Oliver Parker Fritchle
| Oliver P. Fritchle | |
|---|---|
Source: History of Colorado, 1918
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| Born |
September 15, 1874 Mount Hope, Ohio |
| Died | August 1951 (aged 76) Long Beach, California |
| Residence | Denver, Colorado circa 1899-1926 |
| Education |
Ohio public schools Ohio Wesleyan Ohio State (B.S. 1896) |
| Occupation |
Chemist Electrician Automotive engineer Entrepreneur |
| Employer | National Steel Co., Boston and Colorado Smelting Co., Fritchle Automobile & Battery Co., Buick Motor Co. |
| Known for | 1908 electric automobile endurance run, long-range electric vehicles, battery and automotive patents |
| Children | 2 |
Oliver Parker Fritchle (September 15, 1874 – August 1951) was an American chemist, storage battery innovator, and entrepreneur with electric vehicle and wind power generation businesses during the early twentieth century. His initial battery patent was awarded in 1903 and by 1904 he had established what was to become the Fritchle Automobile & Battery Company in Denver, Colorado. He was an early adaptor and developer of significant automotive technologies, such as regenerative braking and hybrid drivetrains, that did not reemerge on production vehicles of major car companies until late in the twentieth century.
Fritchle achieved national celebrity for his 1908 Lincoln-to-New York endurance run in one of the first electric automobile models produced by his firm. He covered the 1,800 miles (2,900 km) in a Victoria Phaeton achieving as many as 108 miles (174 km) between charges through extremes in weather, terrain, and road conditions; a remarkable feat with an electric vehicle of that day. The trip journal and photographs subsequently published to promote The 100 Mile Fritchle Electric provided unique insight to the state of road and electric power infrastructure within the United States during the early twentieth century.
Fritchle was born in Mount Hope, Ohio to a family of Ohio natives. His father was a veteran of the Civil War and a merchant in Holmes County. Fritchle attended local public schools followed by five years at Ohio Wesleyan University and two at Ohio State University where he graduated in 1896 with a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry.
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