The decline of electric vehicles in the XNUMX century

The XNUMXth century marked the beginning of the emergence of electric vehicles, with overwhelming success: these cars were in fact the majority in the automotive market and were more efficient than their thermal competitors.

Nevertheless, the twentieth century was characterized by the decline of electric vehicles, which followed failure after failure. 

A promising start

The end of the XNUMX century saw a strong enthusiasm for the electric car, which reached its heyday thanks to racing and breaking records.

Thus, electric vehicles are more efficient and valued more than their competitors: in 1900, almost a third of cars were powered by batteries.

In 1901, in France, lPoste even delivers mail by electric vehicle with Mildé, with a range of 50 km.

At the time, electric vehicles were popular for their advantages: instant start-up, quiet engine, no smoke or exhaust odor, and no gear shifting.

However, it wasn't enough to keep electric cars racing, and the auto industry quickly turned to gas-powered vehicles.

The rapid decline of electric vehicles

The success of the electric vehicle would be dramatically slowed down by the development of the internal combustion engine (or internal combustion engine) developed by Daimler and Benz, and the introduction of the Ford T in 1908, which marked the beginning of the democratization of personal use. heat engine.

This is the beginning of the modern automotive era: production on an assembly line reduces production costs, the invention electric starter Charles Kettering in 1912 improves the comfort of thermal cars, and these vehicles use cheap gasoline.

Thermal cars also benefit from continuous performance improvements in terms of Vitesseof autonomy, the weight vehicles as well comfort.

All of these developments mark the end of the electric movement. It took two decades for the gasoline engine to completely supplant electric cars.

In the 1920s, more than 3 million gasoline-powered vehicles were produced, compared to 400 electric vehicles.

Shrinking electric vehicles to a niche market

If electric vehicles could not compete with their thermal competitors, then this is, in part, because they limited themselves to a niche market: urban trucks, in particular, taxi companies, private cars, luxury or garbage containers, buses, factory carts. and delivery vehicles.

Conversely, the manufacturers of gasoline cars very quickly wanted to mass produce them in order to meet wider demand. 

In addition, technological advances in the field of batteries, begun in the nineteenth century, will quickly fade away in the early twentieth century, stopping the evolution of electric vehicles. Therefore, manufacturers of batteries for electric vehicles stopped improving them and turned to the production of batteries for ignition of gasoline engines.

Even pioneers in the field of electricity, such as Charles Jeanteau or Louis Krieger, will switch to heat engines.

Thus, electric vehicles are only a slightly improved version, so they do not get enough autonomy for new automotive applications. Other important factors remain in reserve, in particular reduced number of charging stations or still a heavy car, which does not allow electric vehicles to develop sufficiently. 

The electric car is an alternative that has never disappeared

Although electric vehicles were of limited use in the XNUMX century, they never completely left the automotive landscape.

During World War II, fuel shortages made it possible to timidly return the electric car. In 1941, Peugeot launched the VLV (Light City Car), an all-electric vehicle with a range of 80 km, but only slightly over 300 units were sold.

Worsening shortages (aluminum, lead, power outages, etc.) AND the ban on the production of electric vehicles, issued in 1942. by a German soldier in France made the electric car disappear again.

It wasn't until the late 1960s that interest in electric vehicles was revived thanks to advances in technology. environmental awareness accompanied by a desire to reduce air pollution. In 1966, the American Congress would indeed recommend greener vehicles, but without much immediate effect.

Fluctuations in oil prices following the 1973 oil shock will reinforce this environmental awareness and bring electric vehicles back to the forefront of the automotive scene.

Many prototypes of electric vehicles appear around the world, such as the 1974 CityCar in the United States with a range of 64 km. This is also accompanied by political action, in particular the adoption in 1976.Electric and Hybrid Vehicle Research, Development and Demonstration Act The US Congress, which aims to promote the research and development of electric vehicles and batteries.

The end of the century is marked by constant setbacks

In 1990, the United States adopted a real operational plan: the installation of a zero emission vehicle (ZEV) in California, which requires American manufacturers to achieve at least 2% of their sales with zero emission vehicles in 1998 in order to obtain approval for sale. other cars (this figure will rise to 5% in 2001 and then to 10% in 2003). Then major manufacturers launched electric vehicle models, notably General Motors with the EV1. 

In France, the government sought to achieve 5% of electric vehicles in 1999... Hence, manufacturers are launching different prototypes: Renault with Zoom in 1992 then Next in 1995, Citroën AX electric or Electric Clio.

However, these marketing efforts were unsuccessful, and the idea of ​​an electric car was once again abandoned. 

It wasn't until the early 2000s that the electric car seduced motorists again, and this time forever!