Though Detroit is world-famous as the capital of American auto production, when it comes to electric cars, Des Moines, Iowa beat the Motor City to the punch. A Scottish immigrant who settled in Des Moines, in 1880, William Morrison began as a chemist, but his main interest was in electricity, and specifically, batteries. Laboring in an obscure basement workshop below Lumbard Jewelry, on Fifth Avenue between Locust Street and Grand Avenue, Morrison focused on the chemistry of electric storage batteries and sought to make a battery that was portable, yet powerful. By extension, Morrison’s battery experiments led the inventor to create the first successful American electric car in 1890.
