The Granton factory that was making electric cars in 1898

Short-lived Madelvic firm made some of world’s earliest electric cars

The Madelvic Motor Carriage Company in Granton produced some of the world's earliest electric cars.

More than a century before the Nissan Leaf or Tesla’s Model X, some of the world’s earliest electric motor cars were being produced in north Edinburgh.

They were being manufactured by the Madelvic Motor Carriage Company, a factory founded in 1898 by Edinburgh city astronomer William Peck – a mere 12 years after German inventor Karl Benz patented his first “motorwagen”.

Regarded the earliest purpose-built car factory in Britain, the Madelvic building was based at West Shore Road in the harbour suburb of Granton, which was fast becoming an industrial hub. There was a test track situated on the roof the factory.

Peck, who was the director of the Edinburgh City University and invented numerous telescopes, found himself inspired by motor carriage patents emerging from North America that used electricity to power the vehicles.

He patented his own electric car, The Brougham, named after Lord Henry Brougham’s 1830s horse-drawn carriages, the same year the Madelvic factory opened its doors.

The motor car was propelled forward by a three-wheeled tractor-style front axle unit, comprising a motor, batteries and a small, fifth wheel set behind the axle in the centre of the chassis.

The five-wheeled vehicle featured a covered cab and special shafts so that it could be attached to a horse-drawn carriage when needed.

Resembling the old coaches of the past, Madelvic offered various models, including the Brougham, a lightly sprung, open-topped Phaeton, and a parcel van, which was used for a short time by the Edinburgh Post Office authorities to deliver mail between the General Post Office and Leith.

Among the many young apprentices learning their trade at Granton was Henry Alexander, who, in 1911, became the first motorist to drive a car to the summit of Ben Nevis.

Sadly, the enterprising Madelvic company, while several decades ahead of its time, proved to be very short-lived. A winding up notice was served in December 1899 and the firm was duly liquidated.

Following its bankruptcy, Madelvic Motors was taken over by Kingsburgh Motor Company in 1900, which in turn was bought by Stirling Motor Carriages five years later.

Despite being threatened by demolition in recent years, the B-listed brick frontage of the former Madelvic factory building, which incorporates the distinctive fifth wheel emblem of its early Brougham models, continues to stand in Granton to this day.

Now named Madelvic House, it survives as a potent reminder of the district’s rich industrial heritage and is used as a community hub.

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