Charging An Electric Car In 2019 (Video), 1912 (Photo) And 1894 (Fiction)
Although Tesla and other electric car makers seem to be on the cutting edge (and who will gainsay them?), electric cars were very popular more than 100 years ago, both in fact and in fiction.
Charging a Tesla Model 3 at a Supercharger Station is super easy:
To paraphrase Dan Aykroyd, when the light turns green, the power's clean.
Charging a 1912 electric car was a bit more of a chore, but check out the steampunk charger!
They were particularly popular with women, so it goes, because unlike petrol cars of the age, electric cars didn’t need to be started with a hand crank, which wasn’t terribly dignified and there was a danger that the handle could whip round and strike the arm, or snap back and break your hand.
John Jacob Astor IV gave an intriguing look ahead at the future of electric cars (both the 1912 future and the 2019 future) in A Journey in Other Worlds (1894) by describing wonderful "electric Phaetons" that could roam everywhere. Even then, it was apparent that some means of keeping them charged would be needed.
"To recharge the batteries, which can be done in almost every town and village, two copper pins attached to insulated copper wires are shoved into smooth-bored holes..."
(Read more about Astor's electric car recharging station)
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 3/19/2019)
EVs To Be Made In ICE Detroit-Hamtramck Plant
'With hollow but immensely strong galvanically treated aluminum frames and pneumatic or cushion tires, they [can run] without recharging for several days.' - John Jacob Astor, IV, 1894.
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