Although, few people may realize it, we may be seeing the first generation of kids that will not need to know how to drive a car. With all the changes that are going on in the automobile industry, this is a distinct possibility. Not since the introduction of cars over 100 years ago has the automobile industry gone through so many changes so quickly. Between electric cars and self-driving cars, automobiles as we know them may not even exist 20 years from now.
The Birth of the Automobile
What was it like in the beginning? What type of companies were born when automobiles were introduced over 100 years ago? When we looked back at the first automobile companies that issued stock in the United States, we found an unexpected surprise, all of the first automobile companies that issued stock in the 1800s were electric automobile companies! Gasoline-powered cars didn’t appear until the 1900s. Tesla is bringing back an old tradition, not introducing a revolutionary change. The first automobile companies to issue stock raised their money at the end of the 1800s. The General Electric Automobile Co. issued stock in 1898, the Electric Vehicle Co., the New England Electric Vehicle Transportation Co. and the Pennsylvania Electric Vehicle Co. issued stock in 1899. In fact, electric autos outsold steam and gasoline-powered cars in 1899 and in 1900. Although we may not realize it, electric automobiles were the preferred means of transportation in the first decade of automobiles. Not only were electric ca
rs cleaner than their internal combustion competitors, but they were easier to start. By 1899, the electric La Jamais Contente was the first car to break the 100 kph speed barrier, and Thomas Edison prefe
rred an electric car to the overly mechanical internal combustion automobiles, but within a decade, the gasoline-powered car became the clear choice, so what went wrong?
It wasn’t for a lack of ambition that the electric car failed. The New England Electric Vehicle Transportation Co. not only produced electric automobiles but provided a taxi service in Boston; however, the company only lasted from 1899 to 1901. The American Electric Vehicle Co. started out in Chicago, produced eleven different automobiles (see the ad above), and moved to New Jersey to be closer to wealthy customers, but failed in 1902.
It wasn’t for a lack of ambition. The Electric Vehicle Co. was founded in 1897 and as other electric vehicle manufacturers went bankrupt, it took over their factories. The company took control of the Motor Vehicle Co. of Elizabeth, NJ, the Pope Manufacturing Co., the Columbia Automobile Co. and the Columbia Electric Vehicle Co. of Hartford, NJ, but went into receivership on December 10, 1907. The company issued over $10 million in common stock, over $8 million in preferred and paid 8% in dividends on the common and preferred in 1899, but as profits failed to materialize, the stock price collapsed.
