Barrett-Jackson Auction To Feature Detroit Electric Model D

By Cornelius Nunev

Electric automobiles are really early, as they were being offered well before Henry Ford cooked up the Model T in every color as long as it was black. One particular old electric, a Detroit Electric Model D, is reaching an auction in the near future.

Barrett selling a Detroit Electric Model D, which the Leaf is barely a marked improvement upon

People think that better technology is better than old technology. Advertising businesses and manufacturers love it when you think that, because planned obsolescence is how they get a person's wedding tackle in a vice grip and squeeze until money comes out.

Take the case of electric automobiles. The Nissan Leaf, for example, is hailed as a contemporary technological marvel, but electric cars were, believe it or not, around before the first World War. Not only that, but some from that era had a greater electric range.

At the classic vehicle auction in Arizona, the Barrett-Jackson public sale will be selling off a 1910 Detroit Electric Model D produced by Detroit Electric. The vehicle had a 100-mile range at the time, according to the Daily Mail, which is better than some of our electrics.

Much slower than you may think

About 28 percent of all vehicles in 1900 were electric automobiles because they were quieter than gas-powered automobiles and were much simpler to make. There were comparable technologies used to make them, but electric motors used batteries. It took no time at all to plug the vehicles into a charger at home. According to CNET, less than one percent of vehicles are electric.

There were a variety of companies that upset electric vehicles, according to the Truth About Automobiles, but Thomas Edison only endorsed Detroit Electric publicly. Between 1907 and 1939, they sold about 20,000 automobiles.

Slow car

By contemporary requirements, they didn't look like much, resembling a horse buggy with headlights stuck on the front. They weren't terribly fast either with a top speed of 25 miles per hour, though few passenger cars were much quicker than that at the time. It had a maximum range of about 100 miles per charge.

The cost of an automobile back then was outrageous since cars were pretty much just made as toys for rich people. It cost more than your average Nissan at a Nissan dealer in Everett. For $2,400, you can get a Detroit Electric Model D. That is the same as $135,000 now, according to the Daily Mail.

It is anticipated that the Model D will get $70,000 to $80,000 in the public sale. There was a Detroit Electric company started in 2009 to create an automobile with vehicle company Proton that is similar. It sold for about $25,000 at the time in different nations, but it dissolved easily.

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