Gas vs Electric- Tale As Old As Time

The electric vehicle market has continued to experience exponential growth, with global electric car sales exceeding 17 million in 2024, accounting for 20% of all car sales. Given the rapid rise in the popularity of electric vehicles over gasoline, one reasonably assumes that the environmental benefits of electric cars drive this trend. While it is true that this surge is a response to the rising ecological consciousness that is enveloping the world, it is one that the world has seen before. 

In the late 1800s, as automobile travel was booming in most of the Western world, electric cars were immensely popular in the US, with companies like Cleveland Electric and Detroit Electric dominating the market. However, the turn of the 20th century marked the beginning of the decline of electric cars. In the 1910s and 1920s, companies like Ford began mass-producing vehicles with gasoline engines that had higher ranges than the preexisting electric cars; an example of which is the Ford Model T with a maximum range of 180 miles, far superior to the range of the Detroit Electric cars, which had a maximum range of 80 miles. 

Entering the 1930s, the situation for electric vehicles worsened significantly. After years of mass production, the Ford Model T surpassed electric cars as the primary automobile due to its increased affordability. The rampant mass production lowered the cost of production due to improved economies of scale, causing the price of the Ford Model T to fall from $850 in 1908 to $260 in 1924, a price far lower than that of Detroit Electric cars, which cost about $1,200 to $1,500. The significant price disparity also resulted from the high cost of batteries, a fundamental component in the production of electric vehicles, causing electric vehicles to fade from the car market for decades before gaining dominance in the early 21st century.