The Electric Car in America, 1890-1922 - by Kerry Segrave (Paperback)

About the Book

"The electric vehicle seemed poised in 1900 to be a leader in automotive production. Then the hope and confidence collapsed and two decades later electric cars were effectively dead. They remained expensive even as gasoline cars saw dramatic price reductions. The storage battery was an endless source of problems. A public relations campaign could not turn the tide"--Provided by publisher.

Book Synopsis

The electric vehicle seemed poised in 1900 to be a leader in automotive production. Clean, odorless, noiseless and mechanically simple, electrics rarely broke down and were easy to operate. An electric car could be started instantly from the driver's seat; no other machine could claim that advantage.

But then it all went wrong. As this history details, the hope and confidence of 1900 collapsed and just two decades later electric cars were effectively dead. They had remained expensive even as gasoline cars saw dramatic price reductions, and the storage battery was an endless source of problems. An increasingly frantic public relations campaign of lies and deceptive advertising could not turn the tide.

Review Quotes

"extraordinary...will prove to be an enduringly popular addition to both community and academic library collections...a must read"-Midwest Book Review

"Fascinating reading"-Hemmings Daily

"The author skillfully connects the texts of hundreds of articles from online archival research to tell a detailed story of the electric car's origins, peppering the pages with reproductions of advertisements and photographs....Segrave brings together a great deal of information about many short-lived electric car models...a substantial amount of archival research...recommended"-Choice

"The research is impressively meticulous... It's a fine book to gain perspective on the subject"-SAH Journal.

About the Author

Cultural historian Kerry Segrave is the author of dozens of books on such diverse topics as drive-in theaters, ticket-scalping, lie detectors, jukeboxes, smoking and shoplifting. He lives in British Columbia.