Henney Kilowatt
Introduced for the 1959 model year, the Henney Kilowatt was the world's first modern (transistor-regulated) electric car. The Kilowatt was a predecessor to more recent battery electric vehicles such as the General Motors EV1. By contrast with modern hybrids, which use a gasoline-powered internal combusion engine in addition to an electric propulsion system, the Kilowatt used a transistor based electric propulsion system that used a purpose-built electric motor.
Corporate funding
The Henney Kilowatt was a joint project between National Union Electric Company and the Eureka Williams Company. (National Union and Eureka Williams Company merged in 1960 to form the Eureka Williams Company.) The project was initiated by B. L. England, president of National Union Electric Company and C. Russell Feldman, president of Eureka Williams Company. To build the electric cars, England and Feldman employed the services of the Henney Motor Company coachwork division of Conestoga, NY. Henney had been building custom coaches since 1868 and was a well-recognized name in the automotive industry because of its affiliation with the Packard Automobile Company. Henney produced thousands of custom built limousines, ambulances, and hearses (most of them built on Packard chassis), before being contracted to begin the Kilowatt project. National Union Electric Company was also the producer of Exide Batteries—and naturally had a vested interest in shifting American automotive focus from fossil fuels to lead-cell batteries. Morrison McMullan Jr., controller of Exide Batteries, was also a participant in the development of the Kilowatt. (After the failure of the Henney Kilowatt project, Russell Feldman went on to become the founder of Motorola.)
Designers and developers
The propulsion system was developed in consultation with Victor Wouk, then an electrical engineer at CalTech. Wouk is best known as the inventor of the electric hybrid car. Wouk recruited Lee DuBridge, then President of CalTech, and Linus Pauling to assist in the assessment and development of the electronics. Wouk designed the necessary speed controller for the Kilowatt, although the controller was actually manufactured for the Kilowatts by Curtis Instruments. After researching the electrophysics underlying the propulsion system, Pauling determined that traditional lead batteries would not provide the power necessary to give the cars performance that could rival traditional gas powered cars. Pauling accurately predicted that the relative low top speed and the short range of the cars would make them impractical. An active proponent of eco-friendly cars, Pauling was focused on making the car more practical before releasing it to the public. He recommended that the project be discontinued until the appropriate battery was available commercially. The electric propulsion system for the cars was designed and built by the Eureka Williams Company of Bloomington, IL. Eureka Williams went on to become the manufacturer of Eureka Vacuum Cleaners. Henney Coachworks was contracted to build the chassis of the car from tooling and parts purchased from Renault. Many body panels and interior components of the car are virtually identical to those of the Renault Dauphine.
Performance
The 1959 models all ran on a 36-volt system of 18 sequential two-volt batteries. The 36-volt cars had a top speed of 40 mph and could run approximately 40 miles on a full charge. After the 36-volt system was realized to be impractical, the Kilowatt drivetrain was redesigned by Eureka Williams as a 72-volt system for the 1960 model year. It employed 12 sequential six-volt batteries. The 72-volt models were much more practical than the 1959 36-volt models. The 1960 Kilowatt boasted a top speed of nearly 60 mph with a range of over 60 miles on a single charge.
Production and sales
According to a French Renault Dauphine enthusiast website, Renault sold 100 rolling chassis to Henney Coachworks for the project, but only 47 of the cars were ever built. A March 20, 1967 article in U.S. News & World Report states that 35 of the Henney Kilowatts were purchased by electric utilities in the United States. Company records show that there were 24 cars sold as 1959 models and 8 Kilowatts sold as 1960 models. It is unclear when the other 15 cars were produced, but records show that some of them may have been sold as 1961 or possibly 1962 models. A total of eight cars were produced for the 1960 model year, but none of them were sold to the public because of the high manufacturing costs for the 72-volt system. Instead, all eight 1960 models went to the electric cooperatives who funded the development of the Kilowatt. The company continued promoting the Kilowatt in 1961 with hopes of securing enough prepaid orders to finish the remaining chassis components that had already been purchased from Renault; few, if any, were sold in this manner.
Company records show that Henney Coachworks was originally licensed by Renault to manufacture a total of 100 Dauphine based electric cars. But Eureka Williams was unable to produce the 72-volt system cheaply enough or quickly enough to permit the targeted $3600 sales price. As a result, very few of the Dauphine bodies were actually completed and outfitted as electric cars. The remaining inventory of unfinished Kilowatt chassis was purchased by an undisclosed Florida dealer.
Of the documented 32 Henney Kilowatts produced, it is estimated that there are between four and eight still in existence. At least two of these documented "survivors" are still driven periodically.