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Car manufacturers needn't have battled it out to launch the first ever commercial electric taxi service in recent years -- a London firm had already beaten them to it more than 100 years ago.

The 1897 Bersey taxi, developed by Walter Bersey, was London's first "self-propelled" vehicle and, at its peak, had a fleet of more than 75. "We think of electric cars as something really futuristic we're investing in to cut climate change. But they're actually a lot older than we think," said Selina Hurley, curator of the Climate Changing Stories exhibit at the Science Museum where the elegant-looking wooden carriage is on show.


The vehicle was powered by grid-plate batteries, which had their durability tested using a high-tech system referred to as the "shaking machine". They could only be recharged at Bersey's Lambeth station, where a hydraulic lifting system allowed for battery exchange in the space of a few minutes. The taxi weighed in at two tonnes, had a range of about 48km -- that's versus today's average of between 95 and 161 -- and a top speed of 19km/h ("so, probably about the same as you'd go in a London taxi today," Hurley joked). It was powered by a 2.2 kW Lundell motor, had light wheels, thin spokes and narrow rubber tires designed to grip "greasy pavements".

Promotional predictions made by Bersey at the time were pretty insightful, with one statement claiming, "Whilst petroleum may become the motive power in country districts, and steam will probably be used for very heavy vehicles, there is no doubt that electricity will be the most advantageous where the traffic can be located within a radius."

However, despite gaining a steady business of regular customers, the company lost £6,200 in its first year. Following a series of issues with the tires -- which were far too fragile to take the weight of the car -- and a costly project that saw the firm generate its own electricity, Bersey was finally forced out of business in 1899. This was largely prompted by a campaign led by London cab drivers fearing for their jobs, a campaign supported by the press which published a series of stories on the vehicles' breakdowns and accidents.

It's a shame, really, since -- as Bersey so nicely rounded it up -- with electric vehicles, "there is no smell, no noise, no heat, no vibration, no possible danger, and it has been found that vehicles built on this company's system do not frighten passing horses".


Let's hope the launch of London's zero emission mini cab service will fit Bersey's bill.

The Bersey vehicle is on display at the Science Museum's

Climate Changing Stories until June 2013.