ELECTRIC CARS:
BACK TO THE FUTURE
This is a museum that whilst oozing nostalgia also looks at the future of motoring and speculates on the acceptability and convenience of electric cars.
An exhibition entitled ‘Back to the Future’ explains that the concept is not entirely new as electricity was widely used as a means of motive power in the early 1900s, peaking in the 1920’s, since with the advantages of a well established refueling, servicing and mending infrastructure, the internal combustion engine, with increasingly more efficient performance and reliability, and yet inherent emissions, has so far reigned supreme, over hybrid and electric variants.
Many early electric vehicles were little less than horseless carriages. An example on display at the museum is the Auto Red Bug, which is a small two person wooden buckboard made in America in different guises from 1914, until the mid 1930s. Popular in the US, it was also imported into Europe in the thousands, being used at hotels and holiday resorts, and also for road use.
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- Open daily except Christmas Day from 10.00
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- Closing at 16.30 until the 30th March then 17.30 until the end of October
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- Enquiry line: 015395 30400
The electric car, almost one hundred years on, appears almost finally ready to fulfill its destiny. Some problems still remain to be solved, before electricity can replace petrol and diesel, but many of the electric powered cars coming on to the market today offer performance, range, comfort and style, albeit at a premium cost.
There has been significant progress since Sir Clive Sinclair, launched his battery powered C5, in 1985, followed by the Zike in 1992, and more recently the Velomobile.
