Advertisers used themes of grit and power to sell trucks, depicted in the muddy expanses of western landscapes, to suburban drivers.įederal fuel efficiency standards enacted in 1978 unintentionally reinforced the idea of trucks as a consumer product. Every aspect of a car was a potential marketing point, from chrome styling to hemi-powered hot rod engines and more modern options like remote starting and rear-seat theaters.Īnother uniquely American marketing achievement was framing trucks – utilitarian vehicles designed for work – as rides that could also serve consumers. Starting in the 1950s, a complex economy of easy financing and advertising drove consumers to buy new and buy often. In the 1950s, President Eisenhower furthered that commitment with the construction of the most extensive system of highways the world had ever seen.Īmericans’ particular contribution to 20th-century transportation patterns was making automobiles part of a competitive consumer marketplace. It took them 62 days – clear evidence that modern vehicles required better roads.īy World War II, gasoline-powered personal transportation and road-building to support it had become planks of American economic growth.
in gas-powered military vehicles to test Army mobility. Eisenhower joined a small convoy that crossed the U.S. Massive new petroleum discoveries in Texas, and later in the Middle East, produced a glut of oil, just as electric lighting replaced kerosene lamps. Many consumers feared that gas-powered cars were prone to explode, and there was no nationwide fueling infrastructure.īut World War I combined with a moment of technological convergence that favored the internal combustion engine.
And electric-powered vehicles had some clear advantages. From 1890 through about 1915, vehicles powered by horses, coal, electric batteries and gasoline jockeyed for position on U.S. It places the electric vehicle transition squarely in the hands of mass-market consumers who don’t choose cars based on environmental considerations, and who are buying far more light trucks – pickups, sport utility vehicles and minivans – than cars today.Īmerica’s 20th-century affair with gas-powered cars was not inevitable. As an environmental historian, I see this moment as pivotal because unlike EVs from manufacturers like Toyota or Tesla, the electric F-150 does not entirely rely on green consumer choice.