Studebaker Electric

The Studebaker Electric wis an automobile produced bi the Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company o South Bend, Indiana, a forerunner o the Studebaker Corporation. The battery-pouered caurs wur sauld frae 1902 tae 1912.

Thomas Edison on his 1903 Electric Studebaker

Omnibus Electric Bus made bi Studebaker.

1905 Electric Studebaker 1905 electric vehicle ad.

Studebaker entered intae the automobile manufacturin field in 1898 when Frederick S. Fish, as chairman o the executive committee,^[1]^:p.66 persuadit the board tae supply $4,000 for the development o an electric vehicle. Housomeivver, lackin the board’s full support, the project yieldit ane caur. The company did, housomeivver, enter intae the field o producin bodies for electric taxis through Alexander Pope’s Electric Vehicle Company.

Studebaker formally began production in earnest in 1902, an the company chose battery-pouered electric vehicles acause they wur clean, easily recharged, an wirkt well in urban centers athoot need o refuelin depots (gas stations).

Studebaker Electrics wur available in a variety o body styles, mony o which mimickt the bodies that it haed lang produced for its lucrative passenger carriage line. These includit the Stanhope, Victoria, an Surrey. A fower-passenger model wis introduced in 1904.

Fish realized early on that Studebaker’s future did no rest in the limited electric caur, but in the petrol-pouered automobile. Studebaker’s field o expertise wis in body buildin an product distribution, no ingine buildin. This realization led tae the creation o the Studebaker-Garford automobile in 1904. The joint agreement wirkt well till 1909-1910 when Garford attemptit tae divert chassis tae its awn brand o automobile, an Studebaker, leukin for an affordable caur tae sell entered intae an agreement wi the E-M-F Company o Detroit. E-M-F woud build the entire caur, which woud then be distributit through Studebaker wagon dealers.

Still, Studebaker continued tae build electric vehicles till Fish decidit tae begin the process o seizin control o E-M-F in 1909, which Studebaker completit bi 1910.^[1]^:p.70

By 1912, it became conventional wisdom that the future lay in petrol-pouered ingines rather than hivy, sluggish electrics, an the limitit production o electric caurs stopt. An offeecial annooncement frae the newly re-incorporatit Studebaker Corporation statit:

The production o electric automobiles at South Bend haes endit. . . It haes been conductit for nine years athoot muckle success, an ultimately the superiority o the petrol caur (is) apparent.

References

↑ ^a ^b Longstreet, Stephen (1952). A Century on Wheels: The Story of Studebaker. New York: Henry Holt and Company. p. 121. 1st edn., 1952.

See an' a'

[Longst-1] Longstreet, Stephen (1952). A Century on Wheels: The Story of Studebaker. New York: Henry Holt and Company. p. 121. 1st edn., 1952.

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