Page 23 - MetalForming Magazine February 2023 - Metal Forming for the Automotive Industry

FAMOUS FIRSTS
How Electrification Fits into the Automotive-Development Timeline
1899
Austro-Bohemian engineer Ferdinand Porsche builds the first hybrid automobile, the System Lohner-Porsche Mixte, where a gas engine supplies power to an electric motor that propels the front wheels
Belgian race-car driver and inventor Camille Jenatzy breaks the 100 km/hr. speed barrier in his La Jamais Contente, an EV with a futuristic
speed barrier, reaching 105.88 km/hr. in his La Jamais Con- tente, an EV with a futuristic torpedo shape.
As to the popularity of EVs at this time, U.S. automotive companies in 1900 produced 1681 steam, 1575 electric and 936 gasoline cars. That year at the first National Automobile Show in New York, a poll of attendees revealed preference for EVs, followed closely by steam-powered. ICE lagged behind, but this soon would change.
In 1901, the Spindletop oil strike near Beaumont, TX, ushered in the Texas Oil Boom. This singular event led to the decades-long worldwide dominance of ICE vehicles over EVs. Only 7 yr. later, Henry Ford began mass production of the ICE-powered Model T. Despite complicated, noisy and smelly ICE technology, it gained momentum, with the deal sealed in 1912 when Charles Kettering introduced the electric starter. Economics also played a role: In 1912 a Model T cost about $650, while an EV sold for $1750.
Around this time, Henry Ford teamed with Thomas Edison (Ford worked for Edison in the 1890s) to develop a practical and affordable EV using Edison’s patented nickel-iron bat- teries. The challenge outlined by Ford to The New York Times in 1914 sounds familiar today: “The problem so far has been to build a storage battery of light weight which would operate for long distances without recharging.”
Within a few years the EV project had fizzled.
The two world wars encompassed what can be con- sidered the dark ages for EVs, with little R&D occurring. And, development of roadway networks and a population wanderlust demanded a vehicle range that EVs just couldn’t meet. It would take another petroleum-based event, this time to the detriment of ICE technology, to get the EV ball rolling again: the 1973 Arab Oil Embargo. The
Images courtesy of Library of Congress, Ford Motor Company
Pope Manufacturing Co., Boston, MA, and two smaller EV companies combine to form Electric Vehicle Co., New York, NY, considered the first large-scale EV-pro- duction operation in the United States— it also was the largest overall U.S. motor-car maker, before losing its top position to Oldsmobile in 1901
1900
U.S. automotive companies produce
1681 steam, 1575 electric and 936 gaso-
line cars, and at the first National Automobile Show in New York, NY, a poll of attendees reveals preference for EVs, followed closely by steam-powered
1901
An oil strike near Beaumont, TX, ushers in
the Texas Oil Boom, leading to the decades-long worldwide dominance of ICE
vehicles over EVs
Thomas Edison patents the alkaline-based
nickel-iron battery, hoping to use this elec- tricity source to make EVs the standard
1908
Henry Ford begins mass production of the Model T, solidifying ICE as the standard for vehicle power
torpedo shape
20 MetalForming/February 2023 www.metalformingmagazine.com