It was pointed out that the reason why electric vehicles did not spread in the first half of the 20th century was that 'the power grid was inadequately maintained.'
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Today, the transition from gasoline-powered vehicles to clean electric vehicles is underway, but the fact is that electric vehicles were not born suddenly in recent years, and have been under development since the 19th century. After that, the era in which gasoline cars accounted for most of the automobile production continued for nearly a century, but a new paper published by a research team at Lund University in Sweden said, 'If the power network is ready 15 to 20 years earlier. It is possible that many automakers are now producing electric cars instead of gasoline cars. '
The role of energy infrastructure in shaping early adoption of electric and gasoline cars | Nature Energy
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41560-021-00898-3
Lack of power grids sealed fate for early electric cars
https://techxplore.com/news/2021-10-lack-power-grids-fate-early.html
'The general idea is that electric cars are technically inferior and expensive,' said Josef Taalbi, an associate professor of economic history at Lund University. We found that this was not entirely true. Electric cars were certainly expensive, but there was no difference in performance. In addition, early cars were lightweight and small, so the average travel distance was surprisingly good. ' In fact, in the American automobile industry around 1900, it seems that gasoline cars and electric cars were almost equal competitors, but only 10 years later, gasoline cars gained an overwhelming advantage. ..
Therefore, Taalbi's research team used a database of 36,000 passenger car models in the United States to investigate 'Why did gasoline cars win overwhelmingly in the American automobile industry in the early 20th century?' bottom.
The study found that 'access to local electrical infrastructure' was a strong predictor of whether automakers would produce gasoline or electric vehicles. Hana Nielsen, a postdoctoral fellow at Lund University, said, 'Due to the delay in developing the power infrastructure, many manufacturers chose to invest in gasoline vehicles rather than electric vehicles in the early stages.'
In the United States at that time, the nationwide power grid was not developed because the household power market was not profitable for private power companies. The New Deal policy under the Franklin Roosevelt administration in the 1930s enabled a nationwide power grid in the United States, but the research team pointed out that it was 15 to 20 years late for electric vehicles to become widespread. ..
'Our findings emphasize that automakers chose technology based on the situation in the early 20th century. The power grid expanded over the next few decades, but the driving force changed. In the 1910s, the dominance of gasoline-powered vehicles in the automotive industry was solidifying, making gasoline-powered vehicles a difficult technology to change. ' In addition, while electric vehicles were branded for luxury and women at that time, the strategy of gasoline vehicles to appeal to men may have affected the spread of electric vehicles.
If the power grid had been put in place before the New Deal, the automobile industry could have developed in a way that was different from actual history. 'According to our model, the majority of automakers would have produced electric cars in urban areas,' said Taalbi. 'But gasoline cars have touring and other advantages, and electric cars have an advantage. Due to the remaining drawbacks of slow speed, it is most likely that electric vehicles will function as a reliable means of transportation in urban environments, and gasoline vehicles will be superior as touring vehicles. It's a system, isn't it? '
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The research team believes that the results of this research will also influence contemporary discussions. 'In connection with the modern climate crisis, this result supports the idea that large-scale investment in infrastructure is important for achieving sustainable transport and energy systems,' said Nielsen. This applies not only to electric vehicles, but also to other renewable energy technologies, 'said Taalbi.' Our findings show that lack of infrastructure and delays in response hinder the development of alternative technologies. Not only that, it emphasizes the potential to create incentives to enhance existing technologies. '
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