The Lion's Pride Volume 9 (January 2018) | Page 67

powered by electricity, and electric autos represented about one-third of
all cars found on the roads of New York City, Boston, and Chicago.” By
1908 though, Henry Ford had begun mass-production of the gas-
powered Model T, and by the 1920s “the electric car ceased to be a
viable commercial product. The electric car’s downfall was attributable
to a number of factors, including the desire for longer distance vehicles,
their lack of horsepower, and the ready availability of gasoline,” (PBS).
None of the initiatives in the U.S. turned the tide, including a bill
by Congress in 1966 “recommending use of electric vehicles as a
means of reducing air pollution,” (PBS); and a renewed interest in EVs
with the rise of oil prices in the 1970s. Heavy lead-acid batteries
combined with all-steel constructed vehicles (common U.S.
manufacturing of that time) would have weighed so much performance
would have suffered enough to deter buyers. Eventually, in 2008, “gas
prices reached record highs of more than $4 a gallon and car sales
dropped to their lowest levels. American automakers began to shift their
production lines to smaller, more fuel-efficient cars,” (PBS). In 2009, as
car manufacturers around the world were experimenting with EV
options, “BYD, a Chinese battery manufacturer turned automaker,
released the F3DM, the world’s first mass produced plug-in hybrid
compact sedan,” (PBS), powered by lithium iron phosphate batteries.
Barack Obama was also a big supporter of electric powered cars in
the U.S. Shortly after he took office, “The American Recovery and