Chinese Influenced by Grandma Duck

[W. Gray]

Grandma Duck, the former Elvira Coot, actually drove a Detroit Electric, a real life automobile, in the comic strips.

The car was manufactured by the Anderson Carriage Company in Detroit.

Why did Grandma drive an electric?

They were popular with wealthy women because the car started dependably and did not need hand cranking, an effort that was strenuous and sometimes dangerous. Because of their starting reliability, they were also popular with doctors who made house calls.

Women also like them because they were a classy automobile, quiet, enclosed, and clean running without exhaust.

Two foldaway levers controlled the rear wheel drive car, a long one for steering, and a short one for speed.

Price for the Detroit Electric in 1914 was $2,650 with fourteen, six-volt rechargeable lead acid batteries providing eighty-four volts total.

If one wanted Edison Nickel Iron batteries, they were $600 extra. (with the same $600, one could buy a Model T Ford.)

Nickel Iron batteries were invented by Thomas Edison in the early 1900s, had a longer life, and would not freeze.

Henry Ford's wife refused to drive a gasoline car. She owned three Detroit electrics.

The Detroit Electric could travel 80 miles per charge. There was a top speed of 20 mph.

Peak of production was between 1910 and 1919 selling over 1,000 cars per year. Production dropped after than but the company kept on building.

The company survived the stock market crash and made their last car in February 1939.

13,290 cars were produced.

The China Youngman Automotive Group announced in February 2008 that they are reviving the Detroit Electric name with manufacture in China.