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100-year-old model for electric car coming back

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by True till Death, Mar 17, 2008.

  1. True till Death
    Joined: Mar 1, 2006
    Posts: 123

    True till Death
    Member

    March 17, 2008 6:52 AM PDT
    100-year-old model for electric car coming back

    Posted by Michael Kanellos | Post a comment

    It was good enough for John D. Rockefeller Jr.
    To promote itself, Detroit Electric--a new joint venture between Zap and China's Youngman Automotive Group--plan to release a limited number of cars based around the Detroit Electric, an electric car produced by the Anderson Electric Car Co. in the early part of the 20th century.
    Anderson produced various models of the Detroit Electric from 1907 to 1939. Customers included Henry Ford and Rockefeller. It was also featured on a stamp. TV host Jay Leno has some of the cars in his collection.
    [​IMG] Zap CEO Steve Schneider and Albert Lam, Detroit's CEO.
    (Credit: Detroit)
    When the opportunity came up to buy the brand, Zap and Youngman decided to go for it, said Zap co-founder and CEO Steve Schneider. The reissued car will be based on a model from around 100 years ago.
    "For the bride to be, or the bride of many Junes ago, a Detroit Electric," read a company advertisement from decades ago. "No other bridal present means so much, expresses so perfectly all you need to say."
    The company advertised quite a bit in Cosmopolitan. During the 1910s, Anderson employed 1,100 people (and not a drunkard, scalawag or reprobate among them!).
    Back in 1917, a Detroit Electric cost anywhere from $1,775 to $2,375--in other words, fit for the proletarian or plutocrat. The cars could go 65 miles to 100 miles on a battery charge, but only go at speeds ranging from 6 miles per hour to 25 mph.
    Although the company was growing in the 1910s, prices continued to drop on combustion cars, which started to sap sales in the 1920s. The stock market crash of 1929 then took a toll on the company. It lingered through the 1930s before collapsing in 1939.
    But it wasn't for lack of enthusiasm.
    "The magnificent Detroit Electric is easily the enclosed car sensation of the year," read another ad. Huzzah!
    Detroit, in its new incarnation, will start coming out with electric economy cars in 2010.


    saw this today thought it was pretty cool
     
  2. HOLLYWOOD GRAHAM
    Joined: Apr 11, 2007
    Posts: 1,437

    HOLLYWOOD GRAHAM
    Member
    from Ojai,Ca

    Chop it, channel it, drop it.
     
  3. ZomBrian
    Joined: Jan 24, 2008
    Posts: 1,143

    ZomBrian
    Member
    from in IN

    There's one of those in the museum downtown here. I swear it has something like twenty batteries in it. The museum also has other cars as well as one cherry 32 (cabriolet if I can remember right). Has a license topper I would give a toe for. They could have both nuts if I could have the car, though they're not museum quality;).
     
  4. as a drunkard , scalawag and reprobate i would say they couldnt be trusted!:D

    im sure the detroit brothers along with the oil companys did their very best to kill the electric car they sure have done a fine job of it this far .. maybe now with gas prices climbing out of sight its good to know someones gonna give it a shot .. i wish them the very best of luck..
     

  5. 1950ChevySuburban
    Joined: Dec 20, 2006
    Posts: 6,187

    1950ChevySuburban
    Member Emeritus
    from Tucson AZ

    We can do this in America just fine. I lost interest at the mention of a Chinese partner.
     
  6. WQ59B
    Joined: Dec 14, 2005
    Posts: 2,618

    WQ59B
    Member

    Me too; sounds like the proverbial 'foot-in-the-door', which we need like the proverbial 'hole in the head' coming from the Land of #1 Product Recalls.

    I wonder what "based around" means...
     
  7. The new Detroit Electric, made in Bejing, China. Coming to a Wal-mart near you!
     
  8. tfeverfred
    Joined: Nov 11, 2006
    Posts: 15,791

    tfeverfred
    Member Emeritus

    Also comes with a quart jar of vaseline laced with metal shavings, too!:eek:
     
  9. Don't forget the toothpaste with antifreeze in it -
     
  10. ZomBrian
    Joined: Jan 24, 2008
    Posts: 1,143

    ZomBrian
    Member
    from in IN

    I like how they realease a "limited number" of something everyone can use. Now THAT is somethin to chew on.
     
  11. Farmallmta
    Joined: Nov 22, 2005
    Posts: 14

    Farmallmta
    Member
    from P.V. Ks.

    LOL. When my dad was a kid in the late '20's and early '30's, two really old spinster sisters down the street had one of these. The neighborhood kids would be out playing kick-the-can, or roll-a-hoop or stick-ball or some other old game (***RANT ALERT*** back when kids actually played outdoors in games they made up themselves instead of being chauffeured in air-conditioned comfort to commie organized sport games by hovering and overprotective soccer-mommies). Anyway, these 2 old bags would come sneaking along all silent like in their electric car and kids would never hear them, almost getting run over. The kids would run after them throwing rocks until the old crones parked the car for good thinking it was too dangerous to drive.
     
  12. Farmallmta
    Joined: Nov 22, 2005
    Posts: 14

    Farmallmta
    Member
    from P.V. Ks.

    Sorry, guys. Got to do this sort of thing in China now. Do it in America and before you know it you've got: OSHA/EPA/IRS/ACLU/ABA/NAACP/JDL/UAW/RalphNader/Democrats/AlGore/ETC all over you like a jimmy hat. So do it in China where you can cut your costs to the bone and not get sued by everybody for everything. Facts of life now, jack!
     
  13. Weasel
    Joined: Dec 30, 2007
    Posts: 6,698

    Weasel
    Member

    There was a 1911 Detroit Electric Lightning rodded in the 1970s - there was a B&W photo of it in Street Rodder Magazine and it appeared to be painted white.
     
  14. TRuss
    Joined: Jan 7, 2007
    Posts: 549

    TRuss
    Member

    You take the good you take the bad and blah blah bla blha blah blaaj the facts of life...the facts of life
     
  15. Until you can fully charge a 5-seat electric car in 5 minutes or less and it has a range of over 300 miles on that same charge, electric cars will remain a gimmick or boutique car for the few...Until it can be driven and re-fueled in the same manner and timeframe as today's cars, the general public won't bite...and don't even get me started about our lack of electricity in this country and how woefully unprepared the electrical grid is for millions of high voltage electric cars to be charging upon it.
     
  16. rixrex
    Joined: Jun 25, 2006
    Posts: 1,433

    rixrex
    Member

    There is an old fella in Cedar Park Tx. that has a Detroit Electric and another model I can't remember the name of..They are beautiful cars with luxurious interiors, sorta like opera booths..had four silk upholstered seats arranged in a circle, the front two were in the corners facing back and the driver sat in the back left with a tiller for steering..good for conversation, ladies discussing the opera..had tall curved glass windows in the corners, this is 1907!..with silk drapery and flower vases..and a silver tea service..big bank of six-volt batteries front and rear..I asked the old man if you could "soup it up" with 12-volt batteries, He looked at me funny and said the six-volt was actually a hotter quicker system....
     
  17. DrJ
    Joined: Mar 3, 2001
    Posts: 9,419

    DrJ
    Member

  18. I had a couple of "Gem" electric cars.. 8 hours or so to charge and about 20 /25 mile range in the city.. Kind of fun at first.. Run to the store.. Crap like that.. After 3 or 4 months.. They were just a pain in the ass..
     
  19. duke182
    Joined: Nov 27, 2005
    Posts: 562

    duke182
    Member

    lots of funny but true stuff on this post,
    chevrolet did build a fleet of cars for cali,but for some reason,i'll let you decide that one, they managed to convince the government officials in charge at the time to allow them to recall and destroy them. what a shame. everything i've heard about those cars was positive.
    well maybe here was a negative cable in there some where.
    maybe these cars can be reproduced but i doubt they will be anywhere near affordable,regardless of where they are built or who the partners are.
     
  20. uncleo
    Joined: Sep 9, 2006
    Posts: 135

    uncleo
    Member

    Greetings from Long Branch,NJ,Americas first seashore resort and 7 time U.S. summer capital.... on the lighter side please forgive me guys I just got off work from the overnight shift but eveytime I see one of those cars I think about Gramma Ducks l'il ole electric from from my old Donald Duck comic books....like I said....its interesting though if it succeeds.
    Lee
     
  21. tjm73
    Joined: Feb 17, 2006
    Posts: 3,484

    tjm73
    Member

    HEY! You stop making sense and speaking the truth RIGHT NOW! :D
     
  22. jonzcustomshop
    Joined: Jun 25, 2007
    Posts: 1,927

    jonzcustomshop
    Member

    the reason it is GOOD that there is a chinese partner: China has a billion people, 25-50% of them are starting to become like us(consumers-cars,gas television,computers, gadgets...)
    The sooner that we convince them that the electric car is the way to go, they will slow down on the fuel consumption, and we get to use that for our hot rods.
     
  23. ALindustrial
    Joined: Aug 7, 2007
    Posts: 852

    ALindustrial
    Member

    hell if i had the money i would buy a "hybrid"... 61 miles to the gallon? hell yea! half of it still runs on gas... :D

    id be the first with a toyota prius hotrod!
     
  24. 8flat
    Joined: Apr 2, 2006
    Posts: 1,392

    8flat
    Member

    I'm glad someone else realizes that..... We barely have enough generation and distribution capacity right now, without cars getting charged from the grid. A bunch of coal-fired generating plants have recently been canceled around the nation (one near me), I'm predicting rolling blackouts within a few years.
     
  25. RancheroMan
    Joined: Mar 31, 2006
    Posts: 260

    RancheroMan
    Member

    dont be fooled, the oil companies have tabs on the electrical technology. if and when it comes time for the electric auto to come back, we'll be paying just as much for it. we'll "feel" better though because we'll be helping the environment. no large industry is going to leave $$ on the table because technology as made it more affordable.
     
  26. I Drag
    Joined: Apr 11, 2007
    Posts: 883

    I Drag
    Member

    I'm converting to a battery-electric soon. In the US, not in China.

    I'm not even going to ATTEMPT to convince anyone about the benefits of EV's here; this is not the place, and it's not my battle.

    But fwiw, most EV's owners recharge at night, when electrical grid loads are very low.

    I will post a pic when it's done; a '55 F100.
     

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