Allelectric

The West Penn Power Company, a subsidiary of the Allegheny Power System, Inc., was an electric utility with 420,000 customers, operating in Pennsylvania, and headquartered in Creensburg. In 1967 and under the direction of his vice president William E. Sturm, the company developed and built a small electric car called “Allectric” (registered trademark).

Sturm, said that the “West Penn Power Company” was not a car manufacturer, but that it was interested in the promotion and development of electric cars, since there was a potential market that could allow it to increase sales while providing solutions to the problem of atmospheric pollution.

A study entitled “Automobile Facts and Figures”, published by the Automobile Manufacturing Association, stated that 60% of the trips made by car were less than 5 miles, that almost half of the fuel consumption was dedicated to go to work, that one-way commutes ranged from 6 to 10 miles, and that more than half of the cars were used only by the driver.

The “Allectric” was designed for short range runs. It was capable of reaching 50 km/h and had a range of 50 miles without recharging the battery. The prototype was presented to the Senate Commerce Committee on March 13, 1967, as an alternative to America’s dependence on fossil fuels, and aroused great interest. The idea was to use the usual parking meters as places to recharge the batteries. However, as always, dark interests ruined the project.