Electrifying Chicago: the emergence of an ‘electric car city’ in the early 20th century
Taalbi, Josef LU and L. Cermeño, Alexandra LU
(2023)
Svenska ekonomisk-historiska mötet 2023
- Abstract
- This paper explores the emergence and disappearance of electric car clusters in the early 20th century US. Although we know that the electric vehicle lost its share of the market by the 1920s, more successful electric vehicle clusters survived longer in specific areas, for example in Chicago. This research paper delves into what made Chicago stand out in terms of electric vehicle adoption as compared to similar cities. Using quantitative and qualitative evidence we build a narrative of the key factors that explain Chicago’s long run electric vehicle adoption. We document that the unusual longevity of electric passenger cars, and especially electric trucks, in Chicago, can be in part explained by the ample availability of infrastructure.... (More)
- This paper explores the emergence and disappearance of electric car clusters in the early 20th century US. Although we know that the electric vehicle lost its share of the market by the 1920s, more successful electric vehicle clusters survived longer in specific areas, for example in Chicago. This research paper delves into what made Chicago stand out in terms of electric vehicle adoption as compared to similar cities. Using quantitative and qualitative evidence we build a narrative of the key factors that explain Chicago’s long run electric vehicle adoption. We document that the unusual longevity of electric passenger cars, and especially electric trucks, in Chicago, can be in part explained by the ample availability of infrastructure. This, in turn, owed to dynamic complementarities in a technological system where Samuel Insull acted as a central “system visionary”. We discuss potential lessons for policy and infrastructure planning. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/04dc63bb-3c17-409f-8ae4-f5c3568aa84d
- author
- Taalbi, Josef
LU
and L. Cermeño, Alexandra
LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2023
- type
- Contribution to conference
- publication status
- published
- subject
- conference name
- Svenska ekonomisk-historiska mötet 2023
- conference location
- Lund, Sweden
- conference dates
- 2023-09-28 - 2023-09-29
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 04dc63bb-3c17-409f-8ae4-f5c3568aa84d
- date added to LUP
- 2024-07-30 23:43:06
- date last changed
- 2024-08-07 02:55:05
@misc{04dc63bb-3c17-409f-8ae4-f5c3568aa84d,
abstract = {{This paper explores the emergence and disappearance of electric car clusters in the early 20th century US. Although we know that the electric vehicle lost its share of the market by the 1920s, more successful electric vehicle clusters survived longer in specific areas, for example in Chicago. This research paper delves into what made Chicago stand out in terms of electric vehicle adoption as compared to similar cities. Using quantitative and qualitative evidence we build a narrative of the key factors that explain Chicago’s long run electric vehicle adoption. We document that the unusual longevity of electric passenger cars, and especially electric trucks, in Chicago, can be in part explained by the ample availability of infrastructure. This, in turn, owed to dynamic complementarities in a technological system where Samuel Insull acted as a central “system visionary”. We discuss potential lessons for policy and infrastructure planning.}},
author = {{Taalbi, Josef and L. Cermeño, Alexandra}},
language = {{eng}},
title = {{Electrifying Chicago: the emergence of an ‘electric car city’ in the early 20th century}},
year = {{2023}},
}