Cadillac introduced the first electric starter in a production car, the 1912 Cadillac Model Thirty.
Before the electric starter, drivers generally had to crank an engine by hand. That could require considerable force and could cause serious injuries if the crank kicked back. Cadillac’s innovation combined an electric starter motor with electric ignition and lighting, making the car substantially easier and safer to operate.
The system was developed by Charles F. Kettering and his Dayton Engineering Laboratories Company, commonly known as Delco. Cadillac adopted the technology for its 1912 models, helping establish the electric starting system as a defining convenience of modern automobiles.
A common mix-up is confusing the first production-car electric starter with later widespread adoption. Other manufacturers soon followed: Lanchester used a similar system later in 1912, while electric starters became increasingly common across the industry during the 1910s.