100-year-old electric car to go into production again

The electric car that was good enough for John D. Rockefeller Jr is going back on sale, if only in limited numbers.

Jay Leno driving one of Anderson's electric cars
Photo credit: Detroit Electric

To promote itself, Detroit Electric -- a new joint venture between Zap and China's Youngman Automotive Group -- plan to release a limited number of cars based around the company's namesake, the Detroit Electric, an electric car produced by the Anderson Electric Car Co. in the early part of the 20th century.

Anderson produced various models of the Detroit Electric from 1907 to 1939; customers included Henry Ford and Rockefeller and the car was also featured on a stamp. Host of NBC's Tonight Show, Jay Leno, has some Detroit Electric cars amongst his vast automotive collection.

Back in 1917, a Detroit Electric cost anywhere from US$1,775 to US$2,375 -- in other words, fit for the proletarian or plutocrat. The cars travel between 100km to 160km on a battery charge, with a max speed of between 10km/h and 40km/h.

Although Anderson grew throughout the 1910s, prices continued to drop on petrol-engined cars, which started to sap sales in the 1920s. The stock market crash of 1929 then dealt the company a fatal blow, although it lingered through the 1930s before collapsing in 1939.

It wasn't for lack of enthusiasm, though, with Anderson's ads enthusiastically spruiking the Detroit Electric. "The magnificent Detroit Electric is easily the enclosed car sensation of the year," read one. While another pitched the car firmly at the female populace: "For the bride to be, or the bride of many Junes ago, a Detroit Electric ... No other bridal present means so much, expresses so perfectly all you need to say."

Detroit Electric, in its new incarnation, plans to produce electric economy cars sometime in 2010.