Electric Cars: So 1907

Here I am, web surfing away, trying to do some early auto show research when all of a sudden I come across a peculiar blog post on Scientific American’s website. It should be noted this is not a regular destination for me, but there was a headline about cars in 1907, so I checked it out. There’s not much to the post itself other than images of hundred year old cars, but one stuck out to me like a sore thumb, the 1907 Electric Touring Runabout. Yep an electric car, circa 1907. 

Another reader asked about it in the post’s comments and the editor replied that the little information they had on the car came from the original caption “The runabout is capable of covering about 80 miles across country at an average speed of between 15 and 20 miles an hour. It has twenty-four 150-ampere-hour cells, a 3-horsepower motor and 5-inch pneumatics.” 

That 80 mile range is pretty impressive for 100 years ago, as is the 3-hp motor pumping out 20 mph. So, what exactly has taken everyone so long to build a new one?

The Cars of The 1907 Automobile Show (Scientific American)