Watch the video as Jay Leno takes a ride in his 1909 Baker Electric here
Electricity is really the ideal form of propulsion for the automobile. They knew this at the turn of the century; the problem was always batteries and range. That was the main concern of people back then and it is the main concern of people now. So electric cars are nothing new; we used two on the Jay Leno Show, two electric Ford Focuses to race around the track. And I've got my own electric car. It's quite advanced, it goes 100 miles on a charge, it's fully electric. And it was built in 1909.
So let's step back in time a little bit. I'm going to take a ride in my 1909 Baker Electric and you'll see just how much it has changed and actually how much it has stayed the same. I think you'll be surprised at some of the similarities.
The Baker is quite easy to drive, you have two pedals, two brakes, a tiller steerer. Just turn the key and you're ready to go. Even roll-up windows hadn't been invented; this has the old railroad style where you just pull it up and slide it down. Really, all you have to do is push the lever and you move forward.
With the Focus, the first thing you notice is you get in and press the button and start and you press power and you don't hear anything because it's electric. You've got your energy usage meter, you have a speedometer and no tachometer because you don't need it.
The Focus is eerily quiet, it is so quiet, in fact, all you hear is the tyres screeching. It's bit heavier in the back because you're carrying an extra 300lbs of batteries. People are really amazed at these Focus electric cars. And you forget after a while that there's no gasoline.
I contend that it's actually faster than a gas car because of the low-end torque of an electric car. The only place an electric car really loses out to a gasoline car is in top speed. They have equal acceleration and, in fact, in quietness and obviously emissions the electric car wins. And while this appears to be a standard Ford Focus, it has the rally suspension system setup in it.
The 1909 Baker Electric, although it looks like a carriage - basically it is - it's actually quite advanced. The fenders are leather. That was sort of the carbon fibre of the day. Leather fenders were extremely lightweight. This car has electric lights, both interior and outside lights, electric taillights. Don't forget, most cars still had gas lamps - this was fully electric.
One thing that helped kill the electric car the first time around besides the usual problems of range was the fact that the self-starter had not been invented. When you wanted to start a gasoline car, you cranked. You could break your thumb, you could break your arm, you had to be pretty strong to do it. A lot of women couldn't drive because they weren't strong enough to crank that motor and second of all it wasn't ladylike back in the day. So women loved electric cars. Clara Ford, Henry Ford's wife, drove a Baker 'cause she couldn't crank a Model T. But you can't sell a guy a woman's car, so even though electric cars had so much going for them, they just didn't sell enough to survive.
So the principle is the same between the Ford Focus and this 1909 Baker Electric, you have a lot of batteries, this one (the Baker) is 78 volts, a six-volt system. And the Ford Focus where you just press on the pedal and go, this one, you have a series of quadrants. The idea being that you're not pushing the lever all the way forward and frying the system so you go along and top speed is about 22 miles an hour (35kph). It doesn't seem like much, but when you're driving a car that is as tall as it is long, you don't want to go much faster than 22 miles an hour.
Don't forget there were no paved roads and in New York City this was the perfect women's shopping car. You could just charge it up and go to Macy's or Gimbels. And New York surprisingly at the turn of the century had a number of charging stations every 10 blocks or so. These were taxi cabs as well.
The driving experience is the same in that you have a tremendous amount of torque with both cars, and although the Baker doesn't go particularly fast, it will climb any hill with four people in it, because electric motors make all the torque from rest, from zero. You just push on the gear lever here, push on the throttle or the rheostat I guess you'd call it and you've got all the power you need.
I do feel a connection between the two cars because the mode of transportation is exactly the same, there is no transmission, the engine is connected directly to the rear wheels and when you put electricity through the motor it goes immediately to the rear wheels. The drive train or the way the drive train works is exactly the same. The parts that have changed are obviously that the Focus's motor is more efficient and your range is a lot better.
I think electric is the future for now. Hydrogen and all that kind of stuff is very sexy but we have electricity, we have the infrastructure for electricity so I think at least for the near future, electric will be the next way to go.
motoring@thenational.ae
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Hunger and Fury: The Crisis of Democracy in the Balkans
Jasmin Mujanović, Hurst Publishers
Tips from the expert
Dobromir Radichkov, chief data officer at dubizzle and Bayut, offers a few tips for UAE residents looking to earn some cash from pre-loved items.
- Sellers should focus on providing high-quality used goods at attractive prices to buyers.
- It’s important to use clear and appealing photos, with catchy titles and detailed descriptions to capture the attention of prospective buyers.
- Try to advertise a realistic price to attract buyers looking for good deals, especially in the current environment where consumers are significantly more price-sensitive.
- Be creative and look around your home for valuable items that you no longer need but might be useful to others.
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
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Duterte Harry: Fire and Fury in the Philippines
Jonathan Miller, Scribe Publications
The specs
Price, base / as tested Dh1,100,000 (est)
Engine 5.2-litre V10
Gearbox seven-speed dual clutch
Power 630bhp @ 8,000rpm
Torque 600Nm @ 6,500rpm
Fuel economy, combined 15.7L / 100km (est)
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
Mia Man’s tips for fermentation
- Start with a simple recipe such as yogurt or sauerkraut
- Keep your hands and kitchen tools clean. Sanitize knives, cutting boards, tongs and storage jars with boiling water before you start.
- Mold is bad: the colour pink is a sign of mold. If yogurt turns pink as it ferments, you need to discard it and start again. For kraut, if you remove the top leaves and see any sign of mold, you should discard the batch.
- Always use clean, closed, airtight lids and containers such as mason jars when fermenting yogurt and kraut. Keep the lid closed to prevent insects and contaminants from getting in.
Company%C2%A0profile
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UAE and Russia in numbers
UAE-Russia ties stretch back 48 years
Trade between the UAE and Russia reached Dh12.5 bn in 2018
More than 3,000 Russian companies are registered in the UAE
Around 40,000 Russians live in the UAE
The number of Russian tourists travelling to the UAE will increase to 12 percent to reach 1.6 million in 2023
Analysis
Members of Syria's Alawite minority community face threat in their heartland after one of the deadliest days in country’s recent history. Read more
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Juliot Vinolia’s checklist for adopting alternate-day fasting
- Don’t do it more than once in three days
- Don’t go under 700 calories on fasting days
- Ensure there is sufficient water intake, as the body can go in dehydration mode
- Ensure there is enough roughage (fibre) in the food on fasting days as well
- Do not binge on processed or fatty foods on non-fasting days
- Complement fasting with plant-based foods, fruits, vegetables, seafood. Cut out processed meats and processed carbohydrates
- Manage your sleep
- People with existing gastric or mental health issues should avoid fasting
- Do not fast for prolonged periods without supervision by a qualified expert
The Penguin
Starring: Colin Farrell, Cristin Milioti, Rhenzy Feliz
Creator: Lauren LeFranc
Rating: 4/5
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
Mountain%20Boy
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Profile of MoneyFellows
Founder: Ahmed Wadi
Launched: 2016
Employees: 76
Financing stage: Series A ($4 million)
Investors: Partech, Sawari Ventures, 500 Startups, Dubai Angel Investors, Phoenician Fund
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Singham Again
Director: Rohit Shetty
Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone
Rating: 3/5
