this post was submitted on 29 Apr 2026
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Today I Learned

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[–] resipsaloquitur@lemmy.cafe 25 points 6 days ago (2 children)

BS. It took a genius the level of Elon and his superior genetics to think of putting an electric motor in a car.

[–] jaykrown@lemmy.world 20 points 5 days ago (3 children)

You know some absolute dumbasses would actually believe that.

[–] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 5 points 4 days ago

I heard he invented electricity. I'd confirm that with the supercomputer in my pocket, but why bother? I have a great education, and in all my years in school, they never mentioned anyone else experimenting with electricity before Mr. Musk, so he must have invented it, and if you don't agree, you have Trump Derangement Syndrome.

[–] hardcoreufo@lemmy.world 6 points 5 days ago

Well Elon does.

[–] Frenchgeek@lemmy.ml 1 points 4 days ago

Good thing the level of genius isn't stated... "Rock-bottom" is a level.

[–] P00ptart@lemmy.world 5 points 6 days ago (1 children)

All he did was put up investment money.

[–] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 6 points 4 days ago (1 children)

His family's blood emerald money. But he had to COUNT the money, so that's almost the same as his.

[–] edgesmash@lemmy.world 3 points 4 days ago (1 children)

He probably didn't even count it. I bet he hired a flunky to do that.

[–] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 4 points 4 days ago

Valid, some accountant just did a wire transfer.

[–] fubarx@lemmy.world 4 points 4 days ago

An even earlier manufacturer was Baker Electric of Cleveland, Ohio: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baker_Motor_Vehicle. They werem't the first (EVs had been around since 1880), but by 1906 they were the biggest car maker, running the largest manufacturing plant in the world.

Main market was for those who made frequent short stops, and didn't want to get their hands dirty hand-cranking the gas or steam motor starters. Their coupe model had a 'boat-tiller' instead of a steering wheel.

Jay Leno has a restored 1909 Baker Electric he showed on an old car show: https://youtu.be/OhnjMdzGusc

There was a glut of electric cars, then gas-powered ones with longer range showed up. In 1912, the electric starter was introduced for gas cars, taking away one of the main features of EVs. By 1914, Baker would merge and then shut down.

[–] jaykrown@lemmy.world 15 points 6 days ago (31 children)

How did they let these die? They're so stylish, we should bring them back immediately except with solid state batteries that can let them drive 200+ miles and charge in 5 minutes.

[–] zurohki@aussie.zone 24 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Those older cars with the huge windows and great visibility handled rollover accidents by crushing the heads and necks of everyone inside.

At some point we decided the passenger cabin shouldn't be the primary crumple zone, so you can't make cars like that anymore.

[–] OwOarchist@pawb.social 11 points 6 days ago (2 children)

Also, it probably has a top speed in the neighborhood of 30mph.

[–] zurohki@aussie.zone 13 points 6 days ago

The low speed may have been that car's only safety feature.

[–] P00ptart@lemmy.world 11 points 6 days ago (2 children)

You wouldn't want to go 30 in that thing. You'd feel like you're in a rock tumbler.

[–] OwOarchist@pawb.social 6 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Especially given the state of the roads at the time.

[–] P00ptart@lemmy.world 4 points 6 days ago

Assuming you've even got a road lol

[–] captainlezbian@lemmy.world 4 points 5 days ago (1 children)

I kinda want to see what the wind would look like on this thing going 60 (96.5 km/h). I suspect you'd get more lift than is comfortable. And speaking as someone who's had turbulence in a modern car (interstate driving into an Illinois windstorm), it's terrifying even in a car that doesn't want to roll over.

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[–] darklamer@feddit.org 13 points 6 days ago

I always knew that reading Donald Duck comic books would pay off one day, I've known about these since I was a child, that's Grandma Duck's car!

[–] Tim_Bisley@piefed.social 12 points 6 days ago (1 children)

There were quite a few electric cars, they started in the late 1800s made by multiple companies. Shit they even had electric trains.

[–] captainlezbian@lemmy.world 2 points 5 days ago

One of the wildest things to me is how many places need to move their public transit systems back to from grid electric. Electric trains are awesome. But I'm also of the opinion that the motor/dynamo is akin to the wheel in how fundamentally important and valuable it is.

[–] possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 11 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (1 children)

Honesty it seems like a decent car

I'm honesty surprised they managed to get 80 miles of range. That's pretty much what you get with a older Nissan leaf

[–] jaykrown@lemmy.world 5 points 5 days ago (7 children)

Yea it was an actually decent car. We went the easy route and fucked up the planet by choosing the internal combustion engine.

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[–] finallymadeanaccount@lemmy.world 5 points 6 days ago (4 children)

Remember when thought was given to the beauty of the design of cars (like above), and nowadays we have the mutant electric shaver that is Teslas?

[–] captainlezbian@lemmy.world 7 points 5 days ago (1 children)

No, by the time I was born beauty was secondary to aerodynamics. It was the right decision, but I do understand what we lost is something to be sad we've lost.

With teslas my bigger issue is build quality. Though the dumpster they sell is ironically one of the few deviations from the modern prioritization of aerodynamics over aesthetics, it's just done by someone who doesn't understand good taste. Compare it to those Honda EVs to see a similar idea done much more beautifully.

[–] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 3 points 4 days ago

Good taste and profits often conflict. When they do, profits almost always win.

[–] jaykrown@lemmy.world 7 points 5 days ago (5 children)

The cyber truck is disgusting. It's what happens when you give billionaires all the decision making authority. It seriously looks similar to a dumpster.

[–] edgesmash@lemmy.world 2 points 4 days ago

I highly suspect Musk had the idea for the swastikkkar as a kid and told some people, who proceeded to laugh at him. He then never let that grudge go, deluded that he is always the smartest boy.

[–] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 2 points 4 days ago

It's a refrigerator on wheels, part of a weird Sociopathic Oligarchs' odd vision to make their vehicles match their kitchen appliances, for reasons that only a weird Sociopathic Oligarch can understand. Probably AI.

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[–] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 2 points 4 days ago

Or the refrigerator on wheels that is the SwastiKKKar.

And you thought Walter White's Aztec was the ugliest car ever. Nope, Musk looked at that, and said "I can do worse." And he did.

[–] Tattorack@lemmy.world 4 points 5 days ago

I dunno. I recently saw the new Twingo and it's a very nice and cute looking car. Their 2025 hatchback was also very cool and futuristic looking.

[–] PumpkinSkink@lemmy.world 1 points 4 days ago

The most fascinating thing I saw on that wiki page was that Lizzy Borden owned an electric vehicle... and she isn't even the worst person on the list. lol

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