Michigan International Auto Show - February 3-6, 2022

I rode in a 119 year old electric car, and you can too! The car is a 1903 Columbia Light Electric Runabout. Back in 1903 it sold for $900, and is one of only three remaining in the world. Where did I ride in such a precious piece of automotive history? And on Groundhog Day in Michigan? Inside DeVos Place in Grand Rapids, at the 2022 Michigan International Auto Show. The show opens to the public tomorrow, February 3, and runs through the 6th. Other EVs on display include the BMW i4, Ford F-150 Lightning, Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo, Kia Niro EV, Ford Mustang Mach E GT, VW ID.4, Audi E-Tron Sportback, a 1927 Ford converted to electric power, and a 1980 Comuta-Car. The last two can also be ridden in at the Gilmore Car Museum exhibit, along with the 1903 Columbia. I think I have managed to attend the MIAS each of its 24 years here in West Michigan, and it just keeps getting better! If you want to check it out for yourself, you can find the hours and a link to the shows website below.

Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo

BMW i4 M50

Ford F-150 Lightning Platinum

The oldest vehicle I have ever ridden in! (Not me in the pictures).

1903 Columbia Electric Runabout — “The Columbia Bicycle Company, one of the best-known names in bikes, entered the automotive field in 1897 by producing an Electric Motor Carriage. Electrics were clean, quiet, and easy to operate—they just needed an electric supply to charge the batteries. Electrical power began to serve American industry, cities, and the homes of the very wealthy in the 1880s and, much like the automobile, this new technology was regarded by most as a luxury and a curiosity. This 1903 Columbia Electric, often driven by women, became very popular in “electrified” cities such as Boston, New York, and Denver. By the mid-1930s, when electrical service was just reaching most rural homes, these initial electric automobiles had passed into history.
This fully-functioning electric car (built 119 years ago) was part of the original car collection of Donald Gilmore, founder of the Gilmore Car Museum and given to the museum in 1966!
Just 3 Columbia Electric Runabouts are known to remain in the WORLD: The Gilmore Collection, Smithsonian National Museum in Washington, D.C. and a private owner in London.”

The Kia stand has a pair of Niro EVs