The Electrobat was the first successful electric automobile. It was designed and built in 1894 by mechanical engineer Henry G. Morris and chemist Pedro G. Salom in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

. Both had backgrounds in battery streetcars and, as the battery streetcar business was fading, they teamed up to make battery road vehicles. Their effort was patented on August 31, 1894. Built like a small version of a battery streetcar, it was a slow, heavy, impractical vehicle with steel tires to support the immense weight of its large lead battery. It entered production in 1895. In 1896, Morris and Salom founded the Morris & Salom Electric Carriage and Wagon Company, evidently the first electric car company in America.

Subsequent versions were lighter and had pneumatic tires, with bodies built at the Caffery Carriage Company in Camden, New Jersey

Camden, New Jersey

The city of Camden is the county seat of Camden County, New Jersey. It is located across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city had a total population of 77,344...

. These cars steered by their rear wheels and had two 1.5 hp motors that propelled them 25 miles (40.2 km) per charge at 20 mph (8.9 m/s). Morris and Salom went on to build about a dozen Hansom cab

Hansom cab

The hansom cab is a kind of horse-drawn cart designed and patented in 1834 by Joseph Hansom, an architect from York. The vehicle was developed and tested by Hansom in Hinckley, Leicestershire, England. Originally called the Hansom safety cab, it was designed to combine speed with safety, with a low...

s based on this vehicle, to compete with the horse-drawn cabs then in service in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

; they operated in New York, Boston

Boston

Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

, and elsewhere. They sold the cabs and their concept to Isaac L. Rice

Isaac Rice

Isaac Leopold Rice was a U.S. inventor and a chess patron and author.- Biography :...

, who reincorporated the enterprise as the Electric Vehicle Company

Electric Vehicle Company

-History:The Electric Vehicle Company was founded as a holding company of battery-powered electric automobile manufacturers made up of several car companies assembled by Isaac L. Rice beginning in 1897. It was taken over in 1899 by William C. Whitney and P. A. B...

 (Elizabethport, New Jersey

Elizabethport, New Jersey

A neighborhood in the City of Elizabeth, New Jersey. Formerly home of the Singer Manufacturing Company, makers of Singer Sewing Machines....

), in 1897, and later became part of Pope

Albert Augustus Pope

Albert Augustus Pope was a Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel who founded the Pope Manufacturing Company in 1877. -Birth:...

's empire.