1915 Milburn Electric Model 15

Barker and Detroit made electric automobiles from 1900 to 1907, with the Milburn Wagon Company of Toledo, Ohio entering business in 1910. Electric mains had not reached a significant portion of the United States population until 1910. The Milburn product had a battery pack on rollers, allowing fresh batteries to be quickly installed, which eliminated the downtime for charging.

The Milburn Wagon Company had been in the vehicle-building business since 1848, with its entry into the automotive segment occurring in 1914. Within a short time, over 1,000 examples were produced. Approximately 1,500 examples were built in 1916. Most of their body styles were the high-roof 'phone booth' style, but a roadster, a delivery van, and a town car were also available.

In 1919, a fire occurred at the Milburn plant resulting in losses that totaled $900,000. Production continued into January 1920 in a building on Toledo University, which had been used to trail Motor Transport Corps recruits during World War I. Although they raised additional funding, the company was acquired in February of 1923 by General Motors for $2 million dollars. Production continued for a few more months before being displaced by Buick production.

by Daniel Vaughan | Jan 2020