Blast from the Past: What Old Rides Teach Us About California’s EV Travel Future

Ever feel like the Future of California Travel is moving so fast? EVs popping up everywhere, right? Wonder if people had this same “what the heck?” feeling when cars first showed up? Not alone. Not by a long shot. So, get this: this whole thing, moving from old gas cars to shiny EVs? Not a new story. Pure rerun. Just different tech, though. Happened before, going from horses to horsepower. Big changes in how we get around? They always start with people scratching their heads and yelling about roads.

Think back to 1900. Picture NYC, Fifth Avenue. Easter Parade. Packed. Old photos show crowds. Hundreds of horse carriages. Filling the streets. But zoom in. Just one motor car. Totally out of place. Surrounded by all those horses. Horses? Total legends. Cheap too. Everyone knew how to drive ’em.

Big downside, though. So many horses? Means insane amounts of poop. This mess? Caused illnesses. Gross. Flash forward 13 years. 1913. Same parade, same street. What’s showing up now? Crazy change. Boom. Hundreds of motors. Just one lonely horse carriage trying to keep pace.

And this quick change? Not easy. Folks were like, ‘nah.’ Cars were too expensive. Everyone thought they were death traps. Broke down constantly. Kinda scary, truthfully. New tech. Messing with how you lived. Total unknown. Sound familiar? Like today with EVs. Same grumpy energy. People didn’t want ’em. Trashed ’em. Then everyone bought ’em. Funny how that works.

Remember car infancy? Companies? Not exactly helping. Some even actively talked trash. About cars! Seriously, old ads exist. One from a company GM later scooped up, around 1918? It shows a super happy couple in a horse buggy. Guess what else is in that ad? A crashed motor car. People hurt. In the water! Message loud and clear: cars kill.

But easy to say they were just backwards. People were confused. Folks loved their horses. Deep connections. Your horse? Daily life for years. Then these noisy ‘iron piles’ show up out of nowhere. Ugh. Trust takes time. But guess what? That very same company, the one that hated cars? Ten years later, a massive car maker. They basically called horse carriages garbage. Wild. Capitalism, baby. It adapts.

Building stuff. Like roads, fuel stops, charging. Super important. But hard at first. So, cars show up. Where do you fuel ’em? No gas stations anywhere. Huge problem. Classic ‘chicken and egg’ deal. Same for EV charging, right now. “Where do I charge?” “What if I run out?” Totally fair questions. Just like those old gas station worries.

Also: the cost. Cars? Super expensive, first. EVs still up there. Kinda. But eventually, production gets smarter. Cheaper. Factories figure it out. Single-piece chassis, stuff like that. Costs drop. Always. Natural process. Rough start. Smooths out every time.

Why change? Because of Mother Earth. People always want cleaner everything. All that horse poop back then? Literal disease creator. Nightmare for public health. Massive reason to change. And another thing: EVs today? Not about street germs. It’s bigger. GHG emissions. Climate change. Global stuff. What’s the real reason? Healthier planet. Same vibe. We’re still chasing cleaner ways to get around.

Look. Big changes hit. You’re either on board, or you’re not. Simple. Businesses die. New ones start. Happening now. Old car makers? Struggling to adapt. New guys, like from China, just dumping crazy money into EV tech. Wild. Us Californians? We’re smack dab in the middle of this crazy thing. Easy to throw your hands up. Say ‘no thanks’ to EVs. But that just stops everything. Gotta keep an open mind. Changes suck sometimes. But they happen. We don’t get to choose if we change. Just how.

Know your history. It helps you deal with what’s coming, especially with all the electric-powered travel. So, next time you’re stuck in traffic, see a Tesla fly by? Think about what happened before. History on our roads, basically. We’ve seen doubters. Infrastructure disasters. Big identity crises in transport. Before. And we always found a way. Always innovating. This whole sustainable travel thing, especially out here in California? It’s not stopping. It’s a wild, electric ride forward. Keep an open mind. Future’s not just coming. It’s here. And it’s looking super charged.

Your Questions, Answered:

Q: What was the big stinky problem with horses back in the early 1900s?
A: Oh man, the horse poop. So much of it. Caused health problems. Diseases even.

Q: So, how fast did cars take over from horse carriages in big US cities, really?
A: Fast. Super fast. Just check out NYC’s Fifth Avenue, 1900 to 1913. Horses gone in 13 years. Cars everywhere.

Q: Did car companies always cheer for cars when they first came out?
A: Nope! Not even close. Some, like a future GM acquisition, actually released ads. Showed cars crashing, people getting hurt. Called them dangerous! Crazy, right? But then those same companies later became huge car makers. Go figure.