The
Studebaker Electric was an automobile produced by the
Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company of
South Bend, IndianaSouth Bend is a city in and the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States, on the St. Joseph River. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total of 107,789 residents; its Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 316,663...
, a forerunner of the
Studebaker CorporationStudebaker Corporation, or simply Studebaker , was a United States wagon and automobile manufacturer based in South Bend, Indiana. Founded in 1852 and incorporated in 1868 under the name of the Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company, the company was originally a producer of wagons for farmers,...
. The battery-powered cars were sold from 1902 to 1912.
Studebaker entered into the automobile manufacturing field in 1898 when
Frederick S. FishFrederick Samuel Fish , born in Newark, New Jersey, was an American lawyer, politician and automotive manufacturing executive. Originally a successful corporation lawyer, he entered the Studebaker corporation through marriage and became the corporation's president in 1909 and chairman of the board...
, as chairman of the executive committee, persuaded the board to supply $4,000 for the development of an
electric vehicleAn electric vehicle , also referred to as an electric drive vehicle, is a vehicle which uses one or more electric motors for propulsion. Depending on the type of vehicle, motion may be provided by wheels or propellers driven by rotary motors, or in the case of tracked vehicles, by linear motors...
.
The
Studebaker Electric was an automobile produced by the
Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company of
South Bend, IndianaSouth Bend is a city in and the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States, on the St. Joseph River. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total of 107,789 residents; its Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 316,663...
, a forerunner of the
Studebaker CorporationStudebaker Corporation, or simply Studebaker , was a United States wagon and automobile manufacturer based in South Bend, Indiana. Founded in 1852 and incorporated in 1868 under the name of the Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company, the company was originally a producer of wagons for farmers,...
. The battery-powered cars were sold from 1902 to 1912.
Studebaker entered into the automobile manufacturing field in 1898 when
Frederick S. FishFrederick Samuel Fish , born in Newark, New Jersey, was an American lawyer, politician and automotive manufacturing executive. Originally a successful corporation lawyer, he entered the Studebaker corporation through marriage and became the corporation's president in 1909 and chairman of the board...
, as chairman of the executive committee, persuaded the board to supply $4,000 for the development of an
electric vehicleAn electric vehicle , also referred to as an electric drive vehicle, is a vehicle which uses one or more electric motors for propulsion. Depending on the type of vehicle, motion may be provided by wheels or propellers driven by rotary motors, or in the case of tracked vehicles, by linear motors...
. However, lacking the board’s full support, the project yielded one car. The company did, however, enter into the field of producing bodies for electric taxis through
Alexander PopeAlexander Pope is a famous eighteenth century English poet, best known for his satirical verse and for his translation of Homer. He is the third most frequently quoted writer in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, after Shakespeare and Tennyson. Pope is famous for his use of the heroic couplet.-...
’s Electric Vehicle Company.
Studebaker formally began production in earnest in 1902, and the company chose battery-powered electric vehicles because they were clean, easily recharged, and worked well in urban centers without need of refueling depots (
gas stationA gas station, fueling station, filling station, service station, petrol station, garage, gasbar, petrol pump or petrol bunk is a facility which sells fuel and lubricants for motor vehicles. The most common fuels sold are petrol A gas station, fueling station, filling station, service station,...
s).
Studebaker Electrics were available in a variety of body styles, many of which mimicked the bodies that it had long produced for its lucrative passenger carriage line. These included the
Stanhope-Places:* Stanhope, Victoria, Australia* Stanhope, Prince Edward Island, Canada* Stanhope, Quebec, Canada* Stanhope, County Durham, England, UK* Stanhope, Kent, England, UK* Stanhope, Peeblesshire, Scotland, UK* Stanhope, Iowa, US* Stanhope, New Jersey, US...
, Victoria, and Surrey. A four-passenger model was introduced in 1904.
Fish realized early on that Studebaker’s future did not rest in the limited electric car, but in the gasoline-powered automobile. Studebaker’s field of expertise was in body building and product distribution, not engine building. This realization led to the creation of the Studebaker-Garford automobile in 1904. The joint agreement worked well until 1909-1910 when Garford attempted to divert chassis to its own brand of automobile, and Studebaker, looking for an affordable car to sell entered into an agreement with the E-M-F Company of Detroit. E-M-F would build the entire car, which would then be distributed through Studebaker wagon dealers.
Still, Studebaker continued to build electric vehicles until Fish decided to begin the process of seizing control of E-M-F in 1909, which Studebaker completed by 1910.
By 1912, it became conventional wisdom that the future lay in gasoline-powered engines rather than heavy, sluggish electrics, and the limited production of electric cars stopped. An official announcement from the newly re-incorporated Studebaker Corporation stated:
-
- The production of electric automobiles at South Bend has ended. . . It has been conducted for nine years without much success, and ultimately the superiority of the gasoline car (is) apparent.