Boxy, balky and unloved, MARS II was early vehicle for EV exploration
by Jim Kelly | Sept. 17, 2025
While electric vehicles are a common sight today, their road to acceptance started more than 100 years ago.
Back in 1899, Hawaiian Electric promoted electric cars as a sensible replacement for horses, declaring “electricity holds as unquestioned a superiority in the matter of lighting as it does in the matter of transportation.” In the 1920s, the company had five electric-powered trucks as part of its ice-delivery fleet.
Electric vehicles never gained the popularity of gas-powered vehicles in the early 20th century but they never completely faded away. Manufacturers and garage tinkerers continued experimenting with EVs, especially during the innovative period of the space age, trying to solve the problems of battery size, range and portability.
Utilities were also interested in the potential of EVs to sell more electricity. In 1968, Hawaiian Electric purchased a vehicle called the MARS II, a boxy Renault R-10 sedan with 21 standard 6-volt batteries crammed under the hood and in the trunk; its spare tire had to be attached to the back bumper, adding to the car’s clunky aesthetic. The cost was $5,676, about $52,000 in today’s money.
Outfitted with a Reddy Kilowatt hood ornament handmade by a worker at the Honolulu Power Plant, the “Hawaiian Electricar” toured Oahu, at least as far as its 100-mile charge would allow, giving students, engineers, business leaders and regular folks a chance to try it out. The purpose of this demonstration, the company said, was to “study its load-building potential and continue research in the fight against air pollution and noise.”
The excitement faded after it became clear the 4,000-pound MARS II and its 1,900 pounds of batteries couldn’t get out of its own way. Despite what the company called extensive “testing and modification” to increase its efficiency, after only two years the car was donated to the University of Hawaii engineering department “for further study,” which may have been code for a brief detour on the way to the junkyard.
There were only about 50 MARS IIs built over two years by a company called Electric Fuel Propulsion in Michigan. (From my research, no one seems to know what MARS stood for). Some of the other cars were bought by utilities as demonstrators and most were probably scrapped. But at least a couple survived into the 21st century, occasionally coming up for sale as novelties.
From what I can tell from our archives, Hawaiian Electric didn’t see the MARS II experiment as a failure and it learned a few things about what customers liked — their silent operation was a big plus. The company has had at least a couple of electric vehicles in its fleet since the 1970s and today we use about 60 all-electric vehicles.
It took over 100 years for EVs to reach the potential imagined by Hawaiian Electric back in 1899 and today 38,000 Hawaii EV owners would probably say they agree with the declaration about their “unquestioned … superiority.”
Jim Kelly is the vice president of government & community relations & corporate communications at Hawaiian Electric.
