Book Description

History of the Electric Automobile covers the evolution from the first electric vehicles of the 1880s to the advances of today. Beginning with early electric vehicle development in England, France, and the United States, this book provides an in-depth look at the so-called "golden age of electric vehicles" (1895-1905), demonstrating the technological improvements and business risks of this era. This history also explores the "dead period" of the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, and the subsequent re-birth of interest in electric vehicles in the early 1960s. Events which have impacted the development of electric cars since then -- most notably the Electric Vehicle Act of 1976 -- are also examined. The book also features an appendix section containing such information as a name table of American electric cars, the Electric Vehicle Act of 1976, "nostalgia", and more. A glossary and index are also included. "For more than a century, nearly all seers who have predicted the role of electric vehicles in personal transportation have been wrong. This book records what actually happened, both within America and internationally." - Ernest H. Wakefield