Charles Proteus Steinmetz was a towering determine within the early a long time {of electrical} engineering, simply the mental equal of Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla—males he thought of his associates. Certainly one of Steinmetz’s most important achievements was to quantify and characterize the phenomenon of magnetic hysteresis—the habits of magnetism in supplies—after which devise a easy regulation that allowed for predictable transformer and motor design. He additionally established a revolutionary framework for analyzing AC circuits, which remains to be taught as we speak in energy engineering. And from 1893, he served as chief consulting engineer at Basic Electrical at a pivotal second for the younger firm and for the U.S. effort to increase its energy grid. For these and different accomplishments, he was well-known in his time, even when he’s not precisely a family identify as we speak.
Steinmetz was additionally an evangelist for electrical autos. In March 1920, he typed out his ideas, evaluating the professionals and cons of EVs to the gasoline-propelled various. Among the many benefits: low value of upkeep, reliability, simplicity of operation, and decrease value of operation. The disadvantages: dependence on charging stations, restricted vary on a single cost, and decrease speeds. Greater than a century later, his checklist stays remarkably pertinent.
Steinmetz might usually be seen decked out in a go well with and prime hat, smoking his trademark BlackStone panatela cigar whereas using round Schenectady, N.Y., in his 1914 Detroit Electrical sedan. In response to John Spinelli, emeritus professor {of electrical} and laptop engineering at Union College, in Schenectady, generally each Steinmetz and his chauffeur sat within the backseat—you can management the automobile from each the entrance and the rear—in order that it could look like a driverless automobile. With a prime velocity of 40 kilometers per hour (25 miles per hour), the automobile ran on 14 six-volt batteries and will go about 48 km between costs.
Steinmetz’s 1914 Detroit Electrical automobile is now at Union Faculty in Schenectady, N.Y., the place Steinmetz had based, chaired, and taught within the division {of electrical} engineering.Paul Buckowski/Union Faculty
In 1971, the automobile was bought by Union Faculty, the place Steinmetz had based, chaired, and taught within the division {of electrical} engineering. The automobile had been found rotting in a area, so it wanted some work. Over the following decade, college and engineering college students restored it to its former glory. Nonetheless in working situation, it’s now on everlasting show on the school.
Steinmetz’s Contributions to Electrical Engineering
Karl August Rudolf Steinmetz was born in 1865 in Breslau, Prussia (now often known as Wrocław, Poland). He studied arithmetic, physics, and the burgeoning area of electrical energy on the College of Breslau. He additionally joined a scholar socialist membership and edited the social gathering newspaper, The Individuals’s Voice. He accomplished his doctoral research, however earlier than receiving his diploma, Steinmetz fled to Switzerland in 1888, after his socialist writings got here underneath the scrutiny of the Bismarck authorities.
Steinmetz immigrated to New York the next yr, anglicized his first identify, dropped his two center names, and added Proteus, a nickname he had picked up at college (after the shape-shifting sea god of Greek mythology). Ultimately, he grew to become a U.S. citizen.
Charles Proteus Steinmetz solved plenty of vital issues that helped the facility grid increase.Bettmann/Getty Photographs
In January 1892, Steinmetz burst onto the engineering scene when he learn his paper “On the Law of Hysteresis” earlier than the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, a forerunner of as we speak’s IEEE. I can’t fairly think about sitting via the supply of its 62 pages, however these assembled acknowledged its groundbreaking nature. The concepts Steinmetz outlined allowed engineers to calculate energy losses within the magnetic elements {of electrical} equipment in the course of the design section. Previous to this, the design course of for transformers and electrical motors was largely trial and error, and energy losses may very well be measured solely after the machine was constructed, which significantly added to the fee.
Steinmetz was not simply an equations and idea man, although. He liked working within the lab and constructing issues. In 1893, Basic Electrical acquired the small manufacturing agency of Eickemeyer & Osterheld, in Yonkers, N.Y., the place Steinmetz had labored since shortly after his arrival in the US. So Steinmetz started his new life as a company engineer, an fascinating flip for the socialist. Throughout his first few years with GE, he largely designed mills and transformers. However he additionally created a casual place for himself as a guide, giving skilled opinions on varied issues throughout divisions. He ultimately formalized this position, changing into GE’s chief consulting engineer, and he maintained a relationship with the corporate for the remainder of his life, even after becoming a member of the school of Union Faculty in 1902.
By the point Steinmetz died in 1923 on the age of 58, he had been granted greater than 200 patents and had made main contributions to numerous subfields in electrical engineering, together with phasors and complicated numbers (for steady-state AC evaluation); electrical transients, switching surges, and surge safety (primarily based on his analysis on lightning); industrial analysis (together with learn how to run a company lab); and engineering strategies (by writing textbooks that standardized observe).
Why Steinmetz Believed in Electrical Automobiles
By 1914, Steinmetz was satisfied that the way forward for transportation was electrical. In June, he addressed the Nationwide Electrical Gentle Affiliation conference in Philadelphia with a daring prediction: “I’ve little doubt that in 10 years, kind of—relatively lower than extra—we are going to see the sphere of the pleasure and enterprise automobile lined by such an electrical automobile in massive numbers. And I imagine I underestimate once I say that 1,000,000 or extra shall be used.”
As we now know, Steinmetz was overly optimistic. On the time, there have been about 1.2 million gasoline-powered automobiles in use in the US, and solely about 35,000 EVs. It will take till 2018 for the variety of EVs (together with plug-in hybrids) on U.S. roads to surpass one million. Worldwide, there are actually about 60 million electric vehicles in use.
However Steinmetz had his causes. He firmly believed that electrical autos would flourish in city areas, the place most rides concerned brief distances at low velocity. He additionally thought EVs can be a boon for energy corporations, which had been wanting to drum up extra enterprise, particularly at night time. With 1 million electrical automobiles being charged about 5 kilowatt-hours on most nights, and at a price of 5 cents per kilowatt-hour, Steinmetz predicted US $75 million (about $2.5 billion as we speak) of latest enterprise for central energy stations annually.
In 1971, Union Faculty bought Steinmetz’s automobile, which had been discovered rotting in a area, and college and college students restored it to working situation.Particular Collections & Archives/Schaffer Library/Union Faculty
Steinmetz went to work to enhance the electrical automobile. He developed a double-rotor motor that was built-in into the rear axle, which did away with the necessity for a mechanical differential or drive shaft and drastically decreased the general weight, which improved the mileage. Dey Electrical Corp. included Steinmetz’s design into its electrical roadster and priced it underneath $1,000. Sadly, an inside combustion engine Ford Mannequin T value about half as a lot, and the Dey roadster flopped, ending manufacturing inside a yr.
Undeterred, Steinmetz fashioned the Steinmetz Electrical Motor Automotive Corp. in 1920 with the preliminary objective of bringing to market an electrical truck for deliveries and lightweight industrial use. The primary truck debuted on a chilly February day in 1922 with a publicity stunt of climbing the steep Miller Avenue hill in Brooklyn, N.Y. In response to a report in The New York Occasions, the automobile went up the 14.5 % grade between Jamaica Avenue and Highland Boulevard in 51 seconds. Throughout a second climb, it stopped plenty of occasions to point out how simply it restarted. The truck had a variety of 84 km (52 miles).
The corporate deliberate to fabricate 1,000 vans per yr and 300 light-weight supply automobiles, plus a five-passenger coupe, but it surely made a complete of solely 48 autos. After Steinmetz died in 1923, the corporate quickly ceased operation.
Steinmetz wasn’t solely bullish on the electrical automobile, however on electrical energy basically. A New York Times article recorded his perception that by 2023, we’d work not more than 4 hours a day, 200 days a yr as a result of electrical energy would have eradicated the drudgery and unpleasantness of labor. He additionally predicted that electrical energy would result in an finish to city air pollution: “Each metropolis can be a spotless city.” With an enlargement of leisure time, folks can be more healthy, participating in gardening (particularly rising their very own meals) and pursuing instructional pursuits to grow to be “way more clever and self-expressive creature[s].”
Steinmetz’s Chosen Household
I made a decision to put in writing about Steinmetz final yr, after IEEE Spectrum revealed an essay I wrote about why engineering needs the humanities. The article comprises this line: “In 1909, none apart from Charles Proteus Steinmetz advocated for together with the classics in engineering training.” I had been impressed to be taught of Steinmetz’s recognition of the worth of a liberal arts training. However my copy editor didn’t know who Steinmetz was or why he merited the qualifier “none different.” Extra folks ought to find out about this exceptional man, I made a decision. And so I went on the lookout for a museum object related to him, so I might embrace him in a Past Forward column.
Steinmetz [left] was simply the mental equal of Thomas Edison [right], whom he thought of a buddy.Corbis/Getty Photographs
The electrical automobile is just one avenue into Steinmetz’s life. I might as a substitute have regarded into Steinmetz solids (the geometric shapes that kind when two or three equivalent cylinders intersect at proper angles), Steinmetz curves (the perimeters of a Steinmetz strong), or the Steinmetz equal circuit (a mathematical mannequin that describes a transformer utilizing resistors and inductors). However none of these ideas may very well be simply captured in a picture-worthy object. His love of his electrical automobile, alternatively, was a enjoyable and becoming entry level for this most uncommon engineer.
I additionally noticed a possibility to spotlight how Steinmetz grew to become a household man. Steinmetz had dwarfism—he stood simply 122 centimeters tall—in addition to kyphosis, a extreme curvature of the backbone, as did his father and grandfather. He didn’t want to go alongside these traits, and so he by no means married or had youngsters of his personal. However that didn’t imply he didn’t desire a household.
In 1903, Steinmetz’s favourite lab assistant, Joseph LeRoy Hayden, instructed his boss that he was getting married. Steinmetz invited the couple to dinner, after which invited them to stay in his massive dwelling. They agreed to this uncommon dwelling association, with Corinne Rost Hayden working the family and cooking for her husband and Steinmetz. She pressured the boys to put aside their work for normal household meals.
Ultimately, the Hayden household expanded, welcoming Joe, Midge, and Billy. Steinmetz legally adopted the elder Hayden, thereby gaining three grandchildren as effectively. Steinmetz, whom The New York Occasions had named a “trendy Jove” who “hurls thunderbolts at will” (from a high-voltage lightning generator), delighted at entertaining the grandkids with wondrous methods of electrical energy and chemistry.
In writing concerning the historical past {of electrical} engineering, I generally fall into the entice of focusing an excessive amount of on the expertise. Nevertheless it’s simply as vital to acknowledge the folks behind the expertise—their personalities, their frailties, their emotions, their challenges. Steinmetz confronted adversity for his political opinions, for being an immigrant, and for his bodily stature, but none of that ever stopped him. In phrase and deed, he confirmed that he had a beneficiant coronary heart as mighty as his mind.
A part of a continuing series taking a look at historic artifacts that embrace the boundless potential of expertise.
An abridged model of this text seems within the March 2026 print situation as “Charles Proteus Steinmetz Liked His Electrical Automotive.”
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