Electrobats

Early Electrobat cabs in New York, circa 1898, some of the first automobiles in the United States.



What I find amusing is that the passenger cabin (from whence we derived the modern term 'cab' to describe a taxi) is lifted straight from a one-horse coach of the time period, sometimes called a Hansom Cab or London Taxi.



You can clearly see by comparing the two photographs that the designers simply moved the "horse" -- electric motor and batteries, in this case -- from the front to the back.

This design didn't last long, however, as it left the passenger exposed to road spray, debris, etc., which would previously have been blocked by the body of the horse. Presumably it didn't occur to the engineers who designed these early conversions that people wouldn't really like having things hit them in the face. This is typical of engineers.