No, we’re not talking about Tesla today or any other specific electric vehicle (EV) motor for that matter…
We’re simply talking about the tiny motor created over a century ago that started an entire electric revolution.
And again, I’m not talking about EVs.
There are hundreds of tiny electric motors in your car, in your house, and in your place of work that you’ve probably never realized were there before.
According to the Energy Research Center of the Netherlands (ECN), 45% of the world’s electricity is used for electric motors and pumps and also ventilation and compression systems.
It was a surprising discovery realizing that such a large portion of global electricity consumption can be attributed to electric motors. To be exact, more than 2.5 times as much electricity is used for electric motors and electrically driven systems than for lighting.
Their obscure existence has simplified our lives greatly.
And it’s time for them to receive a little recognition…
The Beginning
The electric motor was first developed in the 1830s — some 30 years after the first battery was invented.
Interestingly enough, Michael Faraday typically receives all of the credit for creating the first electric motor when, really, it should be attributed to Thomas Davenport of Vermont.
He was the first to develop a real electric motor capable of performing a task.
Faraday’s electric motor wasn’t very strong. It was really just an early motion device powered by electromagnetic fields. Although Faraday’s device didn’t perform any work for mankind, it did become a key component in leading the way to better motors in the future.
Davenport’s was a legitimate power-exerting motor. It was able to run a model trolley on a circular track and also conduct other small tasks.
The trolley later turned out to be the first important application of electric power, thanks to Davenport. Surprise again, the first important application of electric power wasn’t the light bulb either.
Rudimentary full-size trolleys were finally built and put to use 30 years after Davenport’s death in the 1850s.
The trolleys and connected power systems at the time were very expensive to build, but they easily became an essential aspect of everyday life until the 1880s, transporting millions of people to work each day.
Until the growth of the mass power grid in the 1890s, most people — specifically, the middle and lower classes — didn’t have electric light in their homes — even in densely populated cities.
It wasn’t until 1873 that the electric motor finally achieved commercial success, bringing some electricity on a small scale into homes.
Davenport’s innovation, in addition to the contributions designed by Faraday, eventually led to the creation of another essential electrical device: the generator.
Hippolyte Pixii figured out that running the early designs of the electric motor backward would actually create tiny pulses of electricity.
Then by the 1860s, there were generators that were even more powerful being developed on a larger scale.
The electrical industry as we know it today could not have begun without the inception of the generator — simply because batteries were not an economical way to power society’s needs.
And this was all thanks to the tinkerings of Davenport and Faraday…
Applications Today
Electric motors really are everywhere.
In just about every place you go, almost every mechanical movement that you see is powered by an AC (alternating current) or DC (direct current) electric motor.
Before writing this, I walked through my house and counted well over 50 electric motors hidden in all sorts of devices. And by no means is my residence state of the art when it comes to technology either.
Just in the kitchen, I could find electric motors in the fan over the stove and in the microwave, the disposal under the sink, the blender, the refrigerator (which actually has two or three in the compressor, the fan, and the icemaker), the oven clock, and so on…
In the utility room, there’s the washer and dryer, the electric screwdriver, the vacuum cleaner, the electric saw, the electric drill, and the furnace blower.
Even in the bathroom, there’s the fan, the electric toothbrush, the hair dryer, and the electric razor.
And they’re even in your standard gasoline-powered car. There are tiny electric motors in each of the power windows, in the fans for the heater and radiator, windshield wipers, the starter motor, the radio, and even up to seven motors in each power seat.
That’s a lot, right? And that’s not even the tip of the iceberg. There are so many more that are hidden and working in plain sight.
Everything that moves uses an electric motor to execute its movement…
The Bottom Line
Unfortunately, the handy-dandy little motor that could is a downright energy guzzler.
With so many electric motors in use at the same time, the amount of electricity that they consume is astronomical.
According to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), electric motors consume more than 50% of all electrical energy in the U.S. alone. And they consume more than 85% of the industrial production of energy, too.
Electric motors account for roughly $85 of every $100 of any manufacturing or processing plant’s entire electric bill.
But to ease your green-minded worries, there are projects underway for improving the current model of electric motors that are commonly found in our mundane everyday objects. And most of them are running from old designs, anyhow.
An energy-efficient upgrade is soon on the way…
That’s all for now.
Until next time,
John Peterson
Pro Trader Today