A fundamental question that will keep coming up is this: What are the best ways to design for maintenance? At the very beginning of the auto industry, no less than three radically different design-for-maintenance philosophies fought it out. One lost, but not because of maintenance issues. The other two won big by rejecting each other’s approach to maintenance.
Electric automobiles were the first to market, almost fully formed by the 1890s. Technology historian George Basalla writes:
The electric car appeared to have all of the good points of the horse and buggy with none of its drawbacks. It was noiseless, odorless, and very easy to start and drive. No other motor vehicle could match its comfort and cleanliness or its simplicity of construction and ease of maintenance. Its essential elements were an electric motor, batteries, a control rheostat to regulate speed, and simple gearing. There was no transmission and, hence, no gears to shift
By the first decade of the twentieth century, dozens of manufacturers in America and Europe were offering electric automobiles. New York, London, and Paris had fleets of electric taxis and delivery vehicles.
Gasoline-powered internal combustion engines were arriving at the same time, but they were a pain to run. Owners who could afford it hired a chauffeur to repair and drive the complex machines. The electric vehicles were so easy to use that they were marketed especially to women. An advertisement for Rauch & Lang Electrics listed the advantages:
Electric Car Supremacy
Every member of your family can drive it—no chauffeur needed. It offers all of the best qualities of a gasoline car without any disagreeable features—danger from gasoline—-offensive odors of oil-—grime, dirt, and the difficulties attending its operation…. Its upkeep is far below that of the gas car, to say nothing of the depreciation difference…. No machinery to get out of order—no mechanician needed—no engine trouble—no nerve racking gear clashing—no exhaust noise to disconcert the timid—nothing, but just the enjoyment of rapid transit in an easy, luxurious, delightful manner.
Electric cars scored high on all the issues of vehicle maintenance. Compared with gasoline engines, they had far fewer moving parts and almost none of the problems that come with fluids: no explosive gasoline, no scalding water steaming out of the radiator, no oil to change. The electrics ran cool and quiet, with none of the high temperatures and percussion of internal combustion engines. Only the lead-acid batteries needed frequent attention—their water had to be checked and refilled, the accumulated sludge removed, and the positive plates cleaned.