There are more solutions than obstacles. Nicolas Zart
A Journey Through Time: From Steam to Electricity with Gasoline
Electric Propulsion Emerges: A Step Closer to AAM
After covering the first human mobility evolution of walking to taming wild horses, discovering the wheel, and the steam engine, along with dubious alien interferences in part 1, today we look at what replaced the steam engine and why.
As we approached so-called modern times, brilliant minds made the connection between magnetism and electric magnetic fields (EMF). They observed that these invisible forces could move mountains and possibly those 400-ton limestone blocks in the Egyptian pyramids. Aliens, once again, might have lent a helping hand, but this is an unconfirmed thought. Jokes aside, the electric motor promised another leap in efficiency. Ferdinand Porsche’s first car in 1898 was the electric Egger-Lohner, C.2 Phaeton, otherwise known as the P1, Porsche’s first design. The following year, he designed his second, a hybrid vehicle that paired a gasoline engine with an electric generator.
The Side Step: Big Money and Vested Interests
In the late 1800s, a devastating turn of events unfolded. The powerful Rothschild family and their friends in the Standard Oil conglomerate were making a fortune from fossil fuels. They had already replaced whale grease in oil lamps with this new liquid fossil fuel, and now wanted to expand their reach. So, they approached Ford Senior and asked him to stop making those pesky electric cars and switch to gasoline engines. Ford was reluctant and pointed out the lack of a gasoline infrastructure. Undeterred, Standard Oil promised to build gasoline stations every twenty miles if carmakers abandoned electric propulsion. Imagine if Edison and Westinghouse had made a similar offer to Ford for electric cars—we might still be enjoying superior EV performance today.
It is rumored that Ford Senior’s wife, Clara Ford, preferred driving an electric car, appreciating the quiet, odorless, and vibration-free experience. She could simply unplug the car at home and drive up to 40 miles, which was more than enough for most drivers, even in the expansive US. Cranking a smelly, vibrating, and belching combustion engine and fiddling engine fire advances in a fancy dress didn’t appeal to many women back then!
The ICE Age: Decades of Pollution
Despite the electric car’s early promise, the internal combustion engine (ICE) took humanity on an inefficient pollution detour for the next 140 years. Don’t get me wrong, I still love old cars and probably will always do. But after discovering electric vehicles in 2003 and soon thereafter driving an AC Propulsion eBox and an early Tesla Roadster, I soon recognized that an electric car removed any gear shifting and clutches to concentrate on driving. Efficiency is what brought me to this industry and continues to motivate me.
For the past 140 years, carmakers, governments, and the fossil fuel industries have invested billions of dollars to make this inefficient opposing piston engine somewhat usable. And while there were improvements in fuel efficiency these were overshadowed by the ever-increasing weight and size of modern cars. The sad truth is that only one-third of the gasoline in your tank actually moves the vehicle. Two-thirds are lost to heat and friction, making gasoline a costly and inefficient choice. In contrast, electric vehicles (EVs) boast an efficiency of 80% to 92%, meaning a $100 tank of gas only gets you $33 worth of actual mobility. Hydrogen cars average 60 to 66% efficiency.