History of Electric and Hybrid Vehicles

In the late 19th century electric automobiles outsold every other type of vehicle. An electric prototype held the land speed record, battery-powered cabs touted for business on the streets of the world's most important cities and emerging hybrid technology promised a solution to the problem of range anxiety. Electric vehicles (EVs) were the first choice of royalty and high-society drivers everywhere. Yet within 20 years, the electric automobile was no more. The internal combustion engine reigned supreme and to the victor went the spoils: the place EVs played in the early development of the automobile was all but forgotten. Could EVs have succeeded? Were they the victim of poor management decisions, in-fighting and patent disputes? Or was the technology – in particular the batteries – simply not good enough? As EVs make a comeback in the 21st century, some of the same problems persist. Most modern mass-production battery-powered EVs have a range-to-empty of ∼100 miles. This restricts their usefulness to commuting and short trips only. Buyers remain suspicious of the battery technology, long-term reliability and residual values. However, Tesla has overcome the range problem – Model S has a range of 300 miles – and other prestige manufacturers, Porsche, Audi and BMW among them, are promising EVs with similar performance. This kind of range-to-empty comes at a price, however, and mass-market models have been restricted to modest incremental improvements. Lithium–sulphur technology offers the prospect of a major improvement to battery performance but is not yet ready for automotive application. However, hybrids have enjoyed a remarkable renaissance and the technology is now widely used in everything from city cars to supercars.