GM Electric Starter History

Legend has it that the electric starter emerged from Charles "Boss" Kettering's workshop after a friend of his died as the result of a broken arm he incurred while crank starting his car. Cranking over a car was manly work and dangerous. One of the reasons electric cars were giving gasoline buggies a run for their money. Women could hop in an electric, push a button and go. No fuss, no fumes and no noise.

Kettering had designed the mechanism that opened cash register drawers for National Cash Register and he reasoned that he could adapt that to the automobile. GM heard about this innovation and snapped up his Dayton Electric Labs Company (DELCO) and made Kettering the in house wizard.

His electric starter was trotted out on the Cadillac first but within a short time it and it's imitators became he industry standard. His starter and the oil fields in Pennsylvania (with their promise of cheap gasoline) sealed the electric car's fate.

So when someone asks, "who killed the electric car?" Blame Kettering, or Boss Kett, and his electric starter.

Видео GM Electric Starter History канала King Rose Archives