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> It's pretty trivial to range extend a gas vehicle within reasonable limits. Gas cans... gas cans!? the way we generally range extend a gas vehicle is to pull

> It's pretty trivial to range extend a gas vehicle within reasonable limits. Gas cans... gas cans!? the way we generally range extend a gas vehicle is to pull into a gas station and a couple minutes later you're on your way again. For electrics, gas cans would be additional heavy batteries, while filling stations have the longer refill time, which can fit your schedule (recharge while at work) or not (stop to recharge every few hours on a long drive). (please don't all start telling me about quick charging and a list of neat things to do while you wait and how the mindfulness is overall better. I'm just making a comment about available means to extend the range of a car) in the transition phase (horse to car), a farmer with a model T could use a horse and buggy to bring a gas can to a stalled car. Would have to tow the battery car to where there is electricity and a rectifier. Look up "rural electrification program" to see how little electricity there was in the hinterlands at that time.

tuatoru 3y ago
At the time rural domestic light was provided by kerosene lamps. The kerosene was sold in four-gallon(?) tins by general stores. Gasoline was initially sold in the same way, as another product just like kerosene at your local general store. Familiarity is another thing that would have pushed people towards gasoline rather than electric. As well as the easy replication of the distribution network, by the same suppliers. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerosene_lamp https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerosene_lamp
- drewcoo 3y ago
  Electricity was not just unfamiliar to people. It was not understood. It was magic, possibly not just good magic. That was a time before electrical engineering as mature field really existed. The situation parallels software today. It didn't help that Edison was electrocuting animals across the country to frighten people about AC in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topsy_(elephant) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topsy_(elephant) The mysterious workings of electrical gadgets were also the inspiration for Rube Goldberg's cartoons. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/story-behind-rube-goldbergs-complicated-contraptions-180968928/ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/story-behind-rube-gol... That was the electrical zeitgest a little over a century ago.
  - fmj 3y ago
    Did you even read the article you linked to? > The story of Topsy fell into obscurity for the next 70 years but has become more prominent in popular culture, partly because the film of the event still exists. In popular culture, Thompson and Dundy's killing of Topsy has switched attribution, with claims it was an anti-alternating current demonstration organized by Thomas A. Edison during the war of the currents. Edison was never at Luna Park and the electrocution of Topsy took place ten years after the war of currents.

tuatoru 3y ago

At the time rural domestic light was provided by kerosene lamps. The kerosene was sold in four-gallon(?) tins by general stores. Gasoline was initially sold in the same way, as another product just like kerosene at your local general store. Familiarity is another thing that would have pushed people towards gasoline rather than electric. As well as the easy replication of the distribution network, by the same suppliers. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerosene_lamp https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerosene_lamp

drewcoo 3y ago
Electricity was not just unfamiliar to people. It was not understood. It was magic, possibly not just good magic. That was a time before electrical engineering as mature field really existed. The situation parallels software today. It didn't help that Edison was electrocuting animals across the country to frighten people about AC in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topsy_(elephant) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topsy_(elephant) The mysterious workings of electrical gadgets were also the inspiration for Rube Goldberg's cartoons. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/story-behind-rube-goldbergs-complicated-contraptions-180968928/ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/story-behind-rube-gol... That was the electrical zeitgest a little over a century ago.
- fmj 3y ago
  Did you even read the article you linked to? > The story of Topsy fell into obscurity for the next 70 years but has become more prominent in popular culture, partly because the film of the event still exists. In popular culture, Thompson and Dundy's killing of Topsy has switched attribution, with claims it was an anti-alternating current demonstration organized by Thomas A. Edison during the war of the currents. Edison was never at Luna Park and the electrocution of Topsy took place ten years after the war of currents.