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		Both inventors were the first to use non-rechargeable electric cells. Frenchmen Gaston Plante invented a better storage battery in 1865 and his fellow countrymen Camille Faure improved the storage battery in 1881. The early electric vehicles, like the Electric Phaeton, were little more than electrified horseless carriages and surreys. The Phaeton had a range of 18 miles, a top speed of 14 mph and cost $2,000. By the turn of the century cars were available in steam, electric, or gasoline. The years 1899 and 1900 were the high point of electric cars in America, as they outsold all other types of cars. The decline of the electric vehicle was brought about by several major developments: By the 1920s, America had a better system of roads that now connected cities, bringing with it the need for longer-range vehicles. The discovery of crude oil reduced the price of gasoline so that it was affordable The mass production of internal combustion engine vehicles by Henry Ford made gas cars available and affordable in the $500 to $1,000 price range. While an electric car sold for $1,750, and a gasoline car sold for $650.
	Early Years Between 1832 and 1839, Robert Anderson of Scotland invented the first crude electric carriage. A small-scale electric car was built by Professor Stratingh of Gröningen, Holland, in 1835. Practical and more successful electric road vehicles were invented by both American Thomas Davenport and Scotsmen Robert Davidson around 1842.