The Fritchle Car Company was once housed in what is now The Fillmore Auditorium (Colfax Avenue & Clarkson Street). Here is some fascinating history about the development of an idea way ahead of its time.
From
HISTORY
100 Miles On One Charge -- The remarkable Fritchle electric car by Carl Sulzberger:
The early years of the "Automotive Age,"
beginning about 1895, were marked by electric-powered motor vehicles
being a significant factor in engineering innovation and in vehicle
sales. However, faced with competition from continually improved
gasoline-powered internal combustion engine vehicles and the limited
availability of battery recharging stations, electric vehicle sales
peaked in 1912 and then began a steady decline almost to the point of
extinction by the mid-1920s. This article is the story of one of the
truly outstanding early electric automobiles and its equally outstanding
designer and manufacturer.
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Oliver Fritchle
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Born in 1874 in Mount Hope, Ohio, Oliver Parker
Fritchle graduated in 1896 from Ohio State University with a degree in
chemistry. While working as a chemical engineer in the steel and ore
smelting industries in Colorado in 1897, he became fascinated by
electric motive power. Drawing on his chemistry training, Fritchle
developed a superior 28-cell lead-acid battery weighing 400–600 lb that
easily powered an 8-hp motor. He received a patent on his battery in
1903 and shortly thereafter established an electrical engineering firm
and formed the Fritchle Electric Storage Battery Company in Denver,
Colorado. Designing and building electric vehicles soon followed.
The first Fritchle electric car was produced in
1905 and, by the end of 1907, another 20 or so had been delivered to
customers in the Denver area. The Fritchle battery system permitted a
driving range of 100 mi or more over relatively level terrain between
overnight charges, a rare capability in the early years of the last
century. Because few parts suppliers were available, Fritchle became
noted for manufacturing both the batteries and virtually all of the
mechanical and body components for his cars. Fritchle also maintained a
repair center and charging station in Denver for the convenience of his
local customers. The Fritchle batteries generally lasted for more than
10,000 mi and could be replaced at a cost of US$208. The cars were
advertised and trademarked as "100-mile Fritchle Electrics," and they
lived up to this claim. Another feature of the Fritchle was a
regeneration system in which the motor became a generator when the car
was coasting downhill, thereby partly recharging the batteries.
Electric automobiles were usually advertised as town
cars suitable for short runs over reasonably good roads in areas where
recharging stations were readily available. Fritchle, on the other hand,
promoted the electric as suitable for speed and long distance touring.
As shown in Figure 1, Fritchle challenged other manufacturers to match
their electric vehicles against his in a contest of speed, power, and
endurance. Finding no takers, Fritchle promoted his cars by undertaking
an endurance run from Lincoln, Nebraska, to New York City in a 1908
regular production two-seat Victoria model selling for US$2,000. The car
weighed 2,100 lb, including 800 lb of batteries. He took along a set of
tools, chemicals to service the batteries, and one extra tire and inner
tube.
So confident was he in his car that he did not bring any spare
mechanical parts. However, he thoughtfully carried a camera with a
remote control shutter to record and publicize his adventure. Starting
out on the cold and damp morning of 31 October 1908, he arrived in front
of the Hotel Knickerbocker in Times Square, New York City, on 28
November 1908 after a total driving time of 20 days. He covered the
1,800 mi over rough to poor to nonexistent roads with no mechanical
breakdowns. He suffered only one flat tire, and he had to reline the
brakes with camel's hair after a long descent of the Allegheny Mountains
in Pennsylvania. He followed a carefully planned route to assure the
availability of charging facilities at electric central stations or at
"electric garages" along the way. Battery recharging cost US$1/h and
lasted up to 10 h. After a side trip to Washington, D.C., during which
Fritchle drove up the driveway to the front of the Capitol Building, he
and his car returned to Denver by train.
The Lincoln-to-New York endurance run proved the
durability and superior operation of the Fritchle Electric and earned
Fritchle wide personal acclaim and nationwide advertising for his cars.
He changed the name of his company to the Fritchle Automobile and
Electric Storage Battery Company and expanded the line of cars to at
least six different models plus a light delivery truck. Most cars were
sold in the Denver area, but there were agencies as far away as Salt
Lake City, Utah, and Los Angeles, California. The International Fritchle
Company was formed after the 1908 endurance run, and a sales office
operated for a time at 505 Fifth Avenue, New York City.
Like most motor vehicles produced in small numbers, Fritchle cars were
expensive. For example, the 1912 four-passenger electric touring car
shown in Figure 2 sold for US$2,500 at a time when a 1912 five-passenger
Ford Model T gasoline-powered touring car could be purchased for about
US$700. The Standard Catalog of American Cars, 1805–1942 (see "For
Further Reading") records that a total of 1,540 Fritchle motor vehicles
were manufactured between 1905 and 1920. Peak production occurred
between 1909 and 1914 when an average of 198 vehicles per year were
built. After 1917, production fell dramatically as the early electric
car progressively gave way to its gasoline-powered competition.
In an unsuccessful effort to remain in the
automobile manufacturing business, Fritchle introduced a hybrid
electric/ internal combustion car in 1916, but few were sold. As
automobile production fell, Fritchle developed a system to generate
electricity using farmers' windmills. Between 1918 and 1923, over 80
wind-powered electric generators were built and installed in about 20
states and several foreign countries.
In his later years, Oliver Fritchle worked for the Buick Motor Car
Company for a time and remained active in the radio and electric
industries until his retirement in 1941. He died in 1951 in Long Beach,
California, one month short of his 77th birthday.
Epilogue
An immaculately maintained and fully operational 1914 Fritchle electric
Colonial Coupe is on prominent display at the Colorado History Museum in
Denver. One of the few remaining Fritchles in existence, the vehicle is
on loan from its owners, Mr. and Mrs. C. Robert Lingo, other Lingo
family members, and John Tucker. When it arrived in 1990, more than 75
years after it was built, it was driven under its own power through the
streets of Denver. The museum display, which also includes a General
Electric mercury arc rectifier and control panel for home battery
recharging, is a fitting tribute to the creator of one of the finest
lines of early electric automobiles.
For Further Reading
C. Secrest, "Colorado's Fritchle electric auto: Cross-country in 1908," Colorado Heritage, pp. 39-44, Autumn 1999.
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