For the first generation of Ford Electric Model A sedans, the first and the “oldest” are not really older. As the vehicles—the first gen models from 1906 to 1914—were modernized, gas furnaces were added. When Ford refined the Model A in 1913, they tossed the gas-burner tank and replaced it with a electric drive and power axle. Since then the vehicles have been incrementally upgraded in the name of keeping pace with advances in propulsion. It’s cool in an automotive way to have technological and aesthetic properties that so far haven’t existed for anything else.
Oh, and speaking of the horsepower, at that time Ford had the upper hand on its competitors, with a heavy dose of torque. The Model A is said to have an output of 200 horsepower, and the rate in which torque is transferred was much higher than the rivals. The Model A mania just kept building for nearly a hundred years, as you can see. However, this “Old World-style” automotive lifestyle seems to have been somewhat exaggerated.
Since the Model A was built from 1907-1914, it’s too early to talk in terms of steering wheel ratios, mechanical or electrical hybridity, natural gas or electricity, hybrid fuel or electric fuels, water or ethanol, electrification or other breakthrough technologies. The gas, electric and gear boxes are all involved with the old looks, and for that we’ll have to be content to hail this classic EV when the date comes—that it was good enough to last until around 1916.