CarBrandLogos archive · Studebaker · 1902

StudebakerStudebaker Electric

A wagon builder of fifty years' standing entered the car business on batteries.

Photo: Unknown authorUnknown author · Public domain

The story

A defining chapter in Studebaker history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the Studebaker Electric, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

Origins

Studebaker had been making horse-drawn vehicles at South Bend, Indiana since 1852 and by 1900 was the largest wagon manufacturer in the world. When it moved into automobiles in 1902, it chose electricity rather than petrol, which at the time was a defensible commercial judgement: electric vehicles were quiet, clean, easy to drive and well suited to the paved streets of wealthy cities.

Studebaker Model 2013 Truck 3,5 t · Gasoline and electric automobiles / made by Studebaker Automobile Company Watson Library · Public domain

Design and engineering

The Studebaker Electric was sold as a runabout and later in enclosed forms, aimed at customers who wanted transport without cranking, noise or fumes. Thomas Edison, who was working on battery chemistry at the time, was among the owners.

Studebaker Model 24 Stanhope · Gasoline and electric automobiles / made by Studebaker Automobile Company Watson Library · Public domain

In production

Range and charging killed the idea, as they killed every other American electric of the period. Studebaker began selling petrol cars alongside from 1904 through a partnership with Garford, dropped the electrics in 1912, and spent the next fifty years as a conventional manufacturer.

Studebaker Model 22 Runabout · Gasoline and electric automobiles / made by Studebaker Automobile Company Watson Library · Public domain

At a glance