Less Well-Known Facts About E-Mobility

🌱 When was the first rechargeable battery invented?

In 1859, Gaston Planté created the first lead-acid battery that could be recharged indefinitely. In 1881, Camille Faure then invented a lighter and longer-lasting rechargeable battery that could be used in an “electric carriage”. Charles Bush notably created a very similar battery at close to the same time.

🌱 When was the first electric tram invented?

In 1875, the “first experimental electric tramway” was built by Fyodor Pirotsky near St Petersburg. In 1881, the “first commercially successful electric tram line” – built by Werner von Siemens – began operating near Berlin. In 1887, the “first successful large electric street railway system” – with a trolley system designed by Frank J. Sprague – was installed in Richmond, USA. By 1889, more than a hundred electric railways, based on Sprague’s model, were planned or operational across several continents.

🌱 When was the first electric vehicle invented?

Around 1832, Robert Anderson created the first crude model of an electric vehicle. It is often described as a “horseless carriage powered by an electric motor”. In 1881, Charles Jeantaud began using “lightweight lead-acid batteries to power custom-built buggies”. In 1888, Andreas Flocken created the “Flocken Elektrowagen”, which is considered by some to have been the “first four-wheeled electric vehicle of the world”.

🌱 Were electric vehicles widespread at the turn of the century?

Electric vehicles were amongst the earliest automobiles to be invented. In 1897, the so-called “Electrobat” created by Pedro Salom and Henry Morris began being used as an electric taxicab in New York. By 1900, the Electric Vehicle Company even operated 200 Electrobats as taxis in New York City. At the very first automobile show held in America, which opened on 3 November 1900, a third of all the vehicles shown were electric. By 1920, combustion engine vehicles however gained the dominant market position and ultimately drove out electric vehicles.

🌱 What role does e-waste play in e-mobility today?

The shift over to e-mobility relies largely on new virgin materials, as the materials on the market to date cannot cover all the new needs. It is estimated that recycling will only start to play a sizable role after 2040, when larger quantities of electric vehicles reach their end of life. It is also estimated that “recycling will only be able to provide a 28% reduction of virgin materials” by 2050. That said, the demand for “copper, nickel, cobalt and silver could exceed currently estimated reserves by 2050”. All in all, there is still substantial potential to decrease the material needs for e-mobility “via efficiency, recycling and innovation”.