*******************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Pic-A-Day (22) Albert Mach Fine Art - Historic electric auto.

Pic-A-Day (22) Albert Mach Fine Art.
Historic electric auto.

As a little different kind of post for today, here is a historical image of an Electric auto.

 

This came from a collection of historic Ford images and was supposed to be at a Ford facility.

I don’t think it was made by Ford however. Maybe someone has some knowledge they can share about this.

Some research says:

In 1908 Henry Ford bought his first Detroit Electric, a model C coupe. It was for his wife Clara and had a special child seat for Edsel.

In 1910 the Ford family bought their second Detroit Electric. According to the shipping ledger it was sold to Edsel Ford. (I wonder about the dates and info. Was Edsel still a child?) It was a model D Brougham shipped March 8th 1910 with a blue leather interior, a silk satin headliner, and an all blue exterior.

In 1912 Henry Ford bought a third Detroit Electric (model 47) for Clara that they never sell.

 

At http://www.detroitelectric.org/ it says:

Thomas Edison and Henry Ford decided to work together to make the electric car the main transportation in U.S.. Their goal was to have charging stations where people could "fill up" their cars. In 1914 Edsel Ford was given the task of looking into electric car production. He had two prototypes made with guidance from Edison, but the concept was not developed. Henry's wife Clara refused to drive gasoline cars or "explosion cars" as they were called (mostly by electric car salesman). Henry bought Clara a new Detroit Brougham every two years from 1908 to 1914. Ford Museum owns that last car and a 1922 that was donated later. Her 1914 model 47 resided at Fair Lane from 1914 thru the 1930's. There is 1 1915 currently on display at the Ford museum in Detroit. The 1915 is on loan and belonged to Helen Joy, the wife of a Packard executive. Henry Ford was reportedly quoted saying that he would die a failure if he did not die broke and planned on spending his fortune to make the electric car the mainstay of American transportation. There are stories of mysterious fires at Edison's laboratories and the impression is that these were caused by the early oil cartels. Whether that is true or not I have no idea, other stories say the fire was mostly in an adjacent building and battery production was not significantly affected. No proof can be found to show any evidence that oil companies or other car companies had anything to do with the demise of the electric car. In fact the Rockefellers and others were buying them for their own use.

Views: 65

Comment

You need to be a member of NortheastWheelsEvents.com - Car Show Calendar to add comments!

Join NortheastWheelsEvents.com - Car Show Calendar

Comment by Pamela Hirschhorn on December 25, 2014 at 7:14pm

It is interesting that Henry would buy a car associated with Electric Vehicle Co., the owners of the Selden patent. Baker had just left the holding company by 1908 but still had interests. 

Electrics suffered the same problems as today, range and price. Top speed of most was rated under 20mph but early electrics set speed records. Range was 25 miles rendering them to cities. There is a lot of information on the Edison Tech Center site: http://www.edisontechcenter.org/  This is located in Schenectady NY....do I hear " road trip " Al??!! 

--------------------------------------------

CLOSE OUT SALE!!!

Cadillac At 100

Legacy of Leadership

1902-2006

2 volume, Hardcover Set

by Maurice D Hendry

Vol.1 covers from the beginning through the Classic period and into WWII. 

Vol.2 goes from fins to CTS. 

A must for any Cadillac enthusiast!

$40 + $16 Priority or $11 Media

PayPal or Cash App accepted

ORDER:

pamh00@yahoo.com

Pam 717 933-0222 Mon - Thu

COPO

CAMARO

The Chevrolet Performance Team Unleashes a Legend

Hardcover by Jeffrey K. Leestma

"For years to come, this book will be the authoritative pictorial history of the continuation of the COPO legend"

$30 + $16 Priority or $8 Media

         pamh00@yahoo.com

  Pam 717 933-0222 Mon - Thu

100 Years of Chevrolet

by by John Kramer, Ralph Burton and Jerry Durnell

160 page Hardcover

A very special, detailed history presented in a very, entertaining manner! 

$60 + $16 Priority or $10 Media

           pamh00@yahoo.com

     Pam 717 933-0222 Mon - Thu

*************************************

Share YOUR

2024 Events Directly Onto

www.Northeast WheelsEvents

Click Here!!

Photo by William Bruce

 9th Annual Glen Aubrey Fire Co

**************************************

SEE YOU ON THE RAIN DATE

Marketing & Advertising

Like What You See Here?

Reach Thousands of Active Enthusiasts Every Week! 

For Advertising

Call Pamela Hirschhorn 

717-933-0222

Your BIG Regional Calendars for Everything On Wheels www.NortheastWheelsEvents www.SoutheastWheelsEvents www.WestCoastWheelsEvents www.UKWheelsEvents

Support Our Advertisers

© 2024   Created by Great American Services.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service