EVs Catch On after 100 years

"What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun." Thinking about electric vehicles reminded me of this Old Testament verse. I thought we would have fun comparing one of today's top EVs to those of 100 years ago. Yes, electric vehicles competed with internal combustion engine (ICE) cars. The two photos show the Detroit Electric model from the Anderson Electric Car Company and the Model S from Tesla.

The older photo shows Thomas Edison in front of the Detroit Electric. Edison owned one of these cars. Electric autos were relatively common in the early 1900s but lost out to ICE vehicles. Ironically, the advent of the electric starter replacing the hand crank helped ICE autos dominate the market. Cost was a big factor too; the Ford model T cost about $500 while the Detroit Electric was more than four times that. What was that under the sun?