The improvement of batteries by Edison marked a before and after in the autonomy and efficiency of electric cars. Determining what exactly the first electric car was is complicated and somewhat unfair, considering that there were several initial attempts during the 19th century. For example, Ányos Jedlik presented a prototype in 1828 that was powered by an electric motor. In 1834, blacksmith Thomas Davenport also designed a vehicle that moved with electricity, although it was limited to moving in a circuit with electricity. In that same year, Dutch professor Sibrandus Stratingh together with Christopher Becker developed another model that operated with electric cells that could not be recharged. Although there were many pioneers in the development of the electric automobile, the Scotsman Robert Anderson, between 1832 and 1839, is commonly recognized as one of the precursors. He created a prototype that was essentially a carriage from back then, powered by non-rechargeable electric batteries. Despite the many pioneers, history recognizes Robert Anderson as one of the first innovators in the creation of electric vehicles.
Later, with advances in battery technology, the Frenchman Gustave Trouvé presented a three-wheeled electric vehicle at the Paris International Exhibition of 1881, demonstrating the progress achieved to that date. It is important to note that in 1880, a year before the presentation of Trouvé, the first rechargeable batteries were invented, an advance that facilitated the creation of more efficient and sustainable cars. A notable example of this progress was the car “La Jamais Contente”, which in 1899 set a significant record in the history of motor racing by reaching a speed of 105 km/h, a figure that was unimaginable at the time. After the first experimental models appeared on the scene, electric cars began to be seen on the streets, especially among people with more resources, while people with lower purchasing power traveled on horseback. Breaking records in 1899, La Jamais Contente demonstrated the speed potential of electric vehicles.
With the arrival of the 20th century, Thomas Edison managed to improve rechargeable nickel-iron batteries, extending the range of electric cars, which reached up to 130 km/h, considered a high speed for that time. However, with the explosion of the oil industry since the 1920s, owning an electric car became a luxury compared to vehicles with internal combustion engines, which offered lower operating costs. Nowadays, due to concern about climate change, there has been a renewed interest in electric cars, which offer, in addition to a lower environmental impact, advances in technology and connectivity, representing an alternative more in line with current ecological awareness. An alternative was developed in New Zealand that could reduce dependence on traditional batteries for electric vehicles by creating synthetic graphite from wood chips. CarbonScape uses wood to create batteries for electric cars. Through a process called pyrolysis, CarbonScape transforms wood industry waste, such as bark and other smaller fragments, into “biochar,” a carbon-rich material that is then converted into a more sustainable basic form of graphite, according to the company. company. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, the company’s CEO, Ivan Williams, assured that “the mission is to decarbonize the electric vehicle industry.” The executive indicated that technology can be used to use wood waste as raw material. Furthermore, this could serve as an alternative to access new supply chains since currently the market is mainly dominated by China, at least in this sector of the industry in which batteries for this type of automobile are manufactured. On the other hand, the fact that this new type of batteries uses processed wood as one of its main components in the manufacturing process, allows us to stop paying attention to the metals that are usually extracted from mines in highly polluting processes, as is the case of lithium, iron and phosphate.