[IP encyclopedia] The inventors of electric cars Edison and Tesla

Electric car [Photo provided = imagetoday]

Patent Application : Electrical Automobile Electro-Magnetic Motor (US750102A US382279A)

Year : 1904 1888

Country : United States of America

Region : Essex County New Jersey New York

Name : Thomas A. Edison Nikola Tesla

The second session of introduction to Edison will be about electric cars. Though being under the limelight nowadays electric cars already had a history of taking a major part in the market in the late 1880s in the United States. It dates back from the competition between Edison and Tesla during the ‘Current War’.

Internal combustion engines are currently the standard. It has been improved ever since the German patent of three-wheeled internal combustion locomotive of Karl Benz.

The problem is that the engine is a straight harm to the environment. It greatly affects the climate change global warming glacial melting etc. The United Nations is on action to solve problem.

2025 for Germany and India and 2030 for France and the United Kindoms internal combustion engines are going to be banned. China one of the substantial carbon-emitting countries is planning to join the trend. GM and Ford is also following it up and developing their electric cars.

The invention of electric cars dates far before the internal combustion engine cars. In 1824 Anyos Jedlik of Hungary invented the first car using electric motors though it was not sold publicly due to its not-so-high level of completion.

In the 1800s the research and development of electric cars started to gear up for its acceleration. Robert Andersons electric carts Gaston Plants rechargeable lead storage batteries showed the potential of success in market of electric cars.

In 1899 Belgian inventor Camille Jenatzy demonstrated a electric car named ‘The Never Contented’. It was the first electric car to run faster than 100km per hour. This kind of research became a boom not only in Europe but also in the United States.

Edison as a famous inventor of the time also invented electric batteries. His nickel-iron battery had a high energy density and relatively short charge time but it was expensive and weak to cold weather.

Though shortened 7 hours of recharge time was still too long. In addition the discovery of Texas crude oil in the 1920s drastically dropped oil prices and the adoption of conveyer belts increased productivity. These two factors contributed to the overall price reduction of combustion locomotives and resulted the dominance of Ford.

Tesla was in rivalry with Edison called as the ‘Current War’. Though he invented electric motor for cars in 1888 he never made a complete electric car.

Edison supported the stability of direct current (DC) while Tesla advocated the economic feasibility of alternating current (AC). In order to implement DC power plants must be built near the consuming area. In contrast for AC less power plants were needed to be built because only transformers alter voltage. This feasibility was chosen by the market and Tesla won the competition.

In the 2000s after electric cars became an issue again features of both people are applied the cars. Edison’ DC got infused in batteries while Tesla’s AC found place in motors.

There are reasons for this. AC cannot be stored because of its escaping nature. DC however can be preserved in batteries but it makes noises. As a result in modern electric cars stored DC voltage is sent to motors by inverters by changing them into AC.

Once a rivalry now became a symbiosis. Edison’s insight became a core battery technology and Tesla’s name became a major electricity car manufacturer. After 100 years the efforts and struggle became a innovation.

Electric car is not a result of development in industry. Concerns about the future environment is also deeply imbued in. The bright future of humanity and climate somehow counts on how electric cars are going to be commercialized in the automobile industry.

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