In chapter 6 of The Electric Vehicle and The Burden of History: Expectations Past and Imperfect, David Kirsch examines the association of technology, society, and environment as well as the procedure and the outcome in the history of American transportation. To start off, Kirsch talks about the history of the Electric Vehicle Company in terms of a prospective alternative automotive system in which gasoline and electric vehicles would have been used to supply a variety of transportation services.
In terms of a timeline for these technologies, at the beginning of the automotive age, near the late 1890’s, steam, gasoline, and electric cars were all in competition to be the dominant automotive technology. In the early 1900s, the dominant automotive …show more content…
In his conclusion, Kirsch states that “it does not mean that there are not legitimate uses for electric cards today” (Kirsch 2000). He discusses that fleet vehicles, as commuting cars, as a second cars for families that already own gasoline automobile for long-distance travel.
There are many unanswered questions left by Kirsch. The primary concern is why electrics have failed so terribly. Rather than answering the questions around failure, Kirsch does his best to avoid that question. Kirsch also avoids the conversation around range – he makes the claim that since most vehicles were used in cities, that meant that range was irrelevant. The only thing that Kirsch makes a convincing argument of is that of the electric truck; trucks operated out and back from a fixed changing base and their maintenance was carefully controlled. In terms of social issues surrounding the electric battery technology, the emphasis that Kirsch had on technical focus does not
In terms of a timeline for these technologies, at the beginning of the automotive age, near the late 1890’s, steam, gasoline, and electric cars were all in competition to be the dominant automotive technology. In the early 1900s, the dominant automotive …show more content…
In his conclusion, Kirsch states that “it does not mean that there are not legitimate uses for electric cards today” (Kirsch 2000). He discusses that fleet vehicles, as commuting cars, as a second cars for families that already own gasoline automobile for long-distance travel.
There are many unanswered questions left by Kirsch. The primary concern is why electrics have failed so terribly. Rather than answering the questions around failure, Kirsch does his best to avoid that question. Kirsch also avoids the conversation around range – he makes the claim that since most vehicles were used in cities, that meant that range was irrelevant. The only thing that Kirsch makes a convincing argument of is that of the electric truck; trucks operated out and back from a fixed changing base and their maintenance was carefully controlled. In terms of social issues surrounding the electric battery technology, the emphasis that Kirsch had on technical focus does not