Electric vehicles
My colleague Peter Turvey, senior curator at our Wroughton site, brought to my attention the BMW MINI E, an electric version of the famous small car I talked about in an earlier post. It’s going to be trialled in south-west England this autumn and, if successful, may join the likes of the curiously-shaped G-Wiz electric car on our streets.
Electric cars sound like the height of modernity, but in fact they have a far longer history than you might imagine. In fact, they’ve been around as long as the petrol motor car, and actually out-sold petrol cars in the USA in the early twentieth century. Then, as now, they were easy-to-drive, clean, quiet and relatively vibration-free.
We’ve got some very interesting early battery-powered vehicles in the Science Museum’s collections. Our Bersey electric taxicab (London’s first self-propelled taxi) dates from 1897:
Bersey electric cab, 1897 (Science Museum / Science & Society)
This 1904 Krieger is rather luxurious – and still works:
Krieger electric car, 1904 (Science Museum)
Our more recent electric vehicles include a 1930s delivery van (from a well-known grocery store), and a Ford ‘Comuta’ car from 1967, which reminds me very much of the G-Wiz:
Harrods electric delivery van, 1930s (Science Museum / Science & Society)
Ford 'Comuta' car, 1967 (Science Museum / Science & Society)
The problem was, and is, the batteries: the range of an electric car is very short compared to that of a petrol car with a full tank. The electric car is heavy, and its top speed is relatively low. But that isn’t necessarily a big deal for most urban driving, and it brings the enormous benefit of reduced local emissions in heavily-populated areas.
I await the MINI trial results with great interest!
Jack Kirby said,
October 9, 2009 at 12:59 pm
Here at Thinktank, Birmingham science museum we’ve got Frederick Lanchester’s experimental petrol-electric car of 1926, a hybrid ahead of its time. At the Museum Collections Centre there’s also a fantastic electric dustcart.
David Rooney, Curator of Transport said,
October 12, 2009 at 3:06 pm
Thanks, Jack – a lovely vehicle. Check out my next post (due later today) – by coincidence I am showing off our own early hybrids. As you say, a long history… David.
Stories from the stores » Hybrid vehicles said,
October 12, 2009 at 3:22 pm
[...] was talking recently about battery-powered electric vehicles, but the big story right now is the hybrid car, which [...]
Peter Turvey said,
October 13, 2009 at 10:55 pm
Some more info on the Bersey Electric Cabs, from the October 2009 Greater London Industrial Archaeology Society newsletter http://www.glias.org.uk/news/244news.html
Electric Taxi Cabs
Currently there is a lot of discussion about providing green vehicles in London. A lot of the discussion seems to be centred around taxi cabs.
Without entering into this debate, it might be of interest to learn that the current move to establish an electric cab fleet in London is not a new concept. The first electric cabs operated in London from 19 August 1897.
These cabs were called ‘Humming Birds’ because they ran so quietly. Because of this fact they were considered a hazard, as neither people nor horses could hear them. Today, in addition to the reduced atmospheric pollution, we would consider the reduction in noise pollution as a bonus!
According to available literature, their biggest problems seem to have been with tyres not, as one would expect, the batteries! This was around the same time as the pneumatic tyre was patented in 1888 by J B Dunlop (later revoked in favour of R W Thomson whose patent was taken out in France 1846 & the US 1847) that went into production in 1890 when he went into partnership with W H Du Cross.
The company that constructed these vehicles was the London Electric Cab Co, located in Juxton Street, Lambeth in London. They were in business between 12 November 1896 to 8 August 1899. The company was liquidated in 1899. The cab fleet seems to have disappeared over time and most people seem to have forgotten that it ever existed.
The London Electric Cab Co was the successor to the Ward Electrical Car Co of London that was founded by Radcliff Ward who is mentioned as designing a battery-driven bus. In 1896 they received the capital to form a bus/cab syndicate and later became the London Electric Omnibus Co.
Thus, the electric cab has already played an important part in the development of the transport system of Victorian London — not what one would have expected!
Dan Little
SteveCrothers said,
October 14, 2009 at 9:28 pm
Was just reading in our local paper about the new electric mini trials that are about to launch, so interesting to see these ideas are really not so new.
John Clayson said,
January 9, 2010 at 8:24 pm
Hello Peter,
An internet search while researching local references to early electric vehicles brought me to this page.
I have just come across a reference to the ‘Electrical Vehicle Syndicate Ltd.’ in a newspaper article, dated 31 May 1898 (in The Newcastle Daily Chronicle), which alleges that that firm ‘built the London [electric] motor cabs and those that are being introduced into Leeds, Manchester, Glasgow and othe large centres.’ The chairman and the MD of the syndicate were brothers Alfred and Leonard Holmes, who were among the partners of a Newcastle electrical business. Do you know whether (or how) the London Electric Cab Co and the ‘Electrical Vehicle Syndicate Ltd. were linked? And did they get as far as running these vehicles elsewhere than in London?
Thanks
Peter Turvey said,
January 13, 2010 at 3:18 pm
Sorry John, don’t have any information to hand about this. I believe the Bersey cabs were not very successful.
Can think of some possible leads however.
Gijs Mom’s book ‘The Electric Vehicle: Technology and Expectation in the Automobile Age’ Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2004, ISBN-0-8018-7138-2
A fascinating book. May contain some clues.
Other than that can only think of
A search of contemporary publications (Engineer, Engineering, and electrical journals)
The technical file for the Bersey Cab itself, a pubic record which would be held in the Science Museum Documentation centre. I will try and take a look the next time I am in London.
Stories from the stores » Riding the hydrogen highway said,
February 19, 2010 at 12:24 pm
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