Electric bicycles have recently become a common city sight, contributing to the decarbonization of urban areas around the world. But their origin is surprisingly old: a solution patented in 1895 became the foundation of a mobility revolution in the 21st century.

The electric bicycle design dates to December 1895, when Ogden Bolton Junior of Canton, Ohio, was awarded the first US patent for a battery-powered bicycle with a rear hub motor. 

Bolton's idea was simple: he mounted an electric motor—a 6-pole brush-and-commutator direct current—on a bike's rear wheel hub, with the battery placed under the frame. This design ingeniously allowed existing bikes to be converted easily to electric propulsion.

We do not know much about Ogden Bolton, or whether his original invention was ever produced commercially. While he had a brilliant idea, the technology of the time limited its diffusion. But more than one hundred years later, this design is powering the e-bike revolution, a viable alternative to combustion engine transportation for decongesting and decarbonizing cities.