page_title: William Morrison (chemist)
section_title: Batteries
hierarchical_section_title: William Morrison (chemist) / Electric carriages / Batteries
caption_attribution_description: English: First electric horseless carriage made by William Morrison in 1888
context_page_description: William Morrison was a Scottish chemist. His background in chemistry piqued his interest in improving storage batteries. He concentrated on how to produce the most available energy for a unit of weight for efficiency in the working of an individual battery cell. Eventually, he developed storage batteries far more powerful than what had then been available. To demonstrate his batteries, Morrison installed 24 of them on a common horse-drawn carriage and attached an electric motor to the rear axle to be powered by them. Through various innovations, he developed the controls for the power used and the vehicle's steering so that the driver had complete control. Morrison invented the first practical self-powered four-wheeled electric carriage in the United States. His electric vehicle was the first to be driven in Chicago and in his hometown of Des Moines, Iowa. This electric horseless buggy of the late 19th century helped pave the way for the hybrid electric automobile of the 21st century.
context_section_description: The 24 storage battery cells that produced an output of 112 amps at 58 volts were stored under the first row of seats where the driver sat. They weighed 768 pounds (348 kg) and ran a four horsepower modified trolley electric motor attached to the rear wheels to propel the carriage. The electromagnetic coil was rewound by Morrison to be practical for his batteries that ran at about 15% of a trolley car's voltage. The vehicle's speed was dependent on how many cells were in use at any one time. 
  It had three speeds which were dependent upon grouping together with switches battery cells in quantities of 8, 12 or 24. The driver controlled the speed and steering. The batteries had to be recharged after every 50 miles (80 km) of driving. That was as far as a vehicle could travel in a day as the batteries by then ran out of power. They were then recharged, which was done at night and took twelve hours.
caption: Morrison–Strugis electric carriage 1891; picture caption reads: "Nov 9th, 1891 Photo by Pearson, Des Moines, Iowa"
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