In 1900, two types of cars—gas and electric—were competing for the hearts of a public just discovering the miracle of the automobile. When a battery-operated car wont the nation’s first major auto race, held on Long Island, N.Y., some experts predicted the future belonged to the battery. Gasoline cars, after all, were noisy, smelly, and, most critically, difficult to start, requiring laborious and repeated “cranking” by the driver. But then, in 1913, came the invention of the self-starter for the internal combustion engine, and within a few years, the electric car was all but wiped out. – The Week
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