I seriously question the assertion that electric cars were anything more than Anderson’s prototype in the early 1830s. In terms of practical widespread daily use, the electric car didn’t effectively exist until the late 19th and early 20th centuries. As for steam cars, these, too, were never in popular use. The image above is a 1910 Waverly. Note the price is about that of the average car in 1960. Electric cars, like their gasoline powered counterparts, were initially toys for the rich, until Henry Ford introduced the modern assembly technology that made it possible to mass-produce automobiles.

On the other hand this is a wonderfull post and a real wakeup call. I’ve always considered the automobile as something invented in the late 1800’s. But of course that was vehicles with the internal combustion engine.

I also have to chuckle at the ad for the Waverly electric car. The woman in front appears to be sitting facing the rear. Which makes me wonder, who is driving the thing?

Dave