Electrifying Chicago: the emergence of an ‘electric car city’ in the early 20th century

This paper explores the emergence and disappearance of electric car clusters in the early 20th century US. Although we know that the electric vehicle lost its share of the market by the 1920s, more successful electric vehicle clusters survived longer in specific areas, for example in Chicago. This research paper delves into what made Chicago stand out in terms of electric vehicle adoption as compared to similar cities. Using quantitative and qualitative evidence we build a narrative of the key factors that explain Chicago’s long run electric vehicle adoption. We document that the unusual longevity of electric passenger cars, and especially electric trucks, in Chicago, can be in part explained by the ample availability of infrastructure. This, in turn, owed to dynamic complementarities in a technological system where Samuel Insull acted as a central “system visionary”. We discuss potential lessons for policy and infrastructure planning.