The Fastest Men on Earth / Electric Car.

With the “Global Warming” and “Green” debate continuing unabated more and more attention is being to the subject of “electric vehicles”. Many of todays’ big car manufacturers are currently producing hybrid cars whilst searching for the ultimate “electric car”.
So many people think that the “electric” car is something of the future when in fact our love affair with the car all started with the “electric” version in the 1800s.

Back in the 1830s Robert Anderson in Scotland and Christopher Becker in Holland both built forerunners of the electric car. More practical and successful vehicles were invented by American Thomas Davenport and Scotsman Robert Davidson in the 1840s and for the next 40 years fine tuning of all the components eventually produced the early models which would flourish until the early 1920s.

Although considered slow by todays standards these early electrics outclassed other gasoline and steam powered cars. In 1898 La France Automobile magazine inaugurated a “race”, in fact a timed run over a 2Km stretch of straight road near Achères in France to determine the top speed of the cars. Cars were to be timed over the first Km from a standing start and the second from a flying start. The fastest was Count de Chasseloup-Laubat at a speed of 39.3 mph driving a 40 hp electric car. On hearing this news Belgian, Camille Jenatzy immediately challenged him to a duel over the same course. The duel was to be held over the same course on the 17 January 1899 when the Count retained his record with an overall speed of 43.7 mph. Jenatzy again challenged the Count and on the 27 January he beat the previous time with a run of 50 mph. A further rematch on the 4 March saw the Count retain top speed with a run of 57.6 mph. Disconsolate Jenatzy built a new car which he named “La Jamais Contente” (Never Content) and on the 29 April everything went exactly to plan and he was timed at an overall speed of 65.79 mph the first recorded speed in excess of the “magic” 100 km/h. And this was really the start of a new competition which would eventually be for the land speed record, a race to be the fastest man on earth.

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