Certain things in the universe seem to have been forever but upon closer examination, reveal themselves to be barely old enough to vote. Consider the security at airports. There’s also one more thing that’s modern, even though it was first invented 200 years ago – electric cars.

The History of Electric Cars

The objects that appear to be ultra-modern but are hundreds of years old are at the other extreme of the spectrum. Things include watching movies in ultra-high definition and describing things as “awesome” to express your approval. Electric automobiles fall well into the second category as they have a nearly 200-year history that we’re only now beginning to revisit.

In April 1881, an engineer by the name of Gustave Trouvé made history in Paris when he rolled down the street in his most recent creation: the first electric car capable of carrying people and having its power source. It combined a tricycle and a Siemens electric motor and was powered by a rechargeable battery, a relatively recent invention. Electric cars were being developed in the UK, France, Germany, and, by 1891, the USA, within the space of a decade.

The first electric vehicle in the US was produced in Des Moines, Iowa. It had six seats and a peak speed of 14 miles per hour. Although it wasn’t very advanced, it was enough to influence other auto manufacturers in the nation, which helped the industry grow.

Electric cars are still a long way from the crazed popularity they had more than a century ago. An electric automobile was almost twice as likely to be found in the wild during its peak, in the 1900s, as a gas-powered one. Less than one in every hundred automobiles on the road today is an electric vehicle.

California Will Ban Sales of New Gas-Powered Vehicles

By 2035, California will not allow the sale of new gas-powered vehicles. Other states are likely to follow. Electric cars should be just as affordable to purchase in five years as gas-powered ones, and some fairly creative ideas are being proposed to make the environmental alternative even greener.

Will electric vehicles ever become as popular as they were a hundred years ago? Only time will tell.

TikTok will soon eliminate its three-minute video limit and allow all users to publish videos up to ten minutes in length, the Chinese social network confirmed. It implemented the current limit in July 2021, increasing it from 60 seconds, after initially increasing it from 15 seconds.

The app has traditionally been viewed as a short-form video platform but is now positioning itself to compete even more directly with YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook. TikTok users will benefit from the increased video duration when creating clips such as beauty tips, cooking demonstrations, and comic routines.

At the moment, anyone making clips must entice viewers to return for a “Part 2” or longer video. The issue is that users frequently have to scroll through a creator’s feed to find the appropriate video in a series.

“We’re constantly brainstorming new ways to add value to our community and improve the TikTok experience,” one TikTok representative explains.

Longer Videos, Finally!

Last year, TikTok bravely introduced longer videos, giving its community more time to be creative and entertaining on the platform. Once the latest update starts to roll out, users will be able to upload videos that are up to 10 minutes. This will hopefully unleash even more creative possibilities for creators around the world.

TikTok’s Great Success

YouTube, which generated $28.8 billion in ad revenue in 2021, responded to TikTok’s success by creating its short-form video competitor, YouTube Shorts, in 2020, while Instagram also launched Instagram Reels and Snapchat has a feature called Spotlight.

However, experts assert that longer-form material is often “easier to monetize and keeps users engaged for longer periods.” TikTok was named the world’s most popular online destination last year, topping even Google, the American search engine giant.

According to Cloudfare’s rankings, TikTok dethroned Google in February, March, and June 2021, and retained the top spot from August till the end of the year. Google was first in 2020, followed by Amazon, TikTok, Apple, Facebook, Netflix, and Microsoft, who were all in the top ten.