But did they figure on the Japanese?

A paragraph that would make the engineers at GM, Tesla and Fisker swell with pride, were it not written over 100 years ago. From Appletons' Popular Science Monthly (collected volumes of 1900).

In so far as artistic effect is concerned, our manufacturers of
electric vehicles have little to learn from Europeans, although the
industry here is much younger than abroad. As to the operative merits, all that can be said is that the American carriages run so well and possess such endurance that it is probable that they are not second to any in these respects.

Image of an early American electric car taken from the same article.

Labels: 1900s, Electric Car, Science