1918 Detroit Electric Model 75 Brougham; An early urban car.(Escape Roads)(Brief Article)

Byline: KIT FOSTER

Battery-powered cars continue to be looked at as an alternative to internal combustion. Every time the California zero-emission mandate raises its head, there's a renaissance of pure-battery propulsion.

But the electric market has always been up and down.

After a strong start at the turn of the century led by companies such as Baker, Waverley and Milburn, electric cars entered a fallow period around 1905, primarily due to a lack of infrastructure. Few private homes, even in cities, had electricity with which to charge storage batteries, and community charging stations and battery exchange schemes failed to catch on. Electric power gave way, with internal combustion capturing the public's fancy.

The golden age of the electric began to build around 1909 when a significant number of Americans were able to plug into the convenience of electric living. The most prolific manufacturer of electric cars in the United States was established as the Anderson Carriage Co. in 1884, in Port Huron, Michigan. A builder of high-grade buggies, Anderson entered the electric vehicle market in June 1907, after moving to Detroit. It produced 125 cars that first year, and by 1909 was building 650 cars annually, in runabout and coupe styles.

Principal attractions of the electric car were its convenience and reliability-no cranking was needed and it never stalled-which ensured a following despite its hefty price tag. Anderson's cheapest Detroit Electric in 1909 sold for $1,400, 65 percent more than a Model T Ford. It was an urban car, popular among doctors and women, who appreciated not having to handle flammable fluids. Owners included Thomas Edison's wife, Mina, and Clara Ford, whose car now lives, unrestored, at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan.

With the retirement of company founder William Anderson in 1918, the Anderson Electric Car Co., as it had become known, was renamed for its product: Detroit Electric Car.