Pinched off Facebook (EV history)

[5teep]

 

[Robf]

Yep, the power of the oil lobby

 

[Rolfe]

This was posted in another thread.



It's not a surprise that EVs were left by the wayside in the 20th century because battery technology just wasn't up to it. Now it is, but the oil lobby won't let go.

 

[tsedge]

It is amazing how people hold on. Just been watching a secondhand car dealer channel where the dealer (open minded) is very impressed by his first EV sold, the drive and the value - immediately cue the comment that they are cheap "because of fire risk, battery degradation and high running costs".

It is such absolute nonsense, maybe there was some truth in some of that 10-15 years ago, but pretty much everything since 2014 is quite different.

 

[5teep]

Back in 1884 there were people (probably) writing angry letters to the Times saying their horse was more efficient, cheaper to run and kept them warm on a winter's night, cars will never replace the horse!!!

 

[tsedge]

From a pioneer of motor cars in the US in the 1890s:

"But the great obstacle to the development of the automobile was the lack of public inter- est. To advocate replacing the horse, which had served man through centuries, marked one as an imbecile. Things are very different today. But in the ’90s, even though I had a successful bicycle business, and was building my first car in the privacy of the cellar in my home, I began to be pointed out as “the fool who is fiddling with a buggy that will run without being hitched to a horse.” My banker called on me to say: “Winton, I am disappointed in you.”

That riled me, but I held my temper as I asked, “What’s the matter with you?” He bellowed: “There’s nothing the matter with me. It’s you! You’re crazy if you think this fool contraption you’ve been wasting your time on will ever displace the horse.”

From my pocket I took a clipping from the New York World of November 17, 1895, and asked him to read it. He brushed it aside. I insisted. It was an interview with Thomas A. Edison: “Talking of horseless carriage suggests to my mind that the horse is doomed. The bicycle, which, 10 years ago, was a curiosity, is now a necessity. It is found everywhere. Ten years from now you will be able to buy a horseless vehicle for what you would pay today for a wagon and a pair of horses. The money spent in the keep of the horses will be saved and the danger to life will be much reduced.”

 

[RoadUser]

The horse probably had more range than these!

 

[Archev]

The horse probably had more range than these!

But what was the LKA like ?

 

[Gadget Geek]

But what was the LKA like ?

My dad used to tell me a story of this old chap in the pub, who on pay day would drink himself silly, and at throwing out time, the regulars would carry him outside, put him in the back of his cart and slap the horse's rump. The horse would then wander back home to where the chap lived.

 

[Archev]

My dad used to tell me a story of this old chap in the pub, who on pay day would drink himself silly, and at throwing out time, the regulars would carry him outside, put him in the back of his cart and slap the horse's rump. The horse would then wander back home to where the chap lived.

Yeah the best, most exciting story about that was Tam o’ Shanter by Robert Burns.

 

[tsedge]

Right, so if horses offered self-driving centuries ago, why on earth did we get rid of them? ?

 

[Archev]

No horns but the emissions honked ?

 

[Ian Key]

If you thought LKA was unpredictable what about occasional unexpected ejection from your seated position followed by a kick in the head.

 

[RoadUser]

If you thought LKA was unpredictable what about occasional unexpected ejection from your seated position followed by a kick in the head.

Isn't this similar to emergency braking?

 

[Ian Key]

Isn't this similar to emergency braking?

I guess so but guaranteed to be more painful ?