The city council of Kingman, Arizona, a few days ago approved the purchase of a building that once was a grocery store so it could be converted into the Electric Car Museum.
The Bee news outlet stated in a social media post the building is at 519 Beale St., one block off Route 66. The Economic Development Department sought the city council’s approval Tuesday, which it did by a 7-0 vote.
A portion of the Electric Car Museum is at the Kingman Powerhouse Museum on Route 66. But the building will enable the city to put all 100 electric cars in its collection in one place.
Route 66 advocate, author and Kingman resident Jim Hinckley wrote in a social media post: “Dare to imagine- an EV museum with solar power and classes on vehicle restoration, alternative energy, etc. A destination for Drive Electric Week with conferences, etc. The possibilities are unlimited.”
(Excerpted image from Google Street View of future site of Kingman’s Electric Car Museum)
An Electric Car Museum? I thought electric cars were supposed to be the future, not the past!! I drove an electric delivery van in London in the 1990s; perhaps it could be sent to the Kingman museum – to ‘jump start’ the collection…….
By the way, burning the dried droppings of all those darned burros that roam Kingman, like Hindu sacred cows, to make electricity would be a cheap way to recharge the batteries of the museum’s exhibits.
In the early days of the automobile (very late 1800s/early 1900s), there was no clear winner in the battle to be the dominant method of propulsion. Electric, steam, gas, diesel were all used. Each had some advantages, but gasoline had the most. Quick refills, long range energy dense fuel (more easily controllable than steam), greater speed and refinement than early diesels, etc.
But electrics were around from the beginning (late 1890s) through…well, they never really stopped. The earlier brands struggled to survive after WWI, but every decade had someone who was trying to update the idea, and keep it alive. This article by Car and Driver is a decent overview.
https://www.caranddriver.com/features/g15378765/worth-the-watt-a-brief-history-of-the-electric-car-1830-to-present/
So there is a certainly a lot of history to cover. Is it interesting history? Is it interesting enough to keep the lights on in a dedicated museum, while other museums continue to be shuttered? I have serious doubts. It would not interest me, but I’m not everybody.
As an employee of Rivian and a lover of “66”…Thanks Kingman!!!!