Thomas Edison and the first electric car in history!, When the first electric car was invented? FHE FRANCE
When the first electric car was invented
After this first failure, some three years later, the American inventor returns with a new experience. In this second case, his experience taught him that it was reckless to try to directly convert energy into motion. So he invented what he called the “Pyromagnetic generator“, a kind of ancestor of the modern alternator found in all cars, but which works in the opposite direction.
Thomas Edison and the first electric car in history !
The story behind the electric cars that we know today dates back to more than a century. If you have already wondered what the names of famous electric companies mean and the models they produce, you have probably already discovered that these references are not random.
We can cite the brand You’re here, the trucks Nikola or individual models like theOpel Ampera. All these names refer to scientists and inventors who have written the history of electricity and therefore also that of the automobile, present and future.
The very first electric car in history dates back to 1884, invented by Thomas Edison From a white sheet in his New Jersey workshop. She looked like a four -wheeled car that could move without the help of a horse.
The genesis
Just like today, at the end of the 19th century, we did not yet know with certainty what would be the fuel for the future. On the one hand, there were the new ones Combustion engines, who had already been on the market for a few years but who had not yet been tested on a large scale, and on the other hand, there were innovative engines that were looking for Convert the energy of the coal to electricity, By far simulating the functioning of modern fuel cells with hydrogen.
On the one hand, there was Henry Ford, which was about to launch its revolutionary T model, a car which would later become the worldwide success of the internal combustion engine, and on the other hand, there were a number of small inventors who were experimenting with the application of the Mobility electricity in private laboratories. Among which Thomas Edison.
Born in Ohio in 1847, he had already reached international renown in twenty years. His name was linked to important experiences, such as theincandescent bulb, who already revolutionized the world, and during his lifetime, he had already made a major contribution to studies on electricity management.
It was during these years that he had the ingenious idea ofUse the catalytic oxidation of carbon to produce clean energy, A revolutionary means of obtaining electricity which would considerably reduce sulfur emissions in the atmosphere and, as we have said, a precursor concept of modern technology of hydrogen fuel cells.
At the time, the attention paid to polluting emissions did not clearly appear in the annual program of a company, and even less of a nation. Who could have imagined that, 138 years later, He would become the global objective par excellence.
More or less conclusive experiences
Thomas Edison’s first experience on fuel cells dates back to 1884. In his laboratory, he tried to convert the energy generated by carbon oxidation into electrical energy To advance a car. However, the experience would have blowed up all the windows of its laboratory due to the absence of an energy storage unit under the car, a kind of modern battery.
After this first failure, some three years later, the American inventor returns with a new experience. In this second case, his experience taught him that it was reckless to try to directly convert energy into motion. So he invented what he called the “Pyromagnetic generator“, a kind of ancestor of the modern alternator found in all cars, but which works in the opposite direction.
This innovative generator quickly became the patented invention of Edison, but that was not enough to make the first electric car in history a success. In the years that followed, until 1899, the American inventor ended with find a way to make a battery capable of storing enough energy To advance the car and guarantee acceptable autonomy, thinking that this type of battery would be cheaper to produce than petrol.
Thomas Edison next to a Ford T model
The battery problem
At the time of Thomas Edison, the only type of battery already patented and marketed was the battery lead. The lead accumulator, whose dimensions were not frankly reduced and whose weight was almost unmanageable, could not bring a solution valid to the problem, in particular because it was discovered a century later that it was toxic to the ‘man.
After many studies, the inventor has created a Nickel-Alkaline battery which was more compact and lighter, much more reliable, less dangerous and less heavy than lead batteries, but much more expensive. And it is this last aspect which finally put a stick in the wheels of the first electric car in history.
The car manufacturers, including that led by Henry Ford, were not willing to increase the price of their cars to go from the engine to internal combustion to clean energy, but there was another problem: customers. Customers were reluctant to pay more to buy a car for a cheaper operation Later, preferring to spend less for a conventional fuel car.
The ultimate car
Despite the difficulties, Thomas Edison, with his partner Bob Burrell, managed to put on the road a first prototype of his car. Thanks to an alkaline battery with nickel of unfortunately unknown capacity, it could travel around 170 km at 40 km/h and looked like a four -wheeled car. One of Edison’s objectives was to create a battery that can last until 30 years, But he never managed to carry out his patent.
Edison problems are exactly the same as those encountered by engineers from the past and present. The cost and efficiency of the batteries have made electric cars very expensive so far, and it is only For four or five years that they have reached a purchase price close to that of their combustion counterparts. This is due to the natural evolution of materials, which made them, among other things, cheaper to produce and find.
If we can now drive an electric car or simply admire a hydrogen car thanks to fuel cell technology, we owe it to Thomas Edison and its brilliant intuitions.
When the first electric car was invented ?
Electric cars have been exploding on the automotive market for a few years. With oil costs and the desire to reduce the carbon footprint of vehicless, Electric cars now occupy an essential place in the fleet. But do you know when the first electric car ? You still have to go up (a little) time..
The first prototypes
It was in 1834 that the first prototypes of electric cars appear. Date on which the first electric vehicle, a miniature train, is built by the American Thomas Davenport.
In 1835, in Groningue, the Netherlands, Sibrandus Sttingh Develop an experimental electric car on a reduced scale. It will take a few years for the electric car to be successful.
A few years later, in 1865, the French physicist and inventor Gaston planted Invents the rechargeable acid rechargeable battery, innovation improved by the French chemist Camille Faure A few years later in 1881.
The same year, the electrician engineer Gustave found reveals the first electric car capable of riding.
In the photo below, we see the engineer Thomas Parker Sitting in an electric career in the United Kingdom in 1884. We define it as the one who designed the first electric car.
The American William Morrison Built in 1891 the first “real” electric car and a few years later electric taxis began to roll in New York.