Edison's Electric Model T came alive in Young Indiana Jones

A new Indiana Jones movie is coming to theaters this May. New episodes of the short-lived Young Indiana Jones TV series were released on DVD recently. I caught an episode on the History Channel called Spring Break Adventure which includes a story about an electric car. The plot involves a scientist in Thomas Edison's laboratories working on a battery for a Ford electric Model T. The scientist says "when I perfect the Edison battery, the age of the combustion engine will be over forever" and "we will have noise-less cars without exhaust."

The story was clever but what I found most interesting was the mention of a fiction book called Tom Swift and His Electric Runabout. Indy says Tom Swift, the young inventor protagonist of the adventure book series, invented a "lithium and potassium hydrate" battery that took his electric runabout to 100 MPH. I had to know more, so I ordered the book (written in 1910) and another called Tom Swift and His Electric Locomotive (written in 1922) for good measure. I'm reading both books right now and I will write about the details of Tom Swift's electric vehicles very soon.

White you wait, I recorded a short clip from the Young Indiana episode with the mention of Tom Swift's battery; you can watch it below the fold.

The video meant to be presented here is no longer available. Sorry for the inconvenience.