Detroit Electric
Detroit Electric
Car : Detroit Electric
Year : 1918
Engine : electric, beneath the floor
Gears : 5 forward
Brake horse power :3
Maximum speed : 25 mph
Wheelbase : 8 ft 4ins (2.54 m)
Suspension : front :semi-elliptic leaf- springs ; back: elliptic leaf- springs
It may seem surprising that at a time when there was no energy problem, a market for electric cars grew up and flourished in the U.S.A. , with, at one point, some 21 different manufacturers involved. It is also odd that electrically-propelled cars were made in Detroit until 1941.
Detroit Electric, founded in the American car capital in 1907, experienced a period of prosperity for much the same reasons that favour electric propulsion today: manoeuvr-ability in town traffic, silence, and fuel economy. In 1910, Detroit Electric sold 1500 car.
The salient feature of the car was the positioning of the 3 bhp motor between the two axles, with back-wheel drive. For many years the car was steered by a tiller (the wheel being adopted only in 1914). Its maximum speed was only 25 mph but it could run 125 miles before its batteries needed to be recharged. The batteries were situated at the front and back. After 1914 the electric car was only available with a closed body. Its rather high price ($2,500) made people gradually lose interest in this kind of vehicle. No-one could have imagined that 35 years later the car industry would be concentrating on electrical traction and it is ironic that today’s electric cars have a similar performance to the 1918 Detroit Electric.
