1890 Morrison 2nd Electric Car Known William Morrison of Des Moines, IO built the second electric car in North America in 1890, an 8-seater, and produced electric cars commercially until 1896. Morrison was reputedly a quiet, mysterious man. He was educated in a Scottish university and by the time he arrived in Iowa he had become a vegetarian, a chemist and a man intensely interested in electricity. The creation of an automobile was of little concern to him in building this vehicle; rather, he wished to prove the worth of his storage batteries. In the summer of 1890 Morrison began installing batteries in a surrey-type, high-wheel carriage. It was a stock model with fringed canopy top and three rows of cushioned seats able to accommodate 12 passengers. A set of eight batteries was placed under each seat. The power was applied through a modified Siemens armature geared direct to the right rear wheel. Around 2-1/2 h.p., sufficient to drive the carriage 6 to 7 mph, could be developed. The vehicle ran on the streets of Des Moines in September 1890 and in 1891 was given to the American Battery Company of Chicago for demonstration purposes. Harold Sturgis, secretary of the Chicago concern, showed the carriage extensively and it became the most widely known self-propelled vehicle in America. In 1895 Sturgis installed a different motor in Morrison's electric and entered it in the Times-Herald race.