Talk:Detroit Electric

Speed Limit

"Top speed was only about 20 miles per hour, but this was considered adequate for driving within city or town limits at the time."

IMO this phrase should be rewritten :

- 20 mph (32 km/h) is a good top speed in 1907

- it might well be still adequate for driving within city or town limits today ?

I think 30 or 35 mph (48 or 56 km/h) would be the minimum speed needed in most USA towns and cities today without being a serious obstacle to flow of traffic. Additionally, much traffic many urban areas flows on highways requiring 45 - 55 mph (72 - 88 km/h), so even 35 mph (56 km/h) vehicles would have seriously limited use in many cities. -- Infrogmation 18:04 Mar 31, 2003 (UTC)

In France urban speed limit is 45 km/h (less than 30 mph), even on many urban highways. Our streets are much narrower than in the USA causing traffic jams. Average speed in major city during the daytime is estimated to less than 20km/h. So the Detroit Electric would be just fine in many situations.

Ericd 18:13 Mar 31, 2003 (UTC)

Studies show that even modest reductions in traffic speed in urban settings lead to dramatic reductions in death and serious injury. Enquire (talk) 08:43, 4 September 2008 (UTC)

• Raising the speed limit by 10 km/h significantly increases the number of people killed in road accidents American Journal of Public Health (2004)
• Victoria’s speed limits VicRoads State of Victoria, Australia

In this case, lower speeds in urban areas seems to the way to go anyway.Enquire (talk) 08:43, 4 September 2008 (UTC)

Charging the Detroit Electric

How were the batteries in these cars charged?

I think it can be assumed that they were charged at home for the most part. In the UK, they used to have (maybe still do) a "white meter" which only supplied power at night during periods of low demand for lower cost than the regular "black meter" ... this was used with special cables for storage heaters in the winter. The same idea could be used to provide lower cost electricity when charging electric vehicles at night.Enquire (talk) 08:43, 4 September 2008 (UTC)

When you clearly have no information about the matters you expostulate, why not make bold abitrary assumptions instead ? Why not ? The concept of "off-peak" storage water heaters did not come into use until after WW2, long after electric cars had fallen out of use.Eregli bob (talk) 12:02, 1 May 2012 (UTC)

Split Article? (a) Original company & (b) new company

This article was originally about a defunct company that built electric vehicles in the early 20th century. Now the rights to this company have been acquired and a new company with the same name is now in operation to supply electric vehicles in the early 21st century. Obviously this is the same company in name only and it would be logical to split this article into two ... one for the 20th century company and another for the 21st century company.Enquire (talk) 08:43, 4 September 2008 (UTC)

Agree. Seems to be little or no overlap between the historic company and the new one of the same name. -- Infrogmation (talk) 08:48, 4 September 2008 (UTC)

Actually, they are one and the same. Detroit Electric survived by building specialty electric vehicles, such as Fork Lifts, Tugs, Trucks, Cranes, Mining Vehicles, and the like, although their prime competitor from the electric car days - Baker - is the better known manufacturer in the Specialty Vehicle Business. I operated both Detroit and Baker electric fork lifts while in the Army. - SSG Cornelius Seon (Retired) (talk) 17:25, 25 March 2009 (UTC)

The article says they went defunct in 1939. If that's not true, it should be changed. And it would be nice to have a source for this info. The only source we have now is a broken link. Kendall-K1 (talk) 11:53, 1 May 2012 (UTC)

I've looked into this via the USPTO and the Michigan corporate records database, and the current registrations are new and not connected. There are previous registrations which have expired from the 2000s, the 1980s, and the 1960s, so it's very possible that other manufacturers used the name, but it's also clear that the Zap incarnation and this current Lotus incarnation aren't a continuation. I propose Detroit Electric (1907 company) and Detroit Electric for the current incarnation; both could obviously refer to each other but they aren't really the same company. --Dhartung | Talk 05:52, 21 March 2013 (UTC)

• Support the proposed split. Sminthopsis84 (talk) 14:09, 21 March 2013 (UTC)

Done, although Detroit Electric SP.01 is used. TGCP (talk) 21:49, 16 October 2016 (UTC)

These two unrelated companies are still sharing the same article! 75.170.43.187 (talk) 13:16, 14 February 2018 (UTC)

Dated information

So how is the plan for 270,000 electric cars THIS YEAR going ? Going well ? When can I buy one, Clownish forecasts from when, 2006 ?, have no business here.Eregli bob (talk) 12:04, 1 May 2012 (UTC)

I tried to fix it but couldn't find anything worth salvaging so I removed the entire section. If anyone wants to put the section back in, please cite your sources, and leave the breathless ad copy out. Kendall-K1 (talk) 11:48, 2 May 2012 (UTC)

In 2016, there were 159,000 plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles sold in the US. Not sure if it is relevant to the page, though. Ref: http://insideevs.com/monthly-plug-in-sales-scorecard/ 313-Matt —Preceding undated comment added 16:08, 16 March 2017 (UTC)