page_title: F. B. Fetherstonhaugh
section_title: The Fetherstonhaugh car
hierarchical_section_title: F. B. Fetherstonhaugh / Biography / The Fetherstonhaugh car
caption_attribution_description: English: Photo of the 1893 Fetherstonhaugh Car, one of the first electric cars in Canada, shown at the Toronto Exhibition in c. 1896.
context_page_description: Frederick Barnard Fetherstonhaugh QC was a Canadian patent lawyer and agent who founded the patent agency Fetherstonhaugh & Co. He was a prominent citizen of Toronto, Ontario and was widely recognized for his expertise in patent law. He was also the owner of one of the first electric cars in Canada.
context_section_description: Fetherstonhaugh was an enthusiast of new technologies and was most notably an early adopter of the electric automobile. In 1893, Fetherstonhaugh unveiled a battery-powered "horseless carriage" at the John Dixon works factory on Bay Street in Toronto. This was one of the first such carriages to appear in Canada.
  An article in The Globe covering the debut of the Fetherstonhaugh vehicle described it as a carriage having four horse power, with a top speed of 15 miles per hour (24 km/h) and a battery that lasted for five hours of continuous driving. It weighed 700 pounds, including a 100-pound motor and 270 pounds of batteries. It had a covered top and windows to protect against the elements, and had electric headlights for night time driving. An iron bar was used to steer as well as control the power.
  The electrical and mechanical components of the vehicle were the result of 18 months' work by inventor William Joseph Still (who later developed the Still engine), for whom Fetherstonhaugh had obtained several automobile-related patents in Canada. Fetherstonhaugh himself evidently assisted in the overall design of the vehicle and the vehicle was assembled by John Dixon, a reputable carriage maker of the era. The car was allegedly worth $500 at the time, but Fetherstonhaugh decided to keep it for himself as a personal vehicle with which he commuted to work and around the city.
  To recharge the car, Fetherstonhaugh connected it to the trolley wires running near his home. He later purchased his own gasoline generator to recharge the batteries. Fetherstonhaugh kept the car until around 1912, when it was sold. Its whereabouts after 1912 are not known.
  The Fetherstonhaugh car appeared at the 1893 Toronto Industrial Exhibition (predecessor to the Canadian National Exhibition), where it was driven around a track for demonstration. It appeared again in 1898 along with other new automobiles. In 1993, a commemorative $100 gold coin designed by John Mardon was issued by the Royal Canadian Mint to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Fetherstonhaugh car.
  The success of this early electric automobile inspired a group of Toronto businessmen to form the Canadian Motor Syndicate, with William Still as an engineer and later its vice-president. The Syndicate produced several more cars, but it survived only until 1899. Still went on to form the Still Motor Company, building electric and later gasoline-powered engines for vehicles.
  Fetherstonhaugh was an avid supporter of transportation infrastructure. He was an early advocate for a bridge between Toronto and the Toronto Islands at the Western Gap near the site of what is now the Toronto island airport.
  Fetherstonhaugh's interest in transportation technology also extended beyond electric cars. In 1909, it was reported that an experimental airship was being tested from his Mimico property in collaboration with one of his clients. Fetherstonhaugh also believed that airports would one day become obsolete as aircraft would be able to take off and land from flat rooftops of buildings.
caption: Photo of the Fetherstonhaugh Car, one of the first electric cars in Canada, shown at the Toronto Exhibition in c. 1896.
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