Surely if we asked you what type of car was developed before , you would not hesitate to answer that diesel and gasoline were before electric. However, nothing could be further from the truth, since electric motors existed before the four-stroke engine. Between 1832 and 1839, businessman Robert Anderson invented the first pure electric vehicle, while Professor Sibrandus Stratingh designed and built, with the help of his assistant Christopher Becker, small-scale electric vehicles in 1835.
During the 1850s, the French Gastón Planté improved the electric battery; And during the 1880s, Camille Faure continued to pave the way for electric vehicles. As early as 1867, during the World’s Fair in Paris, the inventor Franz Kravogl showed a two-wheel cycle with an electric motor. France and Great Britain were the first nations to support the widespread development of this type of vehicle, until Camille Jenatzy managed to break the 100 km / h barrier, reaching a maximum speed of 105.88 km / h, just before the preeminence of internal combustion engines.
Electric scooter
Despite having become very fashionable in recent months , the truth is that the electric scooter that we see so much now in big cities like Madrid and Barcelona is not something new. And it is that in 1915, the Krupp empire, a company dedicated to the manufacture of small arms during the War of the 30 years, went to the production of skateboards in its factory located in Long Island, New York. These motorized skateboards were equipped with a 155-cubic-centimeter gasoline engine, being able to reach 25 kilometers per hour.
It was from the 1930s that this type of vehicle began to evolve. Thus, the brakes, lights and suspension were improved , in addition to the folding models. The first models were heavy and with a rather reduced maneuverability, but with time all these characteristics were improved, being able to manufacture even models with seats. After the Second World War, the production of these motorized scooters increased, which became – without even knowing it – the predecessors of modern electric scooters.
Amphibious vehicle
Another outstanding origin is that of the amphibious car , a vehicle that can operate both on land and at sea. To do this, we have to go back more than 200 years to find the first vehicle capable of navigating on land and on water interchangeably. It was created in 1805 by the American inventor Oliver Evans, who manufactured a 17-ton boat that had wooden wheels that allowed the boat to be transported from the water to the workshop and vice versa.
However, the amphibious vehicle became known thanks to a large German manufacturer , during the 1960s. In fact, it was the only brand that had the courage to launch into mass production of this type of vehicle. Although it is true that since then it has been shown that the amphibious vehicle market is not made for mass consumption, it is also true that the Amphicar – which is what they are called – have managed to remain one of the main and few producing companies of this type of vehicle.
