{"id":8856,"date":"2012-06-29T11:30:51","date_gmt":"2012-06-29T10:30:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.urban75.org\/blog\/?p=8856"},"modified":"2012-06-29T10:49:08","modified_gmt":"2012-06-29T09:49:08","slug":"think-electric-taxis-are-a-modern-idea-the-victorians-had-them-back-in-1897","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.urban75.org\/blog\/think-electric-taxis-are-a-modern-idea-the-victorians-had-them-back-in-1897\/","title":{"rendered":"Think electric taxis are a modern idea? The Victorians had them back in 1897"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Think<\/p>\n

The notion of a fleet of\u00a0electric taxi cabs purring around the streets of the capital may still sound the stuff of sci-fi, but they were already a familiar sight on the Victorian roads over a\u00a0century\u00a0ago.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Think<\/p>\n

Developed by a Mr Walter Bersey in 1897, the Bersey taxi\u00a0was London’s first “self-propelled” vehicle and, at their peak, there were no less than\u00a075 \u00a0of these electric cabs going about their business on London’s thoroughfares.<\/p>\n

\"Think<\/p>\n

Bersey’s electric cabs looked exactly the same as a regular old-fashioned horse carriage -but without the horse, natch – and could reach a maximum speed of 9mph. Later tweaks brought this up to a rather nippier 12mph.<\/p>\n

Bersey was keen to voice the advantages of electric vehicles and his arguments sound surprisingly contemporary:<\/p>\n

There is no smell, no noise, no heat, no vibration, no possible danger, and it has been found that vehicles built on this company’s system do not frighten passing horses…<\/p>\n

Whilst petroleum may become the motive power in country districts, and steam will probably be used for very heavy vehicles, there is no doubt that electricity will be the most advantageous where the traffic can be located within a radius.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Think<\/p>\n

“We think of electric cars as something really futuristic we’re investing in to cut climate change. But they’re actually a lot older than we think,” said Selina Hurley, curator of the\u00a0Climate Changing Stories<\/a>\u00a0exhibit at the Science Museum, which has just put a Bersey\u00a0cab on display (see video below).<\/p>\n