Electric Vehicle Company

The Electric Vehicle Company (previously the Electric Carriage and Wagon Company) was founded by Henry G. Morris and Pedro G. Salom in 1899 by the merger of Pope Manufacturing Company and two smaller firms. The company pioneered the use of pressed steel for wheels, and its cars featured front-wheel drive and brakes, and rear-wheel steering.

Electric Cabs in NYC

In 1899, ninety percent of the cabs in New York City were electric and Jacob German was the first man to be arrested for speeding. He was a New York taxi driver who was arrested  after being caught doing 12 mph on Lexington Avenue. By 1900, the Electric Vehicle Company had put hundreds of its electric Hansom cabs, modeled after the design of its horse-drawn predecessors, on the streets of the metropolis. The Hansoms eliminated the need for a differential by providing a separate motor and axle for each rear wheel.

Beginning in 1901, the Electric Vehicle Company produced both gasoline-powered and electric automobiles.

In 1904, the Electric Vehicle Company built 2000 taxicabs, trucks, and buses, and set up subsidiary cab and car rental companies from New York to Chicago.

1905 advertisement for a line of Columbia gasoline-powered and electric cars built by the Electric Vehicle Company.