More than a century before Teslas hit the road, New York City had already embraced the electric vehicle revolution. The bustling streets of 19th-century Manhattan faced a significant issue: an estimated 150,000 horses each produced 22 pounds of waste daily. This overwhelming waste problem spurred the need for a cleaner solution. The inauguration of New York City’s motorized taxicab service on March 27, 1897, heralded an era of cleaner, quieter transportation. Surprisingly, these first taxis were not powered by gasoline but by electricity. The car of the future, it turns out, has roots deep in the past.
An Electric Start
The idea of electric vehicles zipping through New York City in the 1890s might seem like a steampunk dream, but at the dawn of the automotive age, battery-powered automobiles outsold their internal combustion counterparts. These electric cars were quiet, clean, and easy to drive. “Back then, you were lucky if a gas car started in the morning,” says Dan Albert, author of Are We There Yet? The American Automobile Past, Present, and Driverless. “It was noisy, polluting, and rickety, whereas an electric car started with a flip of the switch.”
In the 19th century, electricity was seen as a magical force capable of overcoming any challenge. “If you asked people on the street what was going to happen, they would have said that electricity is this magic force,” says electric car historian David A. Kirsch, author of The Electric Vehicle and the Burden of History. “We harnessed it for light. We harnessed it for traction through the trolley. It’s spreading everywhere, and now it’s going to take us around.”
The Electrobat
Before Tesla became a household name, the Electrobat emerged as the first commercially viable electric vehicle. Philadelphia engineers Henry Morris and Pedro Salom crafted this 2,500-pound car in 1894, powered by a lead-acid battery. The Electrobat could reach top speeds of 15 miles per hour and cover distances of up to 25 miles on a single charge.
To maintain continuous operation, Morris and Salom devised an ingenious battery-swapping system inside a former Broadway roller skating rink. Employees, working with the efficiency of a NASCAR pit crew, used elevators and hydraulics to maneuver vehicles while an overhead crane swapped out the depleted 1,000-pound batteries for fresh ones. This process took just three minutes. “It was much faster
than changing a horse team and probably as fast as what we would today associate with filling a tank of gas,” Kirsch notes.
A Growing Fleet
The duo’s Manhattan cab service quickly gained popularity, especially among the city’s elite. Instead of selling their cars, Morris and Salom leased their vehicles on a monthly or per-ride basis through their venture, the Electric Wagon & Carriage Company. The taxi fleet expanded from a dozen vehicles in 1897 to over 100 by 1899. The Electrobat, with its rapid acceleration and silent operation, became an ideal city car.
However, its speed and quietness posed unforeseen challenges. In May 1899, cab driver Jacob German became the first automobile operator arrested for speeding after zipping down Lexington Avenue at 12 miles per hour. Weeks later, an electric taxi fatally struck real estate broker Henry Bliss as he stepped off an Upper West Side streetcar, marking the first pedestrian killed by an automobile who never heard the Electrobat coming.
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With backing from wealthy investors like New York financier William Whitney, known for his success in electrifying the city’s streetcars, Morris and Salom expanded their operations. The company merged with electric street railways and battery manufacturing firms, forming an integrated, nationwide electric transportation network. The Electric Vehicle Company grew rapidly, expanding its taxi operations to major cities like Philadelphia, Chicago, and Boston, eventually becoming the nation’s largest automobile manufacturer.
However, this rapid expansion was unsustainable. Poor management of operations outside New York and a scandal involving a fraudulent loan revealed by a New York Herald investigation in late 1899 led to a plummeting stock price. By 1902, the company was virtually bankrupt.
Electric Cars Lose Power
The collapse of the Electric Vehicle Company sent shockwaves through the investment community, casting a shadow over the future of electric vehicles. “The thing that killed it is not the idea, the technology, or the business model,” Albert explains. “It was the shadiness of the wheeler-dealers behind it.”
A devastating fire destroyed a significant portion of the fleet. Coupled with the economic turmoil of the Panic of 1907, this marked the end of electric cabs in New York City just as gasoline-powered vehicles gained momentum. In the same year, local businessman Harry Allen introduced a taxi service with 65 gasoline-powered cabs imported from France. Within a year, his fleet grew to 700 vehicles.
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The Long Road Back
While the internal combustion engine dominated the 20th century, battery power is making a comeback. When 25 all-electric taxis began operation on the streets of New York in 2022, the car of the future arrived—again. The reintroduction of electric taxis not only brings the city full circle but also underscores the enduring potential of electric vehicles in the quest for sustainable urban transportation.
The forgotten history of New York’s first electric taxi fleet serves as a reminder of a time when the city boldly experimented with cutting-edge technology to solve its problems. As we look to the future of urban transportation, the lessons from the Electrobat and its pioneering creators are more relevant than ever.
