion batteries by the 1990s.
To reduce smog California authorities mandate regulations, these result in innovations and a small wave of new electric cars including hybrid cars were born. Whereas hybrid cars do not consider true electric cars, nickel-metal hydride batteries present in them are only used to optimize the efficiency of gas-burning engines.
Tesla motors in 2008, went and further grab the attention of the customers, automakers, and regulators with its lithium-ion powered Roadster.
Tesla Roadster was purely an electric car that could travel more than 320 kilometers on a single charge. Almost doubling the previous record. Since then, we have seen a vast improvement in cost, performance, efficiency, and availability of electric cars.
Acceleration is much faster in an electric car as compared to gas-powered cars. While some models still have a high upfront cost but their reliability saves their drivers money in the long run.
As governments around the globe focus on solving climate change, in a meantime, we will observe that electric cars will replace gas-powered cars very soon.
Around 75 % of car sales in 2020 were electric cars in Norway.
California’s Zero Emission Vehicle Mandate and Europe’s aggressive Co2 Emission standards have dramatically slowed new investments and innovations in gas-powered vehicles around the globe.
Conclusion
In couple of years, we will observe that electric cars will rule in the road putting gasoline in the rearview. As of now December 2021, Tesla is worth more than 1.029 trillion dollars and is the second-fastest company to hit the $ 1 trillion mark reaching just more than 11 years after its 2010 IPO after Facebook.
Tesla’s market value is more than the 11 largest global automakers combined. Tesla is 3 times more worthy as much as Toyota the second-most valuable automaker which has a market cap of about $ 280 billion. This shows the confidence of people around the world in electric cars. It also shows the potential of electric vehicles in coming years.
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