Electric propulsion and subscription services are hot topics in the automotive industry, yet both were available, and in combination, during the reign of Queen Victoria
Columbia would “take charge of a car, including upkeep of the battery, such as changing the plates and jars when necessary, the washing of the car, and charging of the battery, for a certain fixed price per month, and also furnish qualified drivers when desired” – an offer that proved very popular.
Customers included Charles Rolls and Her Majesty, who we later relayed was “in the habit of driving it herself and delighted with the ease and simplicity of control and manipulation”. The Columbia was America’s best-seller in 1900, but the big oil companies soon had it buried.You wouldn’t guess it now, given its lack of any native car makers, but Belgium was one of the foremost adopters of motoring.