Betcha y’all didn’t know 253

[953 nut 68,459]

September 10, 1897, a 25-year-old London taxi driver named George Smith becomes the first person ever arrested for drunk driving after slamming his electric cab into a building. Smith later pleaded guilty and was fined 20 shillings.

[WHX?? 57,768]

Electric cab in 1897?? 

[Achto 32,342]

12 minutes ago, WHX?? said:

Electric cab in 1897?? 

 

 

 

Went into service in 1897 and were withdrawn from service in 1899 because they were too expensive to maintain.

Edited 1 hour ago by Achto

[WHX?? 57,768]

Cool but banana yellow!?!?! I suppose in '98 they were lime green??? 

[ri702bill 12,800]

4 minutes ago, Achto said:

and were withdrawn from service in 1899 because they were too expensive to maintain.

Does that not sound modern day familiar??

[ri702bill 12,800]

3 minutes ago, WHX?? said:

Cool but banana yellow!?!?! I suppose in '98 they were lime green??? 

"The Jonathan Deere Cab Company"?

[953 nut 68,459]

• 1828–1835 (Models): Ányos Jedlik and Sibrandus Stratingh built small-scale electric model cars using primitive, non-rechargeable batteries. 

• 1832–1839 (First Carriage): Scottish chemist Robert Anderson built a crude electric carriage, known as the first self-powered electric vehicle concept, though it lacked rechargeable cells. 

• 1881 (First Passenger EV): Gustave Trouvé fitted a rechargeable lead-acid battery and a small electric motor to a tricycle, successfully driving it in Paris. 

• 1884 (First Production Car): British inventor Thomas Parker built what is widely considered the first practical, mass-produced four-wheel electric vehicle.
• 1975 (Wheel Horse goes Electric):  with the introduction of the C-185, B-145, A-60, and A-65.
• Overview of the Bersey Cab
  • Nickname: People called them "hummingbirds" because of the quiet buzzing sound they made and their yellow and black colors.
  • Designer: Engineer Walter Bersey created the vehicles for the London Electrical Cab Company.
  • Fleet size: The company ran up to 75 cabs on the streets at its peak.
  • Speed and range: They reached a top speed of 12 mph (19 km/h) and traveled about 30 miles before needing a battery change. 
   
  Rise and Fall
  • Advantages: Passengers liked them because they produced no smoke, made very little noise, and did not scare horses. 
  • Problems: The heavy lead-acid batteries weighed down the cars. This heavy weight ruined the solid rubber tires and shook the glass battery cells apart on bumpy roads. 
  • Closure: High repair costs and frequent breakdowns made the business lose money. The company failed, and the fleet was pulled from service by August 1899. 
  Concurrently in the United States, New York City saw the launch of its own battery-powered electric taxi fleet, the Electrobats, earlier in March 1897

Edited 23 minutes ago by 953 nut

[WHX?? 57,768]

I got a bad feeling  ... now I'm gonna get a DWI on Sylvia's A-60 ...