Harnessing the lightning: how a spark of brilliance inspired a transport revolution

 

Phil Carter traces a busy 200 years in the evolution of electric vehicles – and portends a positive future for the next generation of EVs.

When we tell people that we’re developing a high-performance electric motorcycle, the response is invariably a cross between intense admiration and profound pity, as it dawns on them that these are “new inventions” that must face endless regulations and the unremitting challenges of emerging technology. While it’s true that the legislative hurdles can be frustrating, and making any new product is challenging, the bottom line is that electric vehicles have been with us almost as long as mechanical ones – and the science behind them is anything but new.

Thales of Miletus, an ancient Greek philosopher, is often credited with some of the earliest observations related to electricity.

 

But before we dig into the history of electric vehicles (EVs), it’s important to acknowledge that the phenomenon of electrical power goes back to the very dawn of time. Electricity is a form of energy resulting from the presence and movement of electric charges. This energy can be presented in several ways and a well-known example is the lightning we see during storms.  As humans, we’ve been observing electricity for thousands of years without truly understanding it. Indeed, around 600BC, the Greek philosopher Thales of Miletus is supposed to have demonstrated the presence of static electricity by rubbing amber with animal fur, which then attracted other objects like feathers.  

Fast forward to 1752 and it’s generally agreed that electricity was “discovered” by Benjamin Franklin through his famous experiment with a wire, a kite, and a storm. As a result of this experiment, Franklin was able to demonstrate that lightning carried and consisted of electricity. While his discovery was a big deal, it was not until 1800 that Alessandro Volta invented the first electric battery to store and produce a steady flow of current (Volts, anyone?).

Alessandro Volta's voltaic pile: the world's first electric battery, invented in 1800.

 

Almost exactly 200 years ago, in 1822, a very clever man named Michael Faraday (remember the Faraday cage from your school science lessons?) hit upon the laws of electromagnetic induction, and demonstrated the generation of electricity through moving magnetic fields. This laid the foundation for the development of electric generators and transformers. Another half-century on, in 1879, Thomas Edison created the first commercially viable electric lightbulb and went on to develop a method for delivering electricity to the home. And let’s not forget Nicola Tesla who, among dozens of other ground-breaking developments, pioneered ​​alternating current (AC) power transmission.  

As you can see, the development of systems that use electricity has been an ongoing process of trial and error over many generations. Inevitably, using electricity to power transport has taxed some of the greatest minds in history – leading first to electric trams and trains, and then cars, boats, motorcycles, drones, bicycles, and scooters.

Electrifying cars

So when did EVs first make an appearance? Well, in 1828 a Hungarian engineer by the name of Ányos Jedlik developed a type of electric motor that he used to power a model car. Around this time, several other inventors were doing similar things – but these vehicles were not rechargeable.

Ányos Jedlik’s innovative electric motor brought this model car to life, showcasing the early potential of electric propulsion.

 

Towards the end of the 19th century, practical electric vehicles were being developed and, like the combustion engine vehicles of the day, looked like horse-drawn carriages without the horses. During these pioneering days, EVs were popular for similar reasons that they are today. They were quiet, clean, and – compared to early petrol and steam-powered vehicles – much less polluting.

By 1900, it’s estimated that one-third of all vehicles in America were electric and development of more efficient batteries was underway. Interestingly, hybrids were also being developed around this time, with the great Ferdinand Porsche developing a vehicle powered by a battery and a petrol engine. In the mid-1960s, the iconic Mini was used as an electric development vehicle to test regenerative systems. So you can see: the EV revolution is not exactly a new concept!

Porsche’s first hybrid car, the Semper Vivus, marked an historic milestone in automotive innovation.

 

As for electric motorcycles, these were also being experimented with and in the early 1900s companies such as Humber (a bicycle manufacturer) and Ransome Simms and Jefferies (an agricultural equipment maker) built their own electric motorcycles – although neither resulted in a production run.

As we move through the 20th century, the number of electric motorcycle manufacturers is not that great. But without doubt, they were still around. In the 1970s, Mike Corbin developed a ‘street legal’ prototype and followed this up with a land speed record holder called the Quick Silver. In 1978, Transitron Electric Corporation developed a prototype using a Harley-Davidson Sportster frame, and in the 1990s Electric Motorbike Inc produced a bike called the Lectra for a few years.

The Lectra motorcycle’s variable-reluctance brushless electric drive offered a cruising speed of 30 to 35 mph at a price of US$3,995.

 

Into the 2000s, the presence of electric motorcycle manufacturers starts to increase, and over the past 10 years, the number of products you can purchase and ride has started to accelerate – both literally and metaphorically.

The big question

So why did electric vehicles disappear after such a promising start? For a start, the development of mass-produced cars (thank you, Henry Ford) made internal combustion engine (ICE) cars cheaper and more accessible to a much wider audience. The discovery of large (and therefore cheap) reserves of oil also made petrol affordable and enabled the development of petrol stations across large continents – negating the impact of limited engine ranges. The result was an upward spiral of development and growth for the oil, car, and motorcycle industries. EVs did not receive the funding they needed for ongoing development – and consequently fell by the wayside.

 

For ICE car manufacturers, everything was fine and dandy for a good 40 years. Then came the oil crisis of the 1970s, which exacerbated the cost of running a gas-guzzling V8 – particularly in America. Around the same time, a growing environmental movement began to take hold, associating petrol-powered vehicles with pollution and toxins. Indeed, in 2022 the transport industry was contributing 28% of our total greenhouse gases – the most of any industry. Finally, the hour of electric vehicles had arrived.  

Concept of the Electric Mini showcased in 1966 on the BBC, with a 96-volt battery pack. 

 

If, like me, you were born in the 1960s, you’ll remember that every now and then a news article or TV show would roll out a new electric vehicle that was touted to save the planet. These cars were typically lightweight, with dodgy styling, plastic or fibreglass bodywork, no crash protection, terrible range, and the performance of a milk float. But this didn’t stop grand claims being made about how in the next 10 to 20 years, we’d all be driving the equivalent of a four-wheeled wedge of cheese. Some examples were the Sebring Citicar, the Peel Trident (no, I’ve never heard of it before either!), and the Scottish Aviation Scamp. By today’s standards, they were all seriously underwhelming – and it’s no surprise that we didn't flock to their showrooms in droves.

This vintage UK milk float was an early electric vehicle, used for delivering milk door-to-door.

 

During the 1980s, EV vehicle development was constrained with relatively small organisations building niche vehicles for government agencies and utility companies. Then in the early 1990s, automakers like Chrysler and Ford got in on the EV act, along with General Motors, which produced the GM1. However, sales of EVs didn’t really start to gain traction until the early 2000s, thanks to the likes of Tesla, Mitsubishi, Peugeot and Nissan. And they’ve generally been on an upward trajectory ever since.

The future is now

So here we are in 2024, and the world is – once again – driving the EV message forward. The environmental movement has pushed many governments around the world to announce that sales of new ICE vehicles will soon be outlawed, and most people have accepted that combustion engines need to be phased out in their current form.  

As a result, sales of electric vehicles are on the rise. In Norway, by far the world leader, EVs now outstrip ICE passenger vehicles by a factor of four to one. Sales are also growing fast in Iceland, where 41% of vehicles are EVs, Sweden (32%) and Netherlands (24%). All the major auto manufacturers have EVs to sell, and the number of specialised manufacturers like Savic Motorcycles is also on the rise.

The Savic Motorcycles C-Series production model, parked up at Port Melbourne. 

 

So what does the future hold for EVs and electric motorcycles? I can only give you my personal opinion (so if you disagree that’s fine, but as it’s my opinion, please don’t get too upset with me). We’re now in the third decade of the 21st century and are seeing rapid development of mutually-supportive technologies that are driving – and being driven by – the increasing capabilities of the Internet, AI, and real-time telemetry. These new technologies will all help manufacturers deliver different transport solutions for different requirements.

At present, battery technology cannot support the requirements of vehicles travelling huge distances on a single charge – although there is the capability to use swappable batteries for large commercial vehicles, with one company pledging to bring a four-minute ‘fast charge’ to market. The use of hybrid technologies may also be attractive to logistics companies transporting goods across continents. For commuters and relatively short journeys, EVs and electric motorcycles make much more sense than ICE vehicles, as they can easily be recharged at home overnight and don’t emit pollutants from their tailpipes.

MotoE, which began in 2019, features races of approximately 10 to 12 laps as of 2024. 

 

Motorcycling is also a leisure pursuit, so being able to scoot off into the hills and hit the twisties for a day and get home on one charge makes electric motorcycles an extremely attractive option – particularly with the superb levels of performance now being delivered by modern road bikes. Electric bike racing is also with us, with races run over approximately 35 kilometres. Race durations will undoubtedly increase as lessons are learned and new developments implemented.

‍Another example where EVs make sense is mining. If you’re driving a truck around a mine site, you’re not going to be worried about being stranded in the countryside if you run out of charge. Like commuters, as long as you have a recharging or battery swap capability, the benefits of EVs should be attractive to this and many other industries. In 2022, BHP Billiton carried out a trial of the battery-electric Epiroc Boomer M2 ‘Jumbo’ underground drilling vehicle. Indeed, mining companies are already working with the likes of Toyota to introduce light EVs into their fleets, and companies such as Caterpillar have unveiled fully-electric mine trucks.

A positive outlook

I believe the immediate outlook for EVs will consist of more sales, more systems capabilities, further integration over the Internet, better battery and recharging capacities, more recycling, and more efficient manufacturing. Other emerging technologies such as hydrogen and biofuels will provide a mix of different fuel options that will complement battery-electric solutions and together contribute to a steady reduction in global transport emissions.

With the merging of these technologies alongside growing EV sales, I see a change in the way that you and I use and own EVs. In fact, I believe that we will increasingly no longer own EVs (particularly cars). When autonomous vehicles become mainstream, we will be using EV cars on an ‘as needed’ or subscription basis. We’ll hail a car using Didi or Uber to get to work, go shopping or on excursions, and be driven autonomously to our destinations while we work on our laptops, scroll social media, or call friends and family without the risk of being stopped and fined. Any additional costs will be offset by the fact that we no longer have to worry about fuel or maintenance costs – and we don’t have to take out insurance for a vehicle we don’t own.  

The cost of using EVs in this way will make it more economically viable for us as individuals than owning or leasing a vehicle. As a result, the biggest customers of EV manufacturers will be the finance companies that lease EVs to the Ubers and Didis of the world, and rather than cars sitting parked 80% of the time as they are now, they’ll operate for 95% of the day – creating more value for their owners.

I continue to see a positive future for electric motorcycles. A lot of the features we’re now seeing in electric cars– including over-the-air updates, performance upgrades, enhanced visibility and safety – will cross over, and as battery and charging technologies improve, electric motorcycle uptake will naturally increase. Unfortunately, sometime in the future, I suspect our combustion-engine bikes will ultimately be legislated off the roads, and for people like me who grew up on two strokes and multi-cylinder superbikes, this will be a sad day. But for those just getting going in life, it won’t be such an issue. EVs will continue to be the ‘norm’ and petrol-engine vehicles will just be an interesting curiosity. I aim to enjoy both technologies while I still have breath.

Phil Carter has been riding on the road for more than 40 years and hasn’t killed himself or anyone else, which he is proud and relieved about. He’s owned several motorbikes, including a Kawasaki KH100, RZ350LC, GSXR750 slabbie, Kawasaki Z650, KMX200, and Norton Model 50. He currently rides a Harley and a Honda Hornet, and is looking forward to owning his first electric bike.

References & further reading

BHP Billiton - BHP unveils first fully electric Jumbo at Olympic Dam

BBC Science Focus - Who discovered electricity? Probably not who you’re thinking

BBC YouTube Archive - 1966: The Latest Electric Cars

Bulbs.com - History of the Light Bulb

CNN - Tesla sales fall again as more automakers crowd electric vehicle market

Earpeace - Electric motorcycles - a history

energy.gov - The History of the Electric Car | Department of Energy

MCNews - Zero Motorcycles ends consumer sales in Australia; Zero Motorcycles partner with Peter Stevens for Australian comeback

Mine - Around the world of mining vehicle electrification - Issue 130, July 2023

QAGOMA, Brisbane - The Motorcycle - Design, Art, Desire

Peel Engineering - Peel Engineering

RACV - The history and future of electric vehicles

RM Sotherbys - 1978 Transitron Mk II Electric Prototype | Amelia Island 2014

The Scotsman - Scotland’s forgotten car: the Scamp

Time - 1974 Vanguard-Sebring CitiCar - The History of the Electric Car

Total Energies Competition - MotoE Rules | TotalEnergies Competition

US EPA - Sources of Greenhouse Gas Emissions | US EPA

Wikipedia - Electric motorcycles and scooters, History of the electric vehicle

World Resources Institute - These Countries Are Adopting Electric Vehicles the Fastest

Yesterdays - Socovel - 1942 electric motorcycle

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