 
Electrifying the Automobile
Charles F. Kettering and Edward Deeds in 1909
founded the Dayton Engineering Laboratories Company (Delco), which became known
as the company that brought automobiles into the Age of Electricity. Kettering
sold Delco to General Motors in 1916. He moved to Flint, Michigan, and became
vice president of the GM Research Corporation. He worked there until retirement
in 1947, acquiring the nickname "Boss Ket" as he fostered a spectacular series
of automotive innovations.
 Born on a farm outside Loudenville, Ohio in
1876, Kettering got a degree in electrical engineering from the Ohio State
University and took his first job with National Cash Register (NRC). His
inventions there included an electric motor for a cash register. Kettering left
NCR in 1909 to start his own research and development firm, the Dayton
Engineering Laboratories Company (Delco). Electricity had just begun to carve
out a role in industry, and Kettering was convinced that electric devices could
transform society. Most cars at that point used no electricity. Motorists
started the car with a hand crank attached to the engine. Vehicles with
headlights used oil lamps. Better storage batteries were becoming available, and
enabled cars to use electric horns and headlights.
Delco developed an electric ignition system for Cadillac, which became part of
General Motors in 1909.
It was the first self-starter system. Delco
pioneered other electrifying inventions for the automobile, and Kettering was
holder or co-holder of more than 140 patents. Working with research associates,
Kettering’s inventions included Freon for refrigerators and air-conditioning
systems, the tetraethyl lead additive that boosted the octane rating of
gasoline, new lacquer finishes for cars, and improved automotive brake and
automatic transmission systems.
Quotations From Boss
Kettering
As Charles F. Kettering’s successes multiplied, people wondered about his secrets
for success. He became a much-sought-after public speaker and a philosopher of
invention. Some famous quotes from The Boss:
- "An inventor fails 999 times, and if he
succeeds once, he's in. He treats his failures simply as practice shots."
- "Failures are finger posts on the road to
achievement."
- "It’s amazing what ordinary people can do if
they set out without preconceived notions."
- "Believe and act as if it were impossible to
fail."
- "Keep on going, and the chances are that you
will stumble on something, perhaps when you are least expecting it. I never
heard of anyone ever stumbling on something sitting down."
- "The world hates change, but it is the only
thing that has brought progress."
- "People are very open-minded about new
things -- as long as they're exactly like the old ones."
- "The biggest job we have is to teach a newly
hired employee how to fail intelligently. We have to train him to experiment
over and over and to keep on trying and failing until he learns what will
work."
- "An inventor is simply a person who doesn't
take his education too seriously. He tries and fails maybe a 1000 times. If he
succeeds once then he’s in."
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