GoKawiilEarly 1900s electric carmakers marketed vehicles specifically to women drivers
In the early automobile era, when steam, gasoline and electric vehicles competed for dominance, manufacturers promoted electric cars as ideal for women because they started easily with a key and produced no exhaust fumes, unlike gasoline cars that required hand-cranking before the electric starter arrived in 1911. General Electric, which produced mercury-arc rectifier chargers, ran advertisements showing fashionably dressed women operating charging equipment, and electric cars were also pitched to doctors for quiet nighttime house calls.