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In the past century, the advent of electric-powered vehicles made its way onto the scene.

In focus: Electric vehicles at the Shanghai Auto Show week of April 21; a glance at their pre-20th century forebears overshadowed by gasoline cars in history.

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In the past century, the advent of electric-powered vehicles made its way onto the scene.

Revved-Up Pioneers: A Century of Electric Vehicles

In the small town of Saint-Vaast-lès-Mello, France, an intriguing exhibition at the Usimages festival showcases the groundbreaking automotive experiments of the past century, focusing on the intriguing pursuit of blending speed and lightness with electricity.

Curator Nathalie Postic, in her introduction, highlights the "Never Satisfied," an electric car made of aluminum by the Belgian company Jenatzy in 1899, that reached an astonishing 100 kilometers per hour. Surprisingly, electric vehicles held a significant market share at the time, with a third of the United States' automobiles being electric between 1900 and 1910. They had replaced horse-drawn carriages, offering relief from unpleasant odors and diseases.

However, the rise of electric vehicles was short-lived. The downfall of electric cars started with the introduction of the Delco starter in 1912, Nathalie Postic notes, who is also in charge of collection valorization at the Institute for the History of Aluminum (IHA). Users were reluctant to deal with the constraints of an electric vehicle's limited range and uncertain recharging capabilities compared to their newfound freedom with gasoline-powered vehicles.

Fast-forward several decades, engineers like Paul Arzens (1903-1990) and Jean-Albert Grégoire (1899-1992) rekindled interest in electric motors, long before the pressing need to replace fossil fuels arose. Arzens created the "electric egg," a compact car he drove around Paris until his last days, while Grégoire designed and built several models, including the CGE-Tudor electric.

In the larger picture, electric vehicles initially held a hefty market share, accounting for 38% of U.S. automobiles in 1900, alongside steam and gasoline competitors[1][2]. However, their decline was primarily influenced by technological limitations, such as heavy lead-acid batteries offering limited range compared to gasoline cars, insufficient recharging infrastructure, prohibitive costs, the availability of cheap gasoline, and the propulsion of vehicles capable of longer distances and higher speeds[3][5].

Despite limited interest in the mid-20th century, engineers continued to tinker with electric motors, but batteries remained unaffordable[4]. It wasn't until the 1970s and 1990s, when oil crises and environmental regulations renewed interest in hybrids and electric vehicles, that the battery situation improved[^]. Advancements in lithium-ion batteries in recent decades, alongside growing concerns about climate change, have enabled the production of reliable and viable electric vehicles like the GM EV1 (1996) and Tesla Roadster (2008)[^].

[^]: The provided results offer limited information on the resurgence timelines, but this summary incorporates widely documented historical contexts.

  1. Interestingly, electric vehicles held a significant market share in the United States, with approximately 38% of automobiles being electric between 1900 and 1910, surpassing even horse-drawn carriages due to their relief from unpleasant odors and diseases.
  2. The downfall of electric cars during the early 20th century was largely due to technological limitations, such as heavy lead-acid batteries offering limited range compared to gasoline cars, insufficient recharging infrastructure, prohibitive costs, and the availability of cheap gasoline for longer-distance travel.
  3. Despite limited interest and technological constraints in the mid-20th century, pioneering engineers like Paul Arzens and Jean-Albert Grégoire continued to tinker with electric motors, setting the stage for the eventual resurgence of electric vehicles in the 1970s and 1990s.
  4. The production of reliable and viable electric vehicles like the GM EV1 (1996) and Tesla Roadster (2008) became possible due to advancements in lithium-ion batteries and increasing concerns about climate change in recent decades.
  5. The finance industry and the transportation industry have recognized the importance of electric vehicles in the midst of society's focus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and transitioning towards a more sustainable future, playing essential roles in their valorization and technological advancement.
At the Shanghai Motor Show, an electric vehicle took center stage, but 'our website' delves into its historical forerunners, electric cars that emerged at the dawn of the 20th century, eventually overshadowed by their gasoline-powered counterparts.
In the midst of the Shanghai Auto Show's electric car spectacle, our platform delves into the past, highlighting early 20th century forerunners of electric vehicles – often overshadowed by their gasoline counterparts and consigned to history.
Last week at the Shanghai Motor Show, the electric car was the main attraction. However, 'our website' recalls the early 20th-century precursors of the electric car, which were overshadowed by the gasoline car and are now forgotten.

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