1959 Henney Kilowatt: An Electric Car Ahead of Its Time

Decades before electric cars went mainstream, a handful of companies tried to bring them back. The 1959 Henney Kilowatt is one of the earliest modern attempts at an electric passenger car, and ours has just 4,000 original miles.

An Unlikely Partnership

The Kilowatt was a joint project between the Henney Motor Company, a coachbuilder known for its hearses and ambulances, and National Union Electric Company, maker of Exide batteries. Rather than build a car from scratch, they started with the body of a French Renault Dauphine and replaced its gasoline engine with an electric drive system.

Ahead of Its Time

The Kilowatt was meant for city driving, where its quiet motor and simple controls made sense. But battery technology and the market weren't ready. Very few were built before production ended, and surviving examples are rare today.

Why It Matters

The Kilowatt bridges two eras in our collection: the small electric runabouts of the 1950s and the experimental electrics that followed the energy crises of the 1970s. It shows that the idea of an everyday electric car was alive long before today's EVs.

See It at the Museum

Plan a visit to see the Henney Kilowatt and our collection of 125+ historic electric vehicles in Kingman, Arizona, and follow our progress toward the new Route 66 Electric Vehicle Museum at 519 E. Beale St., opening in 2027.