Ironically, EVs were around before internal combustion engine vehicles and will also
be around after them. The two vehicle types will coexist for some time to come. In
this chapter you’ll learn about the history of EVs, the forces that shaped their demise,
the trends that forced their resurgence, and the tremendous positive role awaiting them
in the future.
While modern technology has made electric vehicles better, there is very little new
in electric vehicle technology. Today’s EV components would be instantly recognizable
in those that roamed our streets a century ago. As a potential EV builder or converter,
you should be happy to know they have a long and distinguished heritage—you might
even get some useful building ideas by looking at the earliest-vintage EVs in an
automobile museum.
Before getting into an area that will make EVs sound like something new, let’s delve
briefly into some basic historical facts about electric vehicles:
• The electric motor came before the internal combustion engine.
• Electric vehicles have been around since the mid-1800s, were manufactured in
volume in the late 1800s and early 1900s, and declined only with the emergence
and ready availability of cheap gasoline.
• Even so, electric vehicle offshoots—tracked buses, trolleys, subways, and
trains—have continued to serve in mass transit capacities right up until the
present day because of their greater reliability and efficiency