1919 Milburn Electric

[Narrator] This 1919 automobile was owned by a notable Iowan, and powered by technology inspired by a Des Moines chemist. On top of that, it proves that sometimes history really does repeat itself.

(The car is predominantly black with a rounded body and towering, boxy windows, curvy fenders and smooth lines. The vehicle has large, spoked wheels that exhibit a pale color contrast against the dark body. Inside, the vehicle's cabin has light-colored curtains that softly drape over the windows.)

Electric cars were on American roads years before the famous Ford Model T. In 1890, Iowa chemist William Morrison built one of the first practical electric cars, helping to advance early development of the technology. Within a decade or two, they were being sold as personal transportation. And at their peak, they made up roughly one third of all vehicles in the United States. Electric vehicles were known for their elegance, with eye catching exteriors and interiors that were surprisingly user friendly for the time.

[Leo Landis, Historian] The Milburn Electric car had front seats that faced the driver, and was controlled on steering with a tiller, which was an older technology. So to move the wheels turning, you moved that lever back and forth. It's called a tiller. And then the accelerator or speed adjustment and forward and reverse was the upper lever. And so pushing forward gave you a different forward speeds. And then pushing back gave you a reverse speed.

[Narrator] Even for several years after the gasoline powered Ford Model T rolled onto the market, electric cars still offered several advantages. Early gasoline cars expected a lot of their drivers. They were loud and difficult to handle. Shifting gears took work. The exhaust wasn't pleasant. And before you could even drive, you  had to start it with a hand crank. Electric cars were often seen as the more refined option. Even if the batteries were a bit space hungry.

[Landis] The 1919 Milburn Electric was a really popular  car in the late 19-teens, especially for women. because they didn't require a crank start.

Today we think about where was the power source, where are the batteries. In the case of the Milburn Electric it was about 12 batteries sitting on a tray under what we would think of as the front hood. So to access it, you'd lift the front hood. 

(Leo opens the hood of the 1919 Millburn Electric)   

And of course, this one does not have its battery sources in it. But there was a tray that would hold a dozen batteries. There would be connections for two main points, and then the rest of the batteries connected to each other.

The challenge with electric cars was that the battery source might weigh several hundred pounds, and so that was a challenge to both find a charging source and also to deal with 600 pounds of batteries at one time.

[Narrator] This 1919 Milburn Electric vehicle, now housed at the State Historical Society of Iowa, was purchased by Iowa Governor George Clark. The same year it was manufactured. His wife Arleta drove it. She also happened to be the  grandmother of Nile Kinnick.

But she wasn't the only well-known person to embrace early electric vehicles. Among the first were some of the country's most visible women.

[Landis] Because electric cars were so popular with women, one of the important places where they were used was at the White House. First Lady Taft used an electric car that was passed on, then to First Lady Wilson, First Lady Harding, and First Lady Coolidge. So there was a great run of United States First Ladies using electric automobiles at the White House. They all kept the same car.

[Narrator] While the Ford Model T rightfully holds an important place in automotive history, its dominance over electric vehicles occurred through a series of small but significant shifts. A mix of inventions and changing American habits gradually tilted the advantage in its favor. The first of those shifts came in 1912 with the invention of the electric starter. Ironically, eliminating the dreaded hand crank on gasoline cars.

[Landis] The Milburn Electric was made in Toledo, Ohio, and it really was one of the most popular electric automobiles. It was around for about a 10 year period.  Around 5,000 were made. But because gasoline really did show how superior it was, and with an electrical start being developed, you didn't have to worry about your wife, your sister having to crank start a car. So electrical starts really put an end to electric cars.

[Narrator] A second key shift came with Henry Ford's moving assembly line, which transformed automotive manufacturing. Cars could now be built faster, in far greater numbers and at prices ordinary Americans could afford.

Fuel also became inexpensive and widely available. As roads improved across the country, Americans gained the freedom to travel farther than ever before. Something gasoline powered cars were better equipped to handle.

This 1919 Milburn Electric may now be an artifact, but its ideas never truly disappeared. In many ways, the technology and design concepts behind these early electric cars are finding new life more than a century later.