Detroit Electric broom (1916): Inside Detroit Electric's luxury electric car at the Science Museum

The Detroit Electric broom from 1916, built by the Anderson Electric Car Company in Detroit, sits at the crossroads of luxury and early electric mobility. This Science Museum video explores how an electric car could blend comfort with practicality, detailing its carriage inspired design, heavy lead-acid batteries, and modest top speed. It explains why electric cars were marketed to doctors and to city ladies who did not want to crank engines or spill ink on their gloves, while also noting trade offs like limited range and long charging times. The broom also reveals road legal use in the Isle of Man and connects to Clara Ford of the Ford family, who owned Detroit Electrics. A tour of the car inside and out demonstrates how this vehicle symbolized a luxury vehicular identity in its era.

Overview

The Science Museum video presents the Detroit Electric broom, a 1916 electric car built by the Anderson Electric Car Company in Detroit. The narration situates Detroit at the heart of the US automotive boom and explains that Detroit Electric was a popular electric brand selling around 13,000 units between 1907 and 1939. The car's nickname, the broom, nods to a 19th century horse-drawn carriage that influenced its design, highlighting the era when everyday mobility was transitioning from horse power to motor power.

Electric Propulsion in Context

At the turn of the 20th century there were three main propulsion options for cars: internal combustion engines, electric cars, and steam power. The video contrasts these approaches by weighing each technology’s strengths and weaknesses. Internal combustion engines offered rapid refueling but required manual crank starts and could be dangerous if backfiring. Steam cars were quieter and smaller but needed long warm-up times. Electric cars, by contrast, started instantly and did not require cranking or ignition, which made them attractive to doctors needing rapid response and to women who preferred not to get involved with messy or heavy equipment. However, electric cars faced limitations: heavy batteries, restricted range, and lengthy recharge times of 8–16 hours, which constrained cross-country travel and made charging infrastructure essential in big cities.

Technical and Performance Details

This particular Detroit Electric broom had a top speed of about 20 miles per hour, a range of roughly 80 miles, and a power output around 10 horsepower. The car used lead-acid batteries, with half of them located under the bonnet and the other half in the rear battery compartment. The video emphasizes that while the batteries are not original, they are the same type as the original, ensuring compatibility with the vehicle’s transmission. The charging network described in the era included charging stations in cities like New York, where blocks were lined with places to plug in, while long-distance journeys remained challenging due to the scarcity of overnight charging options.

Luxury and Design

A key theme is the luxury status reflected in the interior and fittings. The car features upholstery, a door pocket, functional winding windows, and a well-appointed passenger cabin. Unlike modern cars, the Detroit broom used tillers for steering and speed control rather than a steering wheel, with a longer tiller for steering and a shorter one for fixed-speed control. The rearview mirror, velvet pull ropes, cut glass tail lights, and private window blinds demonstrate the era’s attention to comfort and style. The narrative also notes that the back seat is effectively the driver’s seat, with the driver looking over the passengers toward the windscreen, revealing the era’s flexible interior configurations before standardization.

Practicalities and Road Heritage

Despite being electric, the broom was designed to feel like a luxury vehicle with a focus on ease of use. The vehicle is on display as part of a working collection; it can be explored up close and even driven in controlled museum contexts. The car’s road-legal status is attested by a Manx license plate and safety features such as rear lights. The piece’s history includes ownership by Henry Ford’s wife, Clara Ford, who reportedly owned several Detroit Electric cars, underscoring a link between early electric mobility and prominent contemporary figures.

What the Video Reveals About Early Automotive Culture

The Detroit Electric broom illustrates how early electric vehicles aimed to blend luxury with everyday practicality in urban settings. It reveals a transitional period when car design was still fluid, interior layouts varied by manufacturer, and the market targeted professionals and fashionable urban dwellers who valued reliability and discretion. The video closes by inviting viewers to visit the Science Museum and join tours at the National Collections Centre to see the car in person, as part of the broader effort to preserve and interpret the story of early electric mobility.