Alternative Power Sources

Among rival power sources to the internal combustion gasoline engine was the steam engine. One of the most famous and successful of the early steamers was the Stanley. This 1906 Stanley Steamer was driven by its owner from Flint to Dearborn for the Old Car Festival at Dearborn, Mich.

There is much interest now in development of electric cars, but they are nothing new. This 1912 Baker Electric, built in Cleveland, was one of the most successful along with the Detroit Electric, built in Detroit. The reasons they lost out to the gasoline engine are still obstacles to their development -- the range is limited, the batteries are very heavy and they are not efficient.

The most popular electric vehicle ever marketed in the United States was the Detroit Electric. Shown here is a 1915 model. William C. Anderson, owner of the Anderson Carriage Co. which had moved from Port Huron, Mich., to Detroit, began building an electric car in 1907 designed by George M. Bacon. In 1909, Anderson purchased Elwell-Parker Co., Cleveland, which had built motors for the Baker Electric. Anderson retired in 1918 and was suceeded as president by M.S. Towson, formerly of Elwell-Parker, who changed the company's name to Detroit Electric Car Co. The company built electrics until it gave up the ghost against gasoline engines in 1936.