With Prius hybrids dotting the highways and the auto industry grappling with the push toward cleaner vehicles, it may come as a surprise to know that electric cars were already the hottest thing on the market, exclusively for ladies, a century ago.

Even automotive pioneer Henry Ford’s wife Clara drove several electric Detroit Broughams in the early 1900s. Most wealthy women back then wouldn’t be caught dead in a stinky, hand-cranked gasoline guzzler, and some didn’t dare drive the dangerous steam-powered speedster.

A 1915 Detroit Electric car, on display at the Seal Cove Auto Museum on Mount Desert Island, harkens back to that era. The elegant three-seater, its body on a horse-drawn carriage, features a drive tiller, a rotating passenger seat and two mounted flower vases.

“These things sold like hotcakes,” museum curator Roberto Rodriquez said.

The Detroit Electric was among the first automobiles equipped with electric headlights.
PHOTO BY ALLEN FENNEWALD

Hefty batteries were housed in the front and back. Rodriquez said they were lugged by servants, who charged them in the house and had them back in the car and ready to go in the morning for at least 80 more miles.

The Detroit Electric is among more than 50 vintage vehicles of all kinds — ranging from a 1904 Cadillac to a 1912 Fabrique National Motorcycle — on view at the auto museum. In 1965, antique car collector Richard C. Paine Jr. built the building to house his wide-ranging collection and share his passion with the public.

After Paine’s death, Rodriquez became the museum’s director, but has since been succeeded by Raney Bench. The son of a Chilean diplomat, Rodriquez curated a variety of historical collections, but like the museum’s founder, automobiles are his passion. As a child, he used sketch playboys’ sports cars parked at country clubs.

A steam-powered 1900 Locomobile, produced by the Locomobile Company of America and designed by Francis and Freelan Stanley, is among the vehicles on display. The twin brothers later built the Stanley Steamer.
PHOTO BY ALLEN FENNEWALD

Produced by Anderson Electric Car Company in Michigan, the Detroit Electric’s popularity, peaked between 1912 and 1916. Sold new, the model fetched about $2,650, was among the first cars with electric headlights and was lauded for its silent, smooth ride.

It was electronic technology, however, which led to the vehicles’ downfall. The cars went out of style with the dawn of the electrical starter, which meant gasoline autos didn’t need to be arduously cranked to operate. The Model T’s affordability also put the company in a bind. This may have dismayed Ford’s wife, Clara, who refused to drive gas-propelled vehicles.

Fittingly, the Seal Cove museum’s Detroit Electric gets driven from time to time by Raney Bench. The vehicle, which was donated by Michael and Patti Werckle of Caledonia, Ill., runs at a top speed of 20 mph.