2023 Denver Auto Show Highlights the City’s Historic Relationship with Electric Cars

Back in 1902, before gasoline-powered cars were a thing, all eyes were on the electric vehicles displayed at the country’s first auto show held in the Mile High City, which was already miles — and more than a century — ahead of the curve.

“The original Denver Auto Show was in 1902, and about half the cars were electric,” says Tim Jackson, former head of the Colorado Automobile Dealers Association. “The other half were steam-powered. None of them were gasoline-powered.”

Not only was this city the site of the country’s first car show, but it was the home of one of the earliest electric vehicle manufacturers in the country: Fritchle. Even as Nikola Tesla was doing his thing down in Colorado Springs, Oliver Fritchle started manufacturing the electricity-powered Fritchle in Denver.

At…