On December 18, 1898, the Jeantaud electric vehicle set the world’s first automotive land speed record of 63.13 km/hr (39.2 mph) over the course of a single kilometer. Although the only electric vehicle at the competition, the Jeantaud handily beat its gasoline-powered competition at the Parc Agricole d’Achères outside Paris. The Jeantaud electric car of 1898 reminds us that electric vehicles once were superior to gasoline cars. If they beat the gasoline competition before, perhaps one day they’ll dominate again. 

Written by Jennifer Eaglin. Narration by Dr. Nicholas B. Breyfogle. Audio production by Katherine Weiss, Dr. Nicholas B. Breyfogle, and Laura Seeger. Video and textual versions of this podcast are available at https://origins.osu.edu/read/jeantaud-electric-car-land-speed-record. 

Learn more:

Massimo Guarinieri, “When Cars Went Electric, Part 1” IEEE Industrial Electronics Magazine (March 2011), 62.

Massimo Guarinieri, “When Cars Went Electric, pt2” IEEE Industrial Electronics Magazine Vol. 5 Issue 2 (Jun2011), p46. 

Gijs Mom, The Electric Vehicle: Technology and Expectations in the Automobile Age translated by Jenny Wormer (Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2004).

“December 18, 1898- The first automobile land speed record is set;” https://automotivehistory.org/first-automobile-land-speed-record/

Ernest H. Wakefield, History of the Electric Automobile (SAE International, 1994).

Carl Sulzberger, “Early road warrior, part 2, competing electric and gasoline vehicles,” IEEE power & energy magazine (September/October 2004).

Paul Ingrassia, Engines of Change: A History of the American Dream in Fifteen Cars (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2013).

IEA, Top 5 barriers to EV adoption reported by EV100 member companies, IEA, Paris https://www.iea.org/data-and-statistics/charts/top-5-barriers-to-ev-adoption-reported-by-ev100-member-companies, IEA. Licence: CC BY 4.0.

David Roberts, “The Road to Mass EV Adoption: Three Barriers To a Sustainable Future” Forbes Technology Council (August 30, 2023) https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2023/08/30/the-road-to-mass-ev-adoption-three-barriers-to-a-sustainable-future/?sh=3aaaef712293 As accessed 27 November 2023.

The Historical Dominance of the Electric Car

In the Program
• The real costs of car insurance – EV vs PHEV vs ICE
• Beware of new cars about to be delisted due to ADR (Australian Design Rules)
• Elon Musk Admits He Was Wrong
• Problems with the MG Hybrid
• We review the car ads that were played in the Superbowl
• Road Test of the Genesis G70 – is it the modern equivalent of an old Jag?


Contacts Details 

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Credits 

And this has been overdrive 

Thanks to 
Paul Murrell
Genesis Australia
Mark Wesley
Bruce Potter 
for their help with this program.
You can get more of our work including longer versions of the program on our website, through our podcasts, or more visual information on Facebook, Instagram or YouTube. In all cases search for cars transport culture.

Overdrive is syndicated across Australia on the Community Radio Network

This program was first broadcast on  15 February 2025


I’m David Brown
Thanks for listening


Overdrive: Superbowl 2025 car ads; Genesis G70; Insuring EVs; Cars that don’t meet new design rules

Overdrive: Cars, Transport and Culture.

A weekly radio program featuring motoring & transport news from Australia & around the world, road tests, feature interviews & quirky stories.

David Brown is a respected motoring broadcaster heard online and across Australia on commercial, public and community radio.

Smart conversations about today’s most interesting topics - a history podcast for everyone, produced by Origins from Ohio State's Department of History

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