The Forgotten History of New York's First Electric Taxis

The first taxis that appeared on the streets of New York (USA) did not run on gasoline but on electricity - "the cars of the future turned out to be from the past."

The crowded streets of 19th-century Manhattan had a horse problem. An estimated 150,000 horses roamed the city, each producing 22 pounds of waste per day.

The inauguration of New York City's motorized taxi service on March 27, 1897, promised a cleaner solution: The first taxis ran not on gasoline but on electricity. It turns out that the car of the future actually came from the past.

 Electrobat - one of the world's first all-electric cars, was popular with the upper class in Manhattan, New York in the late 19th century. (Source: National Geographic)

The 1890s

With the idea of ​​electric cars zipping around New York in the 1890s, battery-powered cars outsold internal combustion engine cars at the dawn of the automobile era. Electric cars were quiet, clean, and easy to drive.

'Back then, you were lucky if your 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 creaky, whereas an electric car starts with the flip of a switch.'

In the 19th century, when electricity first came into practical use, it seemed capable of overcoming all odds. 'If you asked people on the street what was going to happen, they would say electricity was a 'magical force,'' says electric car historian David A. Kirsch.

'We harness electricity to create light. We use electricity to power our vehicles. Electricity is everywhere, and now it takes us everywhere.'

The Pioneer Electrobat

While Nikola Tesla was the 'only Tesla' in the spotlight, the Electrobat emerged as the first commercially viable electric car. Built in 1894 by Philadelphia engineers Henry Morris and Pedro Salom, the 2,500-pound vehicle was powered by lead-acid batteries. It reached a top speed of 15 miles per hour and could travel up to 25 miles on a single charge.

Furthermore, the two engineers came up with a clever battery-swapping system inside an old Broadway roller rink to keep the car running continuously.

Working with the efficiency of a NASCAR salvage team , the crew manipulates the cars using lifts and hydraulics like an overhead crane, plucking out the 1,000-pound (453kg) batteries that have been drained and installing new ones.

The process took just three minutes. 'It was much faster than changing a team of horses and probably as fast as filling a tank of petrol today,' said Kirsch.

The engineering duo 's Manhattan taxi service quickly became popular, especially among the upper echelons of society. Instead of selling the cars, Morris and Salom opted to rent them out on a monthly or per-ride basis through their joint venture, Electric Wagon & Carriage Company.

The taxi fleet grew dramatically, from just a dozen in 1897 to over 100 in 1899. The Electrobat proved to be the ideal 'city car' with its quick acceleration and quiet operation.

However, its speed and quietness pose unforeseen challenges.

 An 1896 Morris and Salom electric car. (Source: HotCars).

In May 1899, newspapers reported that taxi driver Jacob German became the first motorist to be arrested for speeding after speeding down Lexington Avenue at 12 miles per hour (19 km/h).

A few weeks later, an electric taxi struck and killed real estate broker Henry Bliss as he stepped off a streetcar on the Upper West Side: The first pedestrian to be fatally struck by a car never heard the Electrobat approaching.

'Bubble burst'

Morris and Salom found new backing from wealthy investors, notably New York financier William Whitney—famous for his success in electrifying the city's streetcars.

Under Whitney's leadership, the company merged with battery manufacturers and electric rail companies to form an integrated nationwide electric transportation network.

The Electric Car Company quickly expanded its taxi operations to major cities such as Philadelphia, Chicago, and Boston, eventually becoming the nation's largest automaker.

However, the company's rapid expansion proved unsustainable. Operations outside New York were poorly managed, and investors felt cheated when a New York Herald investigation in late 1899 revealed that the company had fraudulently secured a loan. The company's stock plummeted, and the business nearly went bankrupt by 1902.

The Collapse

The collapse of Electric Vehicles sent shockwaves through the investment community and cast a shadow over the future of electric vehicles.

'What kills a company isn't really the idea, the technology or the business model - it's the dishonesty of the people behind it,' says Albert .

A devastating fire destroyed a significant portion of the fleet. Combined with the economic turmoil of the 1907 crash, this fire dealt the final blow to New York's electric taxis just as gasoline-powered vehicles were beginning to gain traction on the market.

That same year, local businessman Harry Allen introduced a taxi service with 65 gasoline-powered taxis imported from France. Within a year, his fleet had grown to 700.

The internal combustion engine powered the next century of American life, but battery power is making a long comeback. When 25 all-electric taxis hit the streets of New York in 2022, the car of the future is here — again.