Henry Ford in front of 1908 Model T

Before Henry Ford created the first Model T, people were being transported in an early form of public transportation, known as the Street Railway Cars.

Originally pulled by mules, the vehicle moved along a predetermined path of the city streets. When Hill’s were encountered the mules would slowly pull the cars up the hill and stand on the back of the cars platform going downhill, with the car being powered by gravity.

After the power plants were built, the mules were sold to farmers and the cars were powered by electricity.

As the story goes, “the mules never worked out for the farmers because they would pull his plow one-way but refuse to return because they expected a ride back!”

The Model T Ford was the vehicle that brought the world into the automobile transportation era over a century ago. Since that time, Henry Ford’s concept and creation of the assembly lines focused on breaking apart complex processes into individual tasks, which moved invocation forward into today’s mainstream of technological advances.

In a recent post “Fuel me Seymour” – A reader posed the question. “…that as long as oil and gas companies are making a fortune off of oil, we will never see a truly energy efficient non-fossil fuel burning automobile”. At that time, Tesla Roadster, had just won the distance record for a production electric vehicle by traveling 313 miles (501km) on a single charge, at the 2009 Global Green Challenge in Australia.

And as recently as this past November 6, a student team at the Waterloo Collegiate Institute, in Waterloo, Ontario, designed a Model-T replica that harnesses solar power. The truck was built on a challenge by the Reduce the Juice Foundation that promotes projects that reduce emissions. Today, if you look at every automobile manufacture that you see on US Roads and you will see the development of a fossil fuel reducing Hybrid vehicle, somewhere in various stages of development. Supporting my theory, breaking apart complex process and innovation into individual tasks we will see a dramatic lift in the use of alternate energy and bio fuels.

Say what you want about the Prius; I know I do, but it is a more recent example of a car that ushered in a new era of automotive history. Look on the Discovery Channel’s Planet Green “Living With Ed” TV show starring Ed Begley, Jr. and his wife Rachelle Carson.

You will notice the Prius that Ed drives, is becoming the symbol of the Hollywood Wannabe’s badge of honor. Do I doubt that they really care about the environment? No, but my point is that Prius was the defining moment in time, and thanks to allot of Hollywood Wannabe’s, when reducing the carbon foot print was cool.

Just like in the early days when the Model T launched, only movie stars and the wealthy elite could afford the $850.00 price tag of the Model – T.

Coincidently, the Model T with its 177 cu in (2.9 L) 4 cylinder engine producing 20 hp (15 kW) for a top speed of 45 mph (72 km/h would get 21 mile to the gallon, today, the average MPG of the Ford Fleet, is about 21 MPG. You would think that 100+ years of technological advancement, we could average a bit better than 21 MPG, even though the top end has doubled for that volume of fuel consumption.

Building on technology and culture, by 1923 the efficiencies of mass production allowed Ford to cut the price of the Model T touring car almost 2/3^rd of the original price, to $298, enabling consumer ownership in the United States to move 55% of the population.

Starting with a clean slate, innovators are building all sorts of solar, hybrid, electric, and steam, people movers that are steeped; pardon the pun, in reducing the effects for the combustion engine.

The electric cars has come with its own set of challenges – those challenges, just like the 15 year period between the initial launch of the Model T and mass production allowing more of the consumer market to own an earth friendly people mover, will represent a dizzying variety of designs that inspired spirited debate over such basic technological questions as the best type of engine to use, where to locate it in the vehicle, and how best to design the vehicle’s body.

With the advent of electric cars, battery technology; available pretty much off-the-shelf, and electric motors being incredibly simple compared with their combustion counterparts, there’s not a lot stopping small, independent operators from building fun electrics and getting them to market as soon as they’re approved for sale. In recent years manufactures of electric cars have generated a host of fresh insights in the old paradigms of what it takes to make an automobile. With that innovation, the hefty price tag to purchase the ~$101,000 Tesla, or a $89,000 ECOS Harbinger will be borne by the movie stars and the wealthy elite.

Going back to the early 2000’s when only the Hollywood Wannabe’s were financially sound enough to afford a full loaded $33,000 Prius hybrid gas/electric economy car, a trend will start to follow where consumers will see a drastic reduction in the price of an electric car, or a hybrid, that will be more in line with the average consumers median income.

If you go back to the early 1890’s when their were battery powered, or gas assisted bicycles, we have seen a transition of technology that follows the technical trend of the Model T and the advent of the Electric or Hybrid automobile.

The shift actually occurred in the late 1960, and again in the late 1990’, both era’s were when the world was experiencing fuel issues. In 1998 when there were at least 49 different bikes. Production grew from 1993 to 2004 by an estimated 35%.

Today, Asia and Europe have taken the lead in power assisted or electric bicycles, According to the data of the China Bicycle Association, a government-chartered industry group; in 2004 China’s manufacturers sold 7.5 million electric bicycles nationwide, which was almost twice the year 2003 sales. A typical unit electric bicycle requires 8 hours to charge the battery, which provides the range of 25–30 miles (40–50 km),at the speed of around 20 km/h.

A recent report, from Grace, a German designer, that has developed an electric Motorbike, or eBike, powered by a Li-ion battery that can hit 45km/h (28mph), leveraging a 1.3KW motor that averages 25 miles with a top end of 45 miles per hour before needing a recharge. Just like the Model T Ford – only with a motor about 13.7kW smaller.

The GRACE eBike

Anybody out there proficient at math to figure out how to convert 25 miles into a kW to compare the MPG’s?

So if you are looking at how all this ties back to the mule powered Street Railway Car, here it is. Lockheed Martin’s Multifunction Utility/Logistics and Equipment (MULE) autonomous vehicle was developed for the US Army Future Combat Systems program. The MULE uses a diesel electric engine, designed to carry the load of two infantry squads, totaling about 2,000 pounds, and support troops with water and power sources for extended operations. Just like the four legged mules.

The net, net is, if the Lockheed Martin could carry, their own mules in, and then if damaged, the four legged mules could carry them out – just need to mount a platform on the back.